Saturday, 10th February 2007 at 6:17 pm

England: World Cup favourites

A fortnight ago, England were as awful as any cricket team has ever been: barely scraping past 100, visibly jaded and short on confidence, and collectively suffering from Trecothick Harmison Syndrome, a dislike of being away from home that also affects the Bulls every time Super 14 comes around. But in the space of three matches, England have suddenly, inexplicably, found themselves one win away from victory in the triangular tournament in Australia.

In a string of results that suggest match-fixing is alive and well in the game of cricket (has Marlon Samuels been on the phone to Ricky Ponting?), England beat Australia - their first win over Ponting’s side after the disastrous Ashes series - then beat New Zealand to make the best-of-three final, and on the back of a second successive Paul Collingwood hundred, won game one on Friday.

Which means the British media is poised to go berserk. Should England win without their captain, their calypso South African, and most of their recognised bowlers, they’ll have pulled off quite a feat - and secured themselves an open-topped bus parade on their return, fawning front page coverage in the tabloids, and immediate status as tournament favourites. Understatement has never been a hallmark of the English press, and there’ll be none of it in sight if Australia suffer the year’s most unexpected defeat in the finals.