Of Flat Track Bullies (Again) And the Boasting Of Mystic Dave

I warned you that England's over-hyped cricketers were heading for a fall. I warned you. I get things right so infrequently that you will understand my need to boast.

But, my ego aside, we should just consider what has gone wrong - most particularly we should locate the failing as something other than 'just one of those things'. Manifestly it is not such, because in the space of two weeks it has happened twice, on both occasions at the hands of hitherto hapless opposition. I will tell you what is missing from England's game - nuance. One of my favourite words, nuance. Test cricket at its best (and that is the highest expression of the sport) is highly nuanced. One day cricket (but not that omnivorous beast T20) just about permits of nuance. In recent years and even in test cricket England have had two speeds - full throttle and calamitous crash. Just look at Moeen Ali's dismissal against Sri Lanka - a fall categorically lacking in nuance. And he wasn't the only one.

Misses the mark - lacks nuance?

So here it is -  nuance matters. Cricket is a game of nuance, or at least it ought to be and as I have said in this context too often, pop will eat itself. And whilst we are on the subject it should be noted that Mark Antony should be played with nuance and it is this necessity that makes Antony and Cleopatra potentially so beguiling. As a critical aside, and not that anyone will care, the BBC Antony and Cleopatra, marginally misses the mark.

So you see, sometimes I am right. Sometimes I am wrong. And sometimes it rains.