- Martin Gough
- 24 Mar 07, 09:18 PM
St Lucia - In beating Kenya by seven wickets with 10 overs to spare at the Beausejour Stadium, England progressed to the World Cup’s second round for the first time in three tournaments
To a degree, they also managed to draw a line under last weekend’s late-night drinking spree, which saw five players fined and Andrew Flintoff lose the vice-captaincy.
England have still only beaten three Test-playing nations in the World Cup since 1992 - Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe in 1999 and Pakistan in 2003 - and have yet to provide irrefutable evidence they can improve on that record.
But they have at least taken a step in the right direction.
Continue reading "England closer to convincing"
- Martin Gough
- 24 Mar 07, 12:54 PM
St Lucia – It quite often rains in the morning here but not as heavily, or for as long, as it has today. As I arrived, dark clouds shrouded the Beausejour Stadium, with officials darting between the light marquee covers that have so far just offered shelter from the sun.
As the scheduled start time approaches, the rain has stopped – although there are still some threatening clouds - and we are all waiting to see how long England and Kenya will have to wait to start their must-win game.
This is the first time in a fortnight that it has been better weather for ducks than for tourists and the generally good weather must be a relief to the island’s tourist board, which is hoping for a bonanza on the back of the exposure St Lucia has gained from cricket.
The World Cup boom that was widely forecast has so far failed to materialise. There are no cruise ships in the harbour to cater for the extra fans. In fact, hotel rooms are still easily available.
Continue reading "St Lucia looks to the skies"
