Something a little different ...

Little bit bored of snow now, it's been having an effect on what I want to do.

What's up with England at the moment ? We have our recession at the moment, being caused by the consumption society turning into a No Spend society. With all those headlines about fields of cars lying unsold, high street shops gradually disappearing and some nebulous thing called "Confidence" making the Stock Market go BOOM. All leading to the banks not wanting to lend anyone money (although they are still begging me to in loan letters), which furthers that stall in the consumption economy.

Nervous times at the moment, especially when an otherwise healthy organisation can fold due to being the latest scapegoat of the individuals who lurk in the stock market buildings. I'm deliberately choosing some of those words because I don't have a particularly high opinion of economists, I prefer giving respect to Hard Work.

I'm probably on a bit of a downer because I've had the misfortune to watch two England sports teams pretend to play their chosen sports today ... Firstly the rugby team in the Six Nations opener. Ok, they ran in more tries than they have done in recent years but they should have scored rather more than the 36 points they got. Italy really were that bad in the first half. No invention from England, no inspiration, no real quality and no inkling of how to take advantage of an Italy side crippled by injuries to key players.

And then there's the cricketers ... Oh dear. When I started playing cricket, I had a few times when I was itching to get out to where the international team was because I knew I could play better. They actually managed to beat that standard again today, very nearly breaking the record for the lowest England total ever. Pretty abject ... and it'll continue until the management break up the closed shop that is currently England cricket.

We have a few players in the side who don't appear to believe in improving their skills in the game. If you're not improving, you're going backwards and are very quickly neutralised by opposition players who rapidly learn how to counter what you could do. The best players are always tinkering with their game, learning new things but Never Standing Still.

So we have :
The spinner who hasn't learned an Arm Ball (one that goes straight - a good variation if you're always turning the ball)
An opening bat who plays like the proverbial millionaire - except he won't be unless he tightens up his game
A number 3 who has had plenty of chances to entrench his place but continues to dig his grave
A shaggy haired bowler who needs to get angry with himself rather than his team mates
Another bowler who hasn't learned the old one : "Practice makes perfect"

England do have some generally excellent players but they are let down by believing they can win games without truly putting the effort in to earn that win. Huge amount of talent but not enough application.

I hate to finish on a downer, so it's time for a closing note on the other bit of sport I watched today : Ireland vs France in their Six Nations rugby game. The two protagonists in this one are both amazing teams to watch. Ireland are mercurial geniuses who can beat anyone on their day but really do frustrate their fans sometimes by rolling out second in games they should have won. France are an awesome rugby side, they play the game it should be played. (Yes - this is sticking in my craw a bit!) The French always come out with power and passion and the pace of their runners never fails to scare the hell out of fans of the opposition team.

Fantastic game between Ireland and France tonight. If you catch highlights, you'll see why rugby can be one of the most exciting sports on telly. Between two equally matched teams like these, you never really know who's going to win until the final whistle. Scoring comes often so you have to keep an eye on the game. (unlike cricket where you can read a book while it's on :-)

Hopefully things will improve from here, in the economy as well as in sport. I like wandering around shops hoping I'll be buying something, it's less fun doing that if they're all been shut due to economists having no confidence in them !