ENG-ER-LUND, Eng-er-lund, Eng-er-lund - there was no escape from the guttural cry after a weekend of exasperation, exhilaration and exit.

Way out in front of the accomplishment charts in the Anglophile-good factor was the nation's cricket team. Okay, so they only drew a series, but what a series it's been.

Against the proactive Proteas England have flourished, slumped, re-grouped and re-blossomed. They deservedly managed to eke out a draw on the final day against vibrant visitors, who have been a credit to their exemplary young leader Graeme Smith.

The South African skipper has flared as one of the brightest new talents on the international scene. His leadership suggests that South Africa will be among the leading contenders for Australia's world-best crown.

England have still some way to match that, but the signs are encouraging. Though one drawn showdown does not a summer make, given the quality of the opposition, squaring the series at The Oval was a laudable achievement.

In Andrew Flintoff England do now have an all-rounder of class and clout. He is not the new Ian Botham, but 'Freddie' is the new Andrew Flintoff primed to rule.

He has shown maturity as well as brutality with the bat, as exemplified by his dismantling of the South African attack on that penultimate morning of the last Test. As a front-line bowler he has been England's unluckiest man during the summer, his ten wicket-haul hardly reflecting the trouble he has caused.

At other times the rest of the England attack looked what it is, rookie and raw. But when you consider there's still the likes of Matthew Hoggard and Simon Jones to supplement James Anderson, Steve Harmison, James Kirtley and Richard Johnson, there's bags of room for improvement.

Once skipper Michael Vaughan marries the responsibilities of captain with daring duty with the bat then England's strength will re-double.

IF only the same optimism could be applied to the England football team.

Thank God it's Liechtenstein coming up tomorrow and not just an average football-playing nation like FYR Macedonia.

After the win in Skopje (was there ever a better sounding name to sum up such a dog-eared scrap?) the usual sentiments were trotted out about the result being the vital component, the B all and end all. Well, the display was a load of B all.

What the Skopje slops proved was that Sven's diamond is flawed. Even when it's at a four-carat maximum of Beckham, Scholes, Gerrard and Butt, it is a formation inherently skewiff largely because only one of the aforementioned quartet can play out wide and the golden boy insists on drifting into the congested centre.

How come too that as soon as that white shirt slips over the head it removes all vestige of what our domestic football is about - pace, power, passion? Don the white and it's a case of tippy-tappy go-nowhere passes, tentative toes into tackles, and scurrying down blind alleys.

The only time in recent memory when an England team has played to its dynamic strengths was in Munich when we stuffed Germany 5-1. Since that intoxicating night in Bavaria, England have gone sidewards.

England named their rugby union World Cup squad and the biggest omission was Austin Healey. What a choker. Who is going to wind up those wild colonial boys into a state of froth-mouthed frenzy? For that alone, Healey was well worth taking to Australia.

Updated: 09:46 Tuesday, September 09, 2003