The 51allout podcast was two-thirds deliriously happy this week, thanks to England’s drubbing of India and Australia’s non-drubbing of South Africa. They were less pleased to learn that Aussie Matt now lives dangerously close to a rather busy international airport.
After 30 years of lulling everyone into a false sense of security, England finally showed their true colours by going ballistic on a rank turner and destroyed their hosts in Mumbai.
A remarkable day for England brought back memories of the last time we were genuinely happy – back in 1988 when we briefly had a job designing toys.
Alastair Cook proved himself a useless tosser before England battled back into the series in Mumbai.
The 51allout preview takes an unusual form this week, as we turn both barrels on England’s selection policy. Then we re-load those barrels and unleash them again.
England’s hammering in Ahmedabad was the main topic of discussion this week, although the prospect of Sven-Göran Eriksson managing in the A League was close behind. Plus NZ got their traditional kicking, despite Aussie Matt’s growing infatuation with Tim Southee.
England rose to the pressure of a tiny bit of expectation by collapsing in a heap before anyone had even finished their first gin of the day.
Alastair Cook, eventually supported by Matt Prior, made England’s last stand in Ahmedabad as a heroic rearguard action took the Test into its final day.
Two more sessions of India crushing England into the dirt were followed by some actual sensible batting, giving everyone a smidgeon of hope, that most dreaded of emotions.
In perhaps the greatest sporting shock of modern times, England’s top order imploded in the face of some mild turn to virtually lose the game in the last hour.