This week’s roundup also features the World Chase Tag championships, a glorious own goal and ‘Nobody’
1) Now we can laugh about it. OK, we laughed about it then too – here are some of the most humiliating World Cup moments endured by the England men’s cricket team. In the 1987 World Cup final, they were doing so well that Allan Border brought himself on to bowl, which was, of course, the perfect moment for Mike Gatting to deploy his fabled reverse-sweep. In 1996, Neil Smith discharged his guts on to the pitch and then Sri Lanka knocked his team out in the quarter-finals, chasing down 236 with nearly 10 overs to spare. In 1999, the last time the competition was held in the green and pleasants, the opening ceremony had to be cut short because of rain and England were eliminated before the official song came out, dismissed for 103 by South Africa and 169 by India. Here they are in 2007, struggling to beat Canada in the aftermath of the Fredalo jaunt; and here they are losing to Ireland in 2011, a moment greatly appreciated by the people of Pune. And, because we can’t help ourselves, a bit of 2019: the ICC’s montage of the staggering denouement.
2) It’s that time of year again when we begin preparing for the World Chase Tag championships, to be held at London’s York Hall on 24 August. Here’s the final of WCT 3, and a best chase compilation from the same.
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