It’s hard to believe that for a game that can last five days, or 15 two-hour sessions, the result is often decided by the toss of a coin. Michael Vaughan will be checking his horoscopes tonight after seeing India move the ball enough to account for his team twice, and put them on the verge of a 1-0 lead in this three match series.

Vaughan himself batted with patience and style for his 17th test hundred and having guided his team to 286-3, would have been confident of reaching the draw. But luck again disappeared: Vaughan clipped an average Zaheer Khan delivery onto his thigh pad and the spin took the ball back onto his stumps. Two balls later Bell was given out playing across the line and England’s hopes of keeping the series level had gone.

Khan, the most experienced of the India attack, bowled well but you can’t help but feel he, Singh, Kumble and Santh have had the best conditions. The first day was a critical moment with the toss going India’s way and it’s sad to think that the decision has just about decided the outcome of this game, and England’s hopes of winning the series.

What was I saying last week? Every line I typed was optimistic. Everything. Now just eight days later and every team I associate myself with has stuttered, or in Gillingham’s case, stalled.

Not that we should be surprised. There has been little cause for celebration since the Gills dropped to League One with finances, attendances and quality of players sliding down the mire-ridden slope that comes with relegation. The mood of the club has since been negative and many of the message boards have become cynical of the chairman, manager and anything that is stamped with the name Gillingham, and in most cases rightly so.

But this summer has heralded a change. We forked out £200,000 for a defender, players seen as greedy or useless joined other clubs and word from the stands was positive. Some said manager Ronnie Jepson was undertaking a post-season revolution that would see us turn the corner and that we should be aiming for the play-offs. Paul Scally promised success to prospective season ticket holders and that anything less than promotion would be deemed a failure. All of this ended yesterday though.

Now friendlies are not something to be taken too seriously. Managers often field a select 15 that includes youngsters, frequent substitutions and more tactics than a war in Vietnam. But a 5-0 drubbing at the hands of your local rivals does not set a positive tone and yesterday is a massive setback to those who saw improvement. Admittedly I wasn’t present, but from what I have read in the 24 hours since the mauling, it is clear that plenty of work is still to be done – match fitness, energy and the right formula need to be found with only two weeks before the season gets underway. If not, relegation looms.

Similarly, England’s cricketers have struggled after an impressive performance at Lord’s last week. A moist Trent Bridge pitch was not something they needed having lost the toss and inevitably the batsmen struggled against the new ball, finally capitulating for 198. India’s middle four have struggled for form, meaning it was only a matter of time before they came good. Tendulkar, the obvious target with a test record that includes 11,000 runs, showed why such doubts were and still are unfounded – his 91 today proves that age hasn’t yet caught up with his abilities and why he still holds a big influence on the outcome of this series. England were unlucky not to win the last match, but they’ll be extremely lucky to survive the next six sessions. An ability to do so will leave the series poised for a winner-takes-all finale, something that Vaughan and co. would take right now.

There really is plenty of sport happening this weekend and I’m finding it hard to pay sufficient attention to any of it in great detail – on offer are the first test against India, the European Grand Prix, the Open Championship at Carnoustie and even Gillingham turned out for a pre-season friendly this afternoon.

First to the test match at Lord’s where England are in a very strong position going into the third day. The bowlers did a fine job this morning after an all too familiar batting collapse – it’s a little worrying that late wickets for next-to-nothing runs that happened consistently before Duncan Fletcher’s reign might be creeping back into the team again. Fletcher made a point of picking players on all-round ability (something that brought in Giles and kept out Panesar at the start of last winter’s Ashes) whereas new coach Peter Moores hasn’t approached selection in the same manner. Without the likes of Flintoff and Giles, the England tail looks very weak and it’s something that needs to be paid to attention if the team will challenge Australia in two years time. Also, Ian Bell is batting too low at number six – he has shown himself to be a decent batsman in the last couple of years but now often finds himself batting with the tail and therefore hiding his talents. He looked to be in good form yesterday, hitting his first ball through the covers for four and looking very comfortable until he was last man out. Paul Collingwood, despite his double-hundred in Australia, hasn’t been consistent like Bell has and the two should be swapped around to give the latter the most opportunity.

The bowling looked excellent though, despite early doubts about the line-up. Speaking to the India players on Tuesday about who were the favourites for the series, the majority view was that the difference had been swayed by the injuries to Harmison and Flintoff. Many of the journalists agreed in their columns in the run up to the match and it’s reassuring to see those doubts have been proven wrong. Anderson has been excellent this summer and has definitely benefited from bowling overs for Lancashire, including his five wickets in the Roses match 10 days ago. A five-for today, including the key wickets of Tendulkar and Ganguly, was well deserved and he exploited the swinging conditions like a beggar at a friend’s wedding buffet. Tremlett has also bowled with good pace and bounce and will certainly be a part of England’s future if he can evade the injuries that have plagued his career thus far. Shane Warne has been an influence and Alan Donald’s advice looks to be helping the England attack as a whole. Ryan Sidebottom also bowled well, although doubts remain as to whether his bowling would stand without swinging conditions. Both Anderson and Tremlett have pace, and in the latter’s case bounce, that mean they can adapt to different types of wickets around the world. Sidebottom is dangerous when the ball is swinging, but a hard and flat Brisbane wicket might not suit him as well. Certainly a good pick for the time, but not necessarily a long-term fixture.
The European Grand Prix might be the first in which Lewis Hamilton doesn’t finish on the podium after a high speed shunt in qualifying today. The cause seems to be a fault on the wheel attaching gun and although Hamilton was sent for hospital tests, it is hopeful he will make the grid tomorrow, albeit in 10th place. Sadly for him, his championship rivals fared well and Kimi Raikonnen stormed to pole position by three tenths of a second, a huge margin that shows the Ferrari’s recent revival isn’t a one-race show. McLaren certainly need to pick up the pace if they are to give Hamilton the car to win him a World Championship – if they don’t, there is no doubt that one of the red scarlet’s will snatch the title away from the young Brit.

At Carnoustie, things are looking good for Serigio Garcia who will take a three shot lead into the final round tomorrow. Garcia has certainly been an excellent player in the last few years, but hasn’t quite done enough to win a major title, often faltering on the last day but with Tiger struggling to find the fairways, 2007 might just be his year.

And a final word for the Gills who beat Dover in a friendly today. Gary Mulligan found the net twice in the first-half with Pugh and Crofts adding to the scoreline. 4-1 is a good opening result, but the visits of Charlton and Colchester will show where the team is really going.