Paul Dennett's video: Dennett s Daily Cricket World Cup - New Zealand vs England

Dennett’s Daily Cricket World Cup – New Zealand vs England Two unexpected things occurred in New Zealand’s thumping victory over England. Firstly, how often do you see this in a one dayer? 4 slips! It’s rare enough in a test match these days, let alone in an ODI! And next, well you know things aren’t going well when even God mocks you. Don’t fret England. It’s not like you invented cricket or anything. If these were unexpected though, the English reaction to their thrashing was absolutely as expected. No-one does self-criticism quite like the English: Obviously Piers Morgan led the charge: And the newspapers didn’t miss out either. The Daily Mail said: The Mirror featured Ian Botham. And in the grand tradition of this lazy reporting of other people’s reports you always conclude by showing that the self-flagellation wasn’t just limited to the tabloids. Even the normally more measured broadsheet the Guardian said: And meanwhile video and pictures were all over twitter of Kevin Pietersen enjoying himself swimming in Barbados. Punters have also written England off. Prior to the game England were 4th favourites to win the world cup, just ahead of India. But after the defeat England have jumped to $24, more than double India’s price. Yet, just a few weeks ago England beat India twice in Australia. Their tournament has started badly but it’s no shame to lose to Australia and in their first outing in New Zealand conditions it’s no surprise they lost here too. Who knows, if England had bowled first maybe they would have rolled New Zealand. As it was, McCullum was able to tee off in chasing the small target – in an amazing display. The format means England will still almost certainly qualify for the quarter finals. They’ll play at the MCG – possibly even against India – and my money would be on them to win that game. Of course all this hinges on the assumption that England will beat Scotland in Christchurch on Monday. This is by no means assured. Former captain Michael Vaughan tweeted And received a flurry of replies from Englishmen all declaring Scotland certainties. I told you they were good at self criticism. That was day 7 of the cricket world cup.