Here lies one of our faulty core beliefs inherent for many years in our sporting psyche. We couldn't have been good, someone else must have been bad.

In the UK, there has been more money given to sport since the National Lottery. Is it coincidental then that we win lots more things or our performances have improved?

With regards to the cricket, it took us to get a South African and Rhodesian coaches, who have totally different mindsets to people in the UK, to get us to realise WE CAN and WILL WIN. Add that to the talent and.... 3 out of the last 4 Ashes series in the bag.

The quicker we drop the bullshıt mindset, the better. Hopefully kids will be growing up thinking of us as potential winners.

Exactly. Was the ashes win in 2005 because of a poor aussie side? I don't think so. Warne and McGrath were playing.

We don't have the same talent as the aussies, that is clear to see..... but we also lack in belief and attitude. Get that sorted and we can beat them.

Good point

I agree with the coaching point , but not with the Championship one , with loan and dual reg rules there is ample opportunity for clubs to use the lower leagues to develop players

I would take that logic one step further – the England cricket team need to beat the India by two clear tests in this four match series to become the best team in the world

India, not Australia

And yet all we hear on this thread is the Ashes – why? The Australians are fast becoming irrelevant in world cricket (5th in the current rankings) so why bother talking about them when we have the Indians in England this summer

It’s the same in RL – New Zealand are the World and 4 Nations Champions and all we talk about is beating the Australians

You can’t beat your heroes so let’s not treat them as such

Forget central contracts and overseas quota’s – the one thing we can learn from the England cricket team is that they believe that they will win games... even when they are struggling – 124 for 8 on day one to a 319 run 4 day victory in the last test says it all

Unfair this statement. The Aussies are putting this about to save some face. England were great during the Ashes and have gone on to become the best side in the world. Whoever runs cricket is doing something right and congrats to them. The RL should take a long hard look at what cricket has achieved but as cricket is an establishment game, backed by loads of money, think this is what it probably boils down to.

Fwiw, 13 of the 45 man England RU squad were born overseas. I wonder if we're going to end up looking like Yorkshire cricket did, stubbornly clinging to stringent admittance criteria that hamstring us in the modern climate.

Its also not just the Aussies...we're pushing for No.1 in the world now. We're smashing India (the current No.1) so across the board and each country we face in cricket right now we are consistently winning......it's doing that in a WC though!

The eligibility criteria are set by the RLIF, so I'm not sure why you think England are playing by different rules than everyone else?

How many players who were born overseas but meet the three year UK residency criteria would actually improve the current England side?

Pat Richards - if he decided to change his allegiance from Ireland?

I'm struggling to think of many more that would be eligible.

Luke O'Donnell apparently getting an Irish passport

These are fair points but leave the question open as to why England RU, with a much wider native player base are taking almost a third of their players from overseas? They seem to have gone through the pain barrier on this one while we quailed with the Withers/Maurie outcry.

Who would strengthen us? I guess less and less players as the NRL strengthens in buying power. Maybe it is a dead end.

The RFL are indeed taking positive steps and mirroring cricket. They're switching almost wholesale to summer.

While it will inevitably be a little shaky at first at the leagues find their feet, you're almost certain to get bigger numbers of kids participating nationwide, and be able to develop players with higher levels of skill, fitness and athleticism than you get trudging around in a muddy quagmire in freezing rain.

Improve the facilities and conditions and the game will grow.

Comparing Cricket to Rugby League is simply astonishing.

We have only been successful on the Cricket field recently because of the decline of other nations.

Sometimes I really do despair.

English people talk about Australia all the time because of the fierce sporting rivalry we have with our cousins from Down Under.

It just doesn't have the same intensity when we play New Zealand or India.

Harsh.

You can only beat what's put infront of you and England are doing that with ease right now.