Gud'on'ya Sport

It has been a dismal time to be an English sports supporter down under. Our cricket team performed up, or rather down, to expectations and didn’t make it through the initial league stage of the Cricket World Cup. The competition was being held in both New Zealand and Australia with these two teams about to meet in the final so, as the newspapers made it front page news every day, for me, or indeed any other Pom, there was no escape. 

At least our team had it much easier; they just packed up and went home weeks ago. I believe that we were finally knocked out by Bangladesh. Before then we may have beaten Afghanistan earlier but let's face it, in cricket circles, that’s hardly overachievement.

So I have been investigating to see why we tend to end up with the wooden spoon and I think I have found it.  As Sally and I have travelled around both countries we see that everyone seems to be out there playing sports.

In New Zealand after school, boys and probably girls too, go play cricket. You can see them on their ‘village greens’. If it were winter they would probably be preparing to thrash us at rugby. And the same goes for all sports: surfing, cycling, running - even the retired bowls players are out there practicing everyday.

And now here in Australia it’s the same. By the looks of it we can say goodbye to any swimming medals in the next Olympics for in Sydney we observed the open air swimming pools full of muscle-bound Adonis’ pounding up and down the lanes in spray on Speedos.

So the message is clear. England, we need to up our game. And Sally and I are determined to play our part by starting to run, just as soon as we get home. As I look in the mirror after two months of pie and chips the need is there before my very eyes.