In sport, as in life, you just don’t know where you stand any more. Look at the Premier League: no club knows where they stand except for Crystal Palace, who are being stood on by all the others. Everyone else can beat everyone else. Manchester City, who must be one of the best teams, are eighth; Southampton are good for the Europa League but currently could end up in the Champions League. But it’s all good for business. The England football team are about to find out exactly where they stand after two friendlies and the World Cup draw next month.
The England rugby team are about to find out exactly where they stand too. Their stated aim is to end the season the second best team in the world: that means they will have to win the Six Nations and the Grand Slam, beating Wales, France and Ireland — not easy. Before that they have to play a team who know exactly where they stand — top of the pile. New Zealand are the best team in the world and Saturday’s engagement at Twickenham is the last game of a long and unbeaten season for the All Blacks. The last team to cast doubt on their standing were England, a year ago. Now they want to stand all over England.
As for cricket, England must be starting to doubt their standing. The Ashes victory this summer was closer than the scoreline suggested, and England are now defending the urn Down Under. This is not a good Australia team yet you suspect they could have the beating of England. But if one man could make all the difference, it is Michael Carberry, the beefy Hampshire left-hander. If he isn’t picked to open for England in the first Test next week then the world really should split asunder.
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