Dey wicked boy!
Australia's Ashes preparations took a severe jolt tonight when they crashed out of the World Twenty20 at the qualifying stages. They must now survive the psychological perils of a fortnight's inactivity before their preparations for the first Test begin against Sussex at Hove, a time when doubts may well surface and boredom take hold. There will be a national outcry if the England and Wales Cricket Board loans them as much as a Scrabble board.
Australia's six-wicket defeat against Sri Lanka, with an over to spare, to follow a heavy defeat against West Indies, ended their ambitions of holding all three one-day trophies simultaneously and ensured that the gloomiest fears of their captain, Ricky Ponting, have been realised.
"We'll have two weeks in Leicester if we have an early exit,'' he had said gloomily before the match that could break Australian spirits. It might not be quite as demoralising as that – they have hurriedly arranged a weekend break in London followed by a spell in Canterbury – but as yet there are no signs that the ECB is offering additional fixtures.
Tomorrow, to their dismay, Australia's most pressing task is to uncover the attractions of Leicester. They might like to stroll together in Abbey Park, which houses the remains of the 12th-century Leicester Abbey. The park still resonates of the Victorian era with its formal gardens and bandstand – just the job for a couple of uplifting choruses of Under The Southern Cross, a song they normally only sing in victory.
Alternatively, they might like to visit the Great Central Railway, the only double-track mainline steam railway where train rides are available daily from May to September. Special attractions include Thomas The Tank Engine days – tempting for any depressed Australian cricketer with a need to retreat into the innocence of childhood.
But if they really need to get away from it all, perhaps only the National Space Centre will suffice, a visitor attraction officially described as "out of this world". That might seem the most tempting of all.
Australia's Twenty20 plans were undermined by the sending home for disciplinary reasons of Andrew Symonds, who broke his promise to curb his drinking habits even before their first match. Six years ago Ponting succeeded in refocusing the Australian team after Shane Warne failed a drug test and was banned from the World Cup, but this time there was to be no recovery.
This was Sri Lanka's first official match since they survived an attack on their team coach by Islamic extremists during a Test against Pakistan in Lahore, and also since the Sri Lankan government announced victory in the 26-year war against Tamil Tiger terrorists.
A small group of Tamils demonstrated outside the ground, but inside Trent Bridge Sri Lanka were cheered to the rafters as half-centuries from Tillekeratne Dilshan and their captain, Kumar Sangakkara, brought Australia's involvement in World Twenty20 to an end.
