Dear Sir,
Over the last couple of days I have been scratching my head trying to figure out why England under performed at the World Cup.
Were the players simply tired after playing a long season of football in England, as coach Fabio Cappello suggested in his press conference?
After an on air conversation with On the Bench's Nick Jones on Monday afternoon I was convinced that this was the case however later that evening this theory was dispelled as rubbish by Ticket to South Africa football pundits ex-Scottish International Andy Gray who called it more of an excuse than a reason and ex-England International Warren Barton who pointed out that the players had four weeks rest between the end of their domestic season and the start of the World Cup and based on his experience as a player only required two weeks to recuperate after a long season.
Is it a question that the England player's abilities on the football pitch are exaggerated by a British print and electronic sports media that is arguably the most influential in the world?
I guess you could argue this but on reflection English players compete well against their foreign counterparts in both domestic and European competition.
Some have argued that England need an English manager to get the best out of them but if a player cannot motivate himself to play in the world cup then something is seriously wrong.
Quite frankly I am stumped. In any event I look forward to watching the Black Stars of Ghana surprise everyone by defeating Uruguay in their next match to reach the semi-finals.
On another note, can someone please tell me what PHC batsman Jason Anderson has to do to get a look into the national team, currently he is the most in-form batsman in the island, something he emphatically proved this past weekend by scoring a well-paced 77 on Saturday to lead PHC to their second victory over league leaders Southampton Rangers in the Western Counties and then the next day bettered that by cracking 112 to help PHC reel in a formidable 299 for 3 posted by Devonshire Rec.
Local cricket fans saw Bermuda's fragile top order cruelly exposed in the recently concluded Americas tournament - Jason Anderson I believe deserves the opportunity to help solidify it!
recman
