That was the weekend that was

Football: England win match shockAll the talk before the Euro 008 qualifier at Wembley against Israel was based on how England were going to score when so many strikers were out injured. But goals from Shaun Wright-Phillips, Michael Owen and a first for Micah Richards in the national shirt and suddenly all pressure was off boss Steve McClaren, that is until Wednesday's qualifier against Russia. Cricket: England win match shock 2The seven-match one-day series against India threatened to be a non-event when the home side toom a 3-1 advantage but a great fightback by India levelled the series at 3-3 and set up a fitting finale at Lord's. England sides in the past have choked on such occasions but fine bowling from Dmitri Mascherenas and a steadying partnership from Kevin Pietersen and captain Paul Collingwood saw the home side home. Rugby: England win match, not so much of a shockEngland failed to cover their handicap of +54 in their opening Pool match against USA. The world champions looked nervous and completely out of sorts as they faield to even register a bonus point against the part-time Eagles. The performance fitted nicely with the efforts of the other home nations as Ireland, Wales and Scotland all struggled to overcome weaker opposition, indeed Wales trailed Canada at half-time and Namibia scored two second-half tries against the Irish. Elsewhere the tournament favourties looked convincing as New Zealand thrashed Italy and big wins for Australia and South Africa hint at a Southern hemisphere victor.Our bets The good: a very poor weekend - see below... The bad: A lot to choose from. We got the England and Italy results mixed up when we suggested that England would suffer a miserable 0-0 draw while France would saunter to a 3-0 victory over Italy. We thought the might of the forward pack would help Joe Worsely go over for England's opening try in the tournament, which of course was scored by a back in Jason Robinson and we though France would beat Argentina in the opening game by 1-5 points which our beloved gallic neighbours went on to lose. The ugly: Perhaps the worst of the outcomes was the Betfred Sprint Cup at Haydock on Saturday. We had backed Sakhee's Secret, the 9/4 favourite and could see no other outcome. He trailed in fifth and it was no secret that our weekend was ruined.... The week aheadFootball: Internationals again on Wednesday followed by a return to a full Premier League fixture list at the weekend when the pressure will be on Spurs boss Martin Jol as he welcomes Arsenal to White Hart Lane Golf: Focus shifts to the Mercedes-Benz Championships in Cologne while the PGA Tour focuses on the Tour Championship in Atlanta Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton has just a three-point advantage as the drivers take to the Spa circuit in Belguim Cricket: The Twenty20 World Cup begins with England in the same group as Australia and plenty of big-hitting action packed games to look forward to. Who said cricket was boring?