England are a mere distraction to the main event

AFTER all the hype the World Cup has finally begun, but France v Uruguay, the first match most people will have watched, was very, very dull.

Yet I, and presumably most other people, persisted with the game between two teams we do not really care about.

And this is the essence of the World Cup.

4 out of 10 on the volume, 0 out of 10 on the outcome

THE Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS) was introduced into cricket in November for the New Zealand v Pakistan series.

Its intention was to remove the truly awful umpiring decisions from the game, thus making it fairer all round.

However it did not factor in Daryl Harper’s volume button.

Le Hand of God gifts FIFA a present

FIFA got its way last night as France and Portgual both progressed through the play-offs and into next year’s World Cup.

Although Russia succumbed to Slovenia, leaving Guus Hiddink questioning if it was really worth leaving Chelsea, seeding the play-offs worked out for FIFA’s bean counters, as the two heavyweights made it through.

In the cold light of day, England have a chance

NOW the dust has settled on the latest round of World Cup qualifiers, a true assessment can be made of next summer’s tournament.

The media has been repeatedly asking since England’s 5-1 demolition of Croatia on Wednesday: “Can England win the World Cup?”

The answer uniformly has been yes, but can win it and will win it are two very different questions.

They just want to be held

TWELVE teams have been whittled down to two in the Twenty20 World Cup.

Sri Lanka destroyed the West Indies in the semi-finals and must now be considered favourites to win the final.

Most teams employed the tactic against the Windies that “if we get Chris Gayle out early, then we will probably win”, but the Sri Lankans clearly thought “sod that, let’s just get the rest of them out.”

Pakistan progressed thanks to a very impressive victory over South Africa, having reached the semi-finals despite only beating New Zealand of the other test-playing nations.

South Africa have been the most confusing team in this tournament and this is no mean feat in a keenly fought category with England and Pakistan both producing a series of Jeykll and Hyde performances.