Just not cricket for cocky hosts

When Cricket World Cup director Michael Browning described the exit of hosts England (forlorn captain Alec Stewart, pictured left) as "the nightmare scenario", he might as well have been referring to the embarrassing consequences that followed. Take the World Cup's official song, for example, which earlier this week was released slightly later than planned, 18 days after the start of the tournament, and 24 hours after England bid adieu. The song, All Over the World, failed to excite even the slightest flicker of interest among the public and by the end of the day London's biggest record stores said they had failed to sell a single copy of the track, written by ex-Eurythmics star Dave Stewart. Quite ironically, the song contained the line "heroes come and heroes go".

Elsewhere, Scrumpy Jack, the official World Cup cider, together with the Cricket Unlimited website, were this week offering the chance to attend England's three super-six stage games through a telephone competition. "It's unclear who England will be playing in the next stage," the competition claimed. "However, we know they have qualified and you can be there by simply ringing the number below."