Teams must beware of drawing support from an unexpected source during the World Cup. The English chose to cheer the Indians on against Australia because they did not get the showdown against their old rivals that they would have fancied in the Super Six. Many of the hosts chose to support India and look what happened.

``Mate, I have just had three months in India. This is bloody crazy,'' was what one Aussie said of the cheers India were drawing at The Oval, to no avail of course. The English people then began to back the South Africans against the Aussies, who could possibly be the tournament favourite's biggest threat yet.

`Anyone but England' is a book made famous by England's continuing failures. The host country's choice of teams to support has been somewhat sensational, but they did not pick one or the other as the Asian giants clashed at Old Trafford. They may have feared retribution from the other group. The British were perfectly bipartisan on that memorableday.

Genteel game kills pigeons

The Royal Society of Birds must be up in arms against the Cricket World Cup. How can you play such a cruel game in which two pigeons were brought down on the same afternoon? And they say cricket is a genteel game! The first culprit to be booked for cruelty to birds was Paul Reiffel, whose nickname `Pistol' is somewhat appropriate in the killing sense. His throw from the deep went straight into a pigeon and down it came in a flutter of wings, feathers and blood.

Poor Reiffel, the most gentle of men despite being a fast bowler, was distraught. He carried the bird with loving care to the boundary rope only for it to be pronounced dead on arrival. It was his colleague, Glenn McGrath, who rehashed a famous old quote about blood and gore when he declared how he hated batsmen and how ``cricket is a game played with a hard ball''. And McGrath was the cat among the pigeons on the same day as he went through the Indian batting.

As if one killing in a day was not enoughcame the drive by Ajay Jadeja that brought another innocent pigeon down. The poor guy was himself so distraught he did not take the single that would have taken him to his century. He was on 99 for a while longer, while the Aussie keeper, Adam Gilchrist, carried the ex-bird off.

Jr Croft on June 20

This delightful tale came out at the start of the World Cup. The England off-spinner and one-day all-rounder, Robert Croft, and his wife, Marle, are expecting a baby on June 20, a significant day in cricket history. Ahead of the World Cup, this posed a grave family dilemma. Poor Croft fancied England would be in the final. And so he told his wife he would not be at the birth of their child on the day of the final. As it transpired, England did not make the cut into the Super Six itself, which meant the father could be very much at the bedside of his wife when their child comes.

The timing is extraordinary though. The Crofts can name their son after the man of the match in the final or the winningcaptain, provided they have a son. But then to have a son or a daughter is a 50:50 chance, while the odds on England getting to the final must have been a great deal more than even money.

Packer's love seats

Remember Kerry Packer, the media magnate who split cricket with his Circus in the late 1970s? What is he up to these days, you may be wondering, apart from making money in all his ventures? Packer is busy bringing the `Love Box' to England. Having bought up the Hoyts cinemas, Australia's richest man is putting some love into the cinema hall by replacing the usual flip-up chairs with sofas in private cubicles so some lovelorn patrons can enact passionate scenes of their own.

The back row of a cinema is certain to bring nostalgia in anyone who has been there in his youth. And thanks to the revolution Packer is now bringing in, the cinema may turn out to be a more popular venue for the young than the Cricket World Cup at which the patrons sit in open terraces.

You can always rely on Packer tobring about these revolutions in anything, from cricket to cinema. Young movie-goers are, however, warned that they are being watched by closed-circuit television.