What is wrong with England?

A dismal day at Edgbaston that took one back to the grim, hapless days of the late 1980s and almost the entire 1990s. Yes, England really were that bad. Batting first on a calm track they subsided to 231 all out. In reply, South Africa have ambled to 38-1. Now you may say that this is only the first day of five and, for sure, the situation is far from irretrievable. But unless England can bat and bowl with greater discipline than they have shown thus far this summer, then they look more likely to head to the Oval 2-0 down than with a chance to square, let alone actually win the series.

For once David Lloyd is right. This has been, as he says, an “absolutely woeful” day. Ian Botham also gets it right: “We keep on hearing how great this top five are, well, it hasn’t been for some time”.