Your captain for the evening, AN Cook - Photo Peter Williams CCA

The weekend’s cricket

It was a weekend in which we learned that South Africa were not nearly as good as a Tendulkarful India but considerably better than a Tendulkarless one. England won a ODI against Bangladesh just as they have managed since the dawn of time, but not without the traditional nervy moments and curious team selections. And there were two Twenty20 games on different sides of the world with somewhat different tones - Australia and New Zealand shared 428 runs in 40 overs before the Kiwis could edge by via a super over, while the West Indies managed to reduce Zimbabwe to 0-3 after 3 overs and 105 all out, before chugging along at under 4 an over and stuttering to the lowest total in Twenty20 International history (and 4th lowest of all-time) of any side who did not lose all their wickets in the twenty overs.

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The weekend’s Six Nations

It was a weekend in which we learned that the Welsh might well be unbeaten if they didn’t keep throwing interceptable passes and the French are heading towards a Grand Slam by cirtue of not being quite as average as everyone else. The English reminded us how mediocre they were, while the Irish reminded us that despite not being as good as last year, they’re still better than England. And the Italians got a grafting victory, while the Scots appear to have made great competitive strides without any wins to back it up.

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The weekend’s football

The eyes of the world were on whether two friends might shake hands (they didn’t), and then an exciting football game distracted everyone briefly as the league leaders were beaten at home 4-2 and the title race changed course for what must be about the 28th time in 28 matches. Note to everyone - stop declaring the title race over for any of the top three sides. Then on Sunday there was a Carling Cup Final, notable for an Owen goal (he’s going to the World Cup!) and an Owen injury (ah, wait) and a headed winning goal from Wayne Rooney (that’s happened before).

All in all, a fantastic weekend, with a dazzling mix of the expected and the unexpected.