Why it is much easier to support England's cricket team over its football side

England plays their first match of the 2010 football World Cup today when they take on the USA. But in the Reverse Sweep household our former fervour for the nation's football team has dissipated to such an extent that we are not sure how well we want England to do in this year's tournament.

But why is this? We are as patriotic as the next Englishmen. We are mostly proud of the great heritage of our relatively small country, which once had the biggest Empire the World has ever seen - where the sun never set. From Agincourt to El Alamein and Edward Longshanks to Winston Churchill, there is plenty to stir the blood of even the most docile native of England.

So why the problem with its football side? When it comes to cricket, there is no doubt. Ever since we first saw David Gower cream an effortless and glorious cover drive of an Indian bowler in 1979, we've been hooked on cricket and the fortunes of its cricket side. We cheered as loud as anyone when England won the Ashes in 2005 and 2009, and were also delighted at the recent success of the World T20 side.

But there are a number of reasons why it is much easier to support England's cricket (and rugby) team than it is their football side, and here is why.

Unsavoury Characters - The England football team is full of them. Perhaps the worst of them was the one who was sleeping with the ex-girlfriend of a supposed friend and former team mate who also happened to be the mother of his child. When the affair was discovered, he used his money to first try and gag the press and then to allegedly silence his mistress. And has it stopped his arrogance and unpleasantness? Not one iota, or so it seems.

Primadonnas - The "victim" of the above incident certainly displayed his hurt in effectively retiring from the England side and thus throwing away the opportunity to go the World Cup. Can you imagine an office worker resigning because one of his colleagues was sleeping with his ex-girlfriend? No, so the over-reaction and preciousness of a certain Wayne Bridge was hard to believe. Unfortunately, it is indicative of our beloved footballers. 

Money - This is the drug of choice for England's football side. The amount they earn has turned them into a bunch of primadonnas who are seemingly detached from reality and the mostly working class backgrounds they come from. Perhaps the worst example concerns Ashley Cole, who brazenly wrote in his "autobiography" of his horror and disgust when his former club offered "only" 55,000 a week instead of the 60,000 he thought he was worth. It's hard to support teams that contain people like that.

The say nothing generation - If you thought that press conferences with cricketers were boring then the ones with footballers are a whole new ball game. Bearly hiding their disgust at being there, the players mumble their way through a series of cliches, grimaces and platitudes before leaving as quickly as they arrived. If you don't want to be at the World Cup, just leave.

Brains, or the lack of them - It says a lot when an Italian with a fairly limited grasp of English is the most interesting and erudite person in the England football camp. With the possible exception of Frank Lampard, who can at least string a sentence or two together, the rest of the players would struggle to change a light bulb between them. For the most part, the England cricketers are engaging, balanced and likeable individuals. Their footballing counterparts are not. 

The Celebrity Factor - It's not the fault of the footballers that the nation's TV and press are obsessed with football. Watch Sky Sports News if you don't believe me. However, the arrogance and the "we're above mere mortals" attitude of most English footballers is quite sickening. Even within football, more grounded individuals like Roy Keane rail against the new generation of footballers who think they are big men before they have actually achieved anything in the game.

Despite it all though we will be grudgingly watching the game tonight and no doubt will cheer if and when England score. But we cannot help feeling that unlike the current Carlsberg advert, should England go all the way (they won't) this bunch of primadonnas are not fit to join Bobby Moore and the 1966 side amongst the immortals. 

Comments

[WesPFCNFS]

Have just read the headline on Twitter and thought "yes yes a thousand times yes!!!" The rest of the post is also largely agreeable. Something interesting: TheSkiver at Cricket With Balls wrote a post about why cricket is better than football (or something along these lines), and he noted the difference in education, too. I honestly have to say that this is the reason why cricket press conferences make me physically sick (Punter/Claargghh, just to name the two worst slickos), but the chance of a footballer slipping up, coming out of his cover and saying something interesting/honest is a lot greater. Or maybe equal. Haven't counted :P
Anyway great blog,

Have a nice weekend,
Cheers,
Wes

[Glenn]

Completely & utterly agree, although I'd go a bit further. I desperately want the football team to lose, every time they play. I just cannot support a team of cretins, rapists, liars, cheats, bigamists & violent thugs.

USA USA USA USA.

[Vim]

It's hardly surprising that the Italian coach is the most interesting and communicative one amongst them.

He's ITALIAN. And they are the world champions of chat.

The English team don't sound much more boring that most cricketers, just less intelligible.

[Vim]

One other thing, the education thing is hardly down to the players of either sport. If the parents have money the kid will nearly always wind up at a better school and have a more stable background.

And cricket for all that it tries to be a wider appealing game, still appears to be a middle-class and upper-class sport. For me, it's one of the less appealing things about it and it enables all this snobbishness about 'education' to go on.

And yes, you can bring on exceptions to this, but blaming the players for their backgrounds is a bit rich.

[Mahek]

I'd agree wit Vim about the education part. Also, you could probably replace the England football team with the Indian cricket team and have something similar :)

[The Reverse Sweep]

Cheers Wes. I agree that Punter and Clarke could almost be English footballers such is the utter boredom of their utterances to the press. Unfortunately, for an England fan like me, our football team long forgot where they came from

[The Reverse Sweep]

Did you put a curse on Robert Green, Glenn?

[The Reverse Sweep]

Vim, the England footballers are a bit of a special case when it comes to low intelligence levels. Capello can bearly speak English, but is still more articulate than the lot of them!

[The Reverse Sweep]

Vim, I am definitely not blaming the players for their backgrounds - there are many examples of footballers from deprived backgrounds who are engaging, articulate and interesting. Unfortunately, most of these appear to be non-English players like Thierry Henry. Similar backgrounds, but not similar results. That said, the French FA and Clubs see Education as just as important as football skills in the development of their players, so that could be a reason for that

[The Reverse Sweep]

Yes, where the England footballers and younger Indian cricketers are concerned, we are never far away from a bar brawl, or so it seems!

[AndyBL]

Any thoughts about updating this piece since the latest 'outbursts' from Rooney and Co, Terry as captain etc

[The Reverse Sweep]

Im not sure any more needs to be written! The situation seems to have got worse!

[UTV Money]

The main reason is that the England Cricket team is right now at their all time high

[Bodyguard Title Song Katrina Salman]

England Cricket Team is the number one test side right now. They are doing extremely well in all three departments.

[Jacqueline Fernandez Photos]

England cricket team has proven to the critics and will certainly hold on to their numero uno spot for a long time to come.

[Live Cricket Score]

England Cricket is ascending to top

[Support Anna Hazare]

English cricket team is rising!

[Kareena Kapoor Photos]

England Cricket team is rising!

[Shahid Kapoor Photos]

Cook is leading well

[Deepika Padukone Photos]

Great news!!!

[Namitha Photos]

Collingwood is a better skipper

[Tamanna Photos]

I agree with the author.

[Katrina Kaif Hot Kissing]

English Cricket team has still to prove in the ODI format.

[Mogudu]

England faced a whitewash in India...

[Priyudu]

England managed to keep their no. 1 title in T20.

[Its My Love Story]

It's true

[Oh My Friend]

England team is rising!

[Pay per head service]

that is a very interesting question and I think it has to do with the constant disappointments of England football team, every time we think we have a great solid and competitive team, they are eliminated in the fist stages of the tournaments

[World Of Tanks Cheat Mods]

It has better hull and turret armor and more hit points but uses the same gun, same
radio, and has the same top speed as the tier seven
tank. Just take a try, or you'll miss much precious gaming time as I used to.
The American M3 Lee and the German Hetzer are two examples.

[English Bulldog Puppies]

This is a topic which is close to my heart...
Take care! Where are your contact details though?

[world of tanks hack 2012]

Here are top tips to show players to help fans receive
the Hero of a Battle title and become Hero of the Battle in World of Tanks.
Just take a try, or you'll miss much precious gaming time as I
used to. The rule of thumb to follow is to fight with cover on the opposite
side from the one on which the gun is mounted.