bowled over

[claymore]

England bowled out for 81, bloody hell ! is there any sport besides lawn bowls and croquet that you people are good at?

[Loosehead]

Well when we're as bad as the Sweaties we'll start to worry!

[Oneeyedvic]

Rugby

[jno]

I don't know how many of these are English (or Scottish). It's from the Telegraph a couple of years back

12 UNSUNG BRITISH WORLD CHAMPIONS

Victoria Pendleton this year became the first British woman to become world champion in cycling sprint.

Craig Fallon dominated the -60kg weight category in judo, becoming only the third British man to achieve a world championship title, after Neil Adams in 1981 and Graeme Randall in 1999.

In rowing, Alex Partridge, Peter Reed, Andrew Hodge and Stephen Williams enhanced Britain's reputation in the men's coxless four, established by the likes of Redgrave and Pinsent.

In motorsport Andy Priaulx became Britain's first world touring car champion, while brothers Tim and Tristan Reeves, from Kent, combined to become world sidecar winners.

Britain's nautical prowess was maintained by Giles Scott, who won the Laser class at the world youth sailing championships.

Aaron Hadlow, 17, from Cornwall, was nominated for the BBC's young sports personality of the year award after becoming world kitesurfing champion for the second year.

And, finally, Iain Hawkes, 26, a fireman from Bristol, won the world bog snorkelling title at Llanwrtyd Wells, Powys, during the summer. A dirty job but someone has to do it.

[david1702198]

aye us scots do not bad for a wee country!!!

[anotheoldgit]

It's just one big jolly for these cricketers, out in sunny climes during the British winter.

They show no commitment in their work (if one can call it work), only for the good life.

Bring them home, and make them train indoors all winter, and don't send them out again until they can show some enthusiasm.

[Maggoty]

We may be crap at cricket but we're pretty good at WWs

[Booldawg]

err darts?

[Gromit]

The only time I have been to a Test Match, England were bowled all out for 71.

[Quizmonster]

It's not the fact that your sportsmen are, by and large, useless that creates comment from Scots, LH, it's the insane optimism nearly all English sports fans have about their team's or their boy's chances we find hilarious.
The fact that they may generally be better than Scotland's equivalents is neither here nor there, because we know ours are hopeless. When, oh when will the English fans' epiphany or Road to Damascus moment happen?

[Trojanfarce]

Probably at about the same time that the scots win a world cup final at something meaningful!! ;-)

[david1702198]

what like having the first british team to win the european cup trojan???

[anotheoldgit]

No it's because they are not English.

[Twenty20]

And, david1702198, how many times have Scottish football teams won the European Cup or Champions League since 1967? I know that English teams have won it 10 times since then. Do remind us!

[anotheoldgit]

Even if they have British citizenship still does not make them English and therefore eligible to play for England.

Scots, Welsh, Northern Irish are British citizens but they can't play for England, just as the English cannot play for them.

[ludwig]

Interesting to see that Quizmonster, despite his professed lack of interest and neutrality on the subject - has used his whole annual quota of contributions to the news section (ie three) to have another bash at the English. lol.

[Quizmonster]

If anything, Ludwig, it was the Scots sportsmen I bashed! I referred to them as "hopeless", making it clear that - when a player or team has, effectively, no chance of winning anything meaningful - there is little point in going on "hoping" that he/they will.
As I've said before, as soon as England qualify for a football tournament, for example, the chorus of "It's coming home...it's coming home!" starts. The thing is this...in football terms, it hasn't done for over four decades! The vast bulk of the chorus-singers weren't even alive when it last did.

I like the English...my wonderful partner is an English lady...I live in England...almost all my friends are English...I have nothing against the English...apart from their sports fans' nutty optimism in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. The Hatton fight and the Test series in Sri Lanka are just the most recent instances.

But you're right, Ludwig, three contributions to the News category really is stretching it. Perhaps I'll be allowed to start a new quota on January 1st?