One of sport’s most well-worn phrases is that form is temporary, but class is permanent. It’s a fair point. But let’s throw some other popular phrases into the mix. The hunger’s disappeared~ My heart’s not in it anymore’. His legs have gone’. In these instances surely it doesn’t matter how much class you have. If, for example, Roy Keane’s legs give up on him, he won’t be half the player he is now.
Good, yes. But no longer world class.
If bookies have one failing (we’ll ignore being mean and tight fisted for the moment) it’s that they fail to recognise a changing of the guard. It took them an age to realise that Stephen Hendry was no longer the dominant force in world snooker, while still offering fancy prices about rivals such as John Higgins and Mark Williams.
Manchester United are still hugely overrated by the big firms. As are Liverpool. (Forget the Champions League for a moment and remember they finished a massive 37 points off the top of the Premiership last season, yet you could still get 7-1 about Birmingham beating them at Anfield — which they did). To look at the various betting markets, you’d swear this summer’s Ashes battle was a one-horse race. The Australian juggernaut, who have ruled world cricket for more than a decade, are long odds-on to lift the urn again. Shane Warne is favourite to be top wicket-taker, Matthew Hayden to score most runs.
There’s no doubt momentum has swung the way of Ricky Ponting’s men in the last few days, but are they really the same irresistible force of two years ago? They might have arrived in England under-cooked, but surely even a half-baked Australia should not be losing to Bangladesh.
True, they have battered England twice in the last few days, but on the whole the one-day matches have been fairly even. And you’d do well to consider the tied match the two fought out at Lord’s a fortnight ago. As that result suggests, there is nothing between these two teams. Australia’s ageing side are not the force of old. England are better than they have been for years, but still not the finished article. But they are a best priced 3-1 to win the Test series. And in a battle as close as this, that is the value bet.
You may ask yourselves these questions.
Does past reputation count more than current form? Do medals in the bank outweigh explosive potential?
Sir Clive Woodward clearly thought so. And as a result of that Lions farce he just presided over, he has sunk from World Cup hero to general laughing stock in the space of 40-odd days.
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