7 games. 3 tight wins (including one against South Africa). 3 defeats (including two to Ireland and Bangladesh). 1 tie (against India, chasing 338).
Suffice to say that they eventually had to run out of whatever they were smoking.
Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and New Zealand may still have dreams of lifting the World Cup, but the most exciting team of the competition was definitely the English team. Despite surmounting injuries, withdrawals and implosions, they scraped through to the quarterfinals, where they eventually ran out of steam. While Strauss and Flower look ahead to ways they can turn things around in the shorter format of the game, I would just like to look back and thank them for the memories of:
....a sign of things to come, in the game against the Dutch
...arguably the most thrilling match in World Cup history
...being at the receiving end of the most sensational upset in World Cup history
...a fight-to-the-death encounter against the South Africans
...giving Bangladesh cruel hopes of making it to the knockouts
...a come from behind win against the original Collapso-masters
…and thats about it. I have blocked the quarterfinal game from my memory.
So, thank you England, for making this the most exciting World Cup in a long while, and also for making the case for inclusion of Associate teams in future World Cups. Cheers!
That was utterly disappointing...anyway, when is the next Ashes??
