UK media outraged over poor standard of St Kitts Invitational XI

Wed, Apr 8, '15

England’s annihilation of a St Kitts Invitational XI in the first match of its West Indies tour was greeted with derision, bemusement and downright disgust by the UK press.
To be fair this wasn’t directed at the England players but at their opponents, who were described by veteran journalist Scyld Berry as “the weakest team that England have played in living memory”.

Berry also produced one of the greatest opening paragraphs of a cricket match report.
“England had waited a long time for this moment,” Berry wrote in The Telegraph. “After months, even years, of waiting and travelling around the globe, they eventually discovered a team that was much worse.”

England’s cricket team has been hammered from pillar to post over the last 18 months, copping an Ashes whitewash, a Test series loss on home soil and a humiliating early exit from the World Cup.
So you’d think a dominant performance on foreign soil would be greeted with delight by the travelling English media.
But you’d be wrong.
Alastair Cook leads his side onto the field tin Basseterre, St Kitts.Alastair Cook leads his side onto the field tin Basseterre, St Kitts.Source: Getty ImagesEngland’s annihilation of a St Kitts Invitational XI in the first match of its West Indies tour was greeted with derision, bemusement and downright disgust by the UK press.
To be fair this wasn’t directed at the England players but at their opponents, who were described by veteran journalist Scyld Berry as “the weakest team that England have played in living memory”.