England and what might have been

Couldn't stop myself from repeating "what might have been" and "if only..." a 100 times today while watching Monty and Harmison dismantle Australia with some good Test match bowling on a flattish first day wicket. Of course I am referring to that damn blow out in Adelaide, where England did worse than India could ever manage, and got bowled out for cheap on the 5th day after dominating 4 days, and then letting Aus rattle up 5 an over like they were sucking on an icecream!

If only England could hold their nerves on Day 5, if only they did not allow Warne to swarm all over them, if only KP restrained himself from playing that sweep so early on...

It would have been 1-0 going into Perth, and all to play for, especially with Aus bowled out for 244. Anyhow, all is not lost yet - if England can win this one (they have given themselves every chance), it sets up Melbourne and Sydney beautifully.

But I love the English fans - some of the comments on the Guardian/Telegraph blogs are hilarious. Here's one super pessimistic fan:

If we manage to score 400 quick runs in our 1st innings, and bowl out the Aussies cheaply on day 3 to give ourselves a 150 run chase in two days...

... we will still have 6 sessions left in which to humilate ourselves with a dreadful batting collapse.

Still, got to be optimistic.

Fantastic stuff - but can't blame him after Bizzare-O day in Adelaide.