Luton – A Tale Of Two England’s

After taking early retirement, I feel blessed being able to watch a great deal of sport during the day.

It is far more fun than trying to keep up with the pressures of working in a hectic aerospace environment.

Yesterday (Tuesday) was a day where, with the weather being so lovely, I dumped myself in front of the television and barely moved.

I started by watching Sky Sports excellent coverage of the fifth day of the test match between England and New Zealand.

It proved to be remarkable viewing.

England bowled New Zealand out and had to chase down a total of 299 to win the test, a tough target but one the batsman said they would willingly chase.

What unfolded, after the tea break, was marvellous viewing as Jonny Bairstow produced one of the greatest knocks in the modern era, hitting the ball into the crowd with consummate ease, scoring a century, to take the game away from New Zealand.

With the Trent Bridge crowd in full voice, it was Ben Stokes that delivered victory with a crushing shot for four, to complete a remarkable test match.

A couple of hours later, I changed channels to watch the European Nations League fixture between England and Hungary.

Sadly, the footballers couldn’t replicate the feats of the cricketers and slumped to a 4-0 home defeat, a defeat that completed a dismal run of four games in the competition, a run that saw England score just once, an injury time penalty in Munich.

Slumped in my armchair, I couldn’t help but wince at the suggestion our players were tired, even more so when you consider we, in a normal World Cup year, would now be participating in the most watched tournament in the world.

In comparing the two sides, it is interesting to see that one (cricket) is clearly on the up and thriving under new management, while the other (football) appears to be in serious decline, is it time for a managerial change before we embarrass ourselves out in Qatar, but if so, who?

COYH’s

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Luton – A Bygone Era Remembered