Get to number one. Get whitewashed. Drop everyone. Start again.
England dominated all bar the final hour of the day, but were powerless to resist as Saeed Ajmal clawed Pakistan back into the game.
Having lost the toss, England’s bowlers once again rose to the occasion and wore Pakistan’s batting down on an excellent pitch in Abu Dhabi.
“We’re going to bounce back”. “We’re ready to put it right”. “It won’t happen again”. Oh, just shut up and play.
After five months of (presumably) non-stop drinking, a massively hungover England have clearly lost all semblance of co-ordination and are unable to play spin bowling on a perfectly normal first day pitch.
Before India visited England’s green and pleasant land last summer we came up with our own predictions for the series. Not a single one of us got the score right. In fact, no one even got close. So we’ve done it again for a laugh.
You win the toss on a flat track, in bright sunshine, just days after your side has inflicted a painful psychological blow on your opponents. What do you do next?
Sri Lanka never win in South Africa. They got thumped last time, they haven’t even beaten anybody for ages, their batting is a shambles, they’ve got no bowlers and the captain’s rubbish. There’s only one winner in this.
Last year Australia topped off everyone’s Christmas by capitulating on Boxing Day. We hope they won’t let us down this time.