Sports : life magnified

First McGrath is injured. He feels there are some voodoo charms behind the most imperfect of timings for his injuries. Then England bat like champions on a flat pitch after being 5 down courtesy of superb batting by Flintoff and Jones and captaincy lacking in innovation by Ponting - giving the English easy runs.

The pitch is flat. So you would expect the Aussies to target a score of atleast 400 if not go for a 600. They are 5 down at the end of the day. The batting form is woeful and the English bowling is unrelenting.

Maybe the English tabloids should apologise to the fans for their over reaction on their home team after the first test. Maybe the Aussie tabloids should learn from this and not create their own over reactions. Bleak chances of either of those happening.

The weather forecast says bleak chances of rain. Meanwhile in another cricket match, India and New Zealand play one of the strangest matches in one day cricket history. First the kiwis collapse but manage a total of around 220. Then India collapse, stage a recovery with 8 wicket down, only to lose the 9th and 10th before some thing dramatic could happen.

Cricket is a funny game.