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With England not playing in the football and getting thrashed in the rugby it has been good to see us putting the Kiwi cricket team to the sword, even if at times its been weather assisted.  And so nursing a slight hang over on Saturday I took the opportunity to lay in front of the TV to watch them give out yet another beating.

So it seemed it would be when they were on the rack at 49 for 5 and then 101 for 7.  But England proved once again that they lack that ruthless streak, when instead of pressing home the advantage they looked to simply contain New Zealand with a defensive field for the last couple of wickets.

What would the Australians have done?  No doubt pushed on and skittled them out for no more than 120.

Coupled with the defensive field came 3 or 4 fumbles in the field and suddenly England were facing 183 to win.  On a pitch where the average score is 250 this should still have been a walk in the park - but this is England don’t forget.

When Luke Wright went third ball the writing was on the wall, and then when Pietersen followed it was always going to be close.  With Bell scoring like a man with no arms (8 off of 39 balls), I drifted off to sleep before being woken by a flurry of wickets, with Bell, Bopara, Collingwood and Swann all falling in the space of 4 runs.  The net result was a defeat from what could and should have been a comfortable victory.

Sad to say that until England develop the same ruthless streak and mentality of the very best sides, then they will always be plagued with this inconsistency. They have shown time and again that they have the ability, but the mental approach to the game continues to let them down.