After limping through to the quarter finals England's players can put their feet up on their own sofas after a tour that started in autumn and has finished in spring on two different continents. Tiredness and the number of injuries to the team have been cited as an excuse since the first match which is never a good sign and should not distract from a number of issues which were highlighted in his tournament but have been present for a while. Whereas the test team is settled with replacements ready to step up in most positions the One Day side is still at the experimental stage and seems to have been for a number of years. No one still knows what the best opening partnership is or who is best suited to keeping wicket in this format.
   I'm all for putting pressure on the first team by allowing other players a chance to play and gain experience so that they can fit easily into the team if injury or form dictates and it stops the player in the starting XI from getting too comfortable knowing that a willing replacement is after his spot. An element of this occurred to the test team in the 1990s where the selectors would pick the same players over and over even when poor form suggested some needed a break. Eventually someone would make way for whoever happened to be flavour of the month at the time only to overawed by the occasion and not perform as their county statistics suggested and thus be dropped with their chance gone.
   The One Day team seems to go the opposite way where more opportunities present themselves as the matches occur at the end of a series when test players are rested and the selectors try to blood promising youngsters in the international arena. Whilst there is nothing fundamentally wrong with the philosophy it does throw out the message that the England selectors see One Day cricket as inferior and that thought process can only filter down to the players no matter how professional they are.
   If that is the case then the selectors would be better divorcing test cricket from the One Day game, both 50n and 20 over and picking completely different squads. Then after a hard test series like the Ashes those players can go home for a well earned rest as the One Day squad replaces them. Players who perform well in the limited over matches will gain experience of international cricket with lengthy runs in the team and could be "promoted" to the test squad should the need arise.
   It would certainly solve a couple of problems such as why Matt Prior was not considered good enough for the One Day squad until the series against Australia and then prove it as he was shuffled around the order but may cause further problems when test players want to play in one dayers, especially in the big tournaments.

So the RFU have announced Rob Andrew as the Director of Rugby Operations. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/9433208.stm
  He has beaten off competition from a field of at least one to claim this position which is one of a number of new posts created from the former post of Elite Rugby Director which was held by Rob Andrew. Presumably this means that Andrew can continue in his role of sitting behind Martin Johnson looking serious during internationals where he can be now be joined by Steve Grainger and quite likely Sir Clive Woodward.

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   Commenting on Sir Alex Ferguson's recent comments about referee Martin Atkinson Craig Moore of the FA's Independent Regulatory Commission stated that Ferguson had "undermined the FA's Respect campaign". http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/9434094.stm Now whilst I don't condone the comments made I seriously doubt that the FA's much vaunted campaign lies broken in the gutter as children up and down the country cry about where the spirit of the game has gone now that one individual has taken his immediate frustrations of losing a game out on the official in charge. It is by no means the first time that this happened and Ferguson is not the only manager to blame the referee but to use such hyperbole does not help the situation either. Not many managers will criticise their own teams in public but have a microphone thrust under their noses as soon as the final whistle goes as reporters search for soundbites. Ferguson himself demonstrated that after a few days to calm down his assessment of a match can be more honest and balanced when he discussed the defeat to Liverpool after refusing to talk immediately after the match. Such comments may not sell as many papers but were far more constructive and interesting. As for a lack of respect - that takes place on the back pages of the tabloids every day but then the FA have no recourse to fine them. Ideally it would be nice for officials to answer questions about the match - again not straight after the event but with time allowed to calm down and possibly to see video of key incidents - but is something that has been avoided. If the public can hear the referee perhaps they will realise that they are human and capable of making mistakes and thus cut them some slack. I was going to say forgive but opposition fans certainly won't do that but it can't be any worse than to have the referee scurry away without explaining his thinking on certain decisions.

It feels like a victory worthy of King Pyrrhus with England collecting the Six Nations championship trophy after suffering defeat to Ireland, thus depriving themselves of a Grand Slam. It feels a bit hollow now, and it's reminiscent of England's performance a decade ago when they went a number of years in the position of winning the Grand Slam before losing the final match, but if offered this position before the Six Nations started they would have been delighted. Ironically England's competition has been the reverse of last year where they started poor but improved compared to this campaign where they struggled in the last few matches. Those last few matches probably put England's team into perspective: they are not as bad as we thought they were but they are not as good as we thought they were becoming. Now at least there is the possibility of England building on what they have achieved so far without the ridiculous talk of them being World Cup potential winners adding unnecessary pressure.

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   By contrast the England cricket team have been completely inconsistent but thanks to other teams performing as the form book expects they have qualified for the quarter finals of the World Cup. They are certainly not doing it the easy way and it is certainly entertaining in a perverse sort of way but is it too much to hope for a nice straight forward win.

It was a shock to hear that Bryan Robson had undergone surgery for throat cancer. http://www.manutd.com/en/News-And-Features/Club-News/2011/Mar/Bryan-Robson-statement.aspx
I know he is not the only person to be afflicted by this pernicious disease but as a boyhood hero whose posters I had on my bedroom wall it feels particularly sad from a personal point of view. The prognosis sounds positive but once cancer rears it's ugly head then the spectre of it haunts you for the rest of your life.
   The abiding memory I have is of his goal after 27 seconds against France in the 1982 World Cup http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJio5ZcBLLA although injury blighted the latter part of his career he was able to collect a Premiership medal finally in 1993 before retiring.
   Hopefully the worst of his ordeal is over.

After the latest round of Six Nations matches have provided enough drama for yet another weekend with upsets, controversy and England still on course for the Grand Slam despite being below par. Italy beating France is a massive fillip to that nation who have been accused of making up the numbers since their introduction to the tournament in 2000 and the scalp of France shows that although they may not challenge for the title their presence in the Six Nations is increasing their development, which can only be good for the game.
   Mike Phillips' try that shouldn't have been for Wales has unsurprisingly drawn criticism about the point of using technology when mistakes still arise as in this case when a different ball was used at a quick throw in allowing Phillips to run through to score. This misses the point that the same mistake would have occurred without technology and referring to cameras to check reduces the number of possible errors but will never eradicate them. Ireland may feel aggrieved, and it is unfortunate, but as in other sports the officials tend to get more criticism for errors than players. Possibly this may be because they don't have the chance to atone for them: if Chris Ashton had dropped the ball when swallow diving over the line against Italy he would have been forgiven after scoring three more. The goalkeeper that lets the ball run between his legs may save a penalty and the cricketer who drops a sitter can make it up with runs or wickets. Such instances do not even have to be in the same game as fans can forgive their own players one off aberrations but will not let the official off so lightly. No matter how good the rest of his performance he can not do anything other than not make another mistake.
   As Martin Johnson warned, Scotland are not to be dismissed lightly and England were right not to be complacent about assuming they would win easily, although it is tempting to think that they did not really believe that after the disjointed performance on display. Such are the margins at this level that Scotland's energetic display where they upset England's rhythm still sees them bottom of the table with no points and England top with maximum points and one game to go. With a performance more reminiscent of last years campaign England will need to rediscover their earlier form if they wish to win their first Grand Slam since 2003 - which would represent a remarkable achievement from where they were 18 months ago.

Now I know that there is a train of thought that suggests that you should slowly build momentum in tournaments and the team that gets off to a flier and batters all before them in the group stage run out of steam by the knockout stage and get eliminated. England's stuttering start to the Cricket World Cup however is the flip side of the coin where, inconsistent as they are, they still show patches of form that threaten to make them dark horses. All that, however, is dependent on England making the knockout stage in the first place which no longer seems assured after defeat to Bangladesh. Poor performances against the minnows have been off set by a draw against India and a win against South Africa making their tournament so far all the more frustrating. Whether the length of time away from home is taking it's toll and petty frustrations come to the fore like today or they relax when considered underdogs, England are at least proving to be compelling viewing which has not always been the case.
   The way England have been playing it is tempting to suggest that they have finished their tricky fixtures after facing all the associate nations in their group and the more daunting prospect of the West Indies next week should therefore be an easier proposition after which we can look forward to more straight forward games against the favourites. That scenario is too simplistic for England still and something involving run rates and Duckworth Lewis will no doubt interfere to create more tension.

For God's sake front up and admit you played rubbish. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/9413236.stm
Whilst I don't expect Graeme Swann to pick out individual players for criticism and there is the whiff of the bunker mentality that the dressing room are sticking together after England's humiliation he can not claim that England did not bowl that badly and that commentators are being unfair. Yes, Kevin O'Brien's innings was stunning but our attack does not look particularly strong and we have conceded 959 runs in three matches, two of which were against associate nations, with Jimmy Anderson in particular looking a shadow of the bowler he was in the Ashes conceding 212 runs off 28 overs so far at just over 7.5 an over. Add the shambolic fielding into the mix and we do not look much of a World Cup winning side. Congratulations still to Ireland and if nothing else England's last two matches have been hugely entertaining.