AFTER a 2012 of unbridled self-congratulation, the last seven days have seen what once passed for normal service resumed in English sport.

The national football team playing our national game managed to turn in an inept performance in being beaten 4-2 in Sweden – Graham Taylor no doubt winced at the memory of such an occurrence.

That was followed on Saturday by the England rugby team, playing a sport named after a town in the English Midlands, being beaten at HQ by Australia.

And on Monday the unholy trinity was complete as England’s cricketers, playing what is really our national game, were beaten by nine wickets by India in the first Test of a four-match series on the sub-continent.

A couple of decades ago this would have been par for the course, but of late we have got a little bit more used to success with bat on willow and the oval ball – however the indignation in some quarters went a little too far.

While I have time for some of what is broadcast on Talksport’s radio shows, the station does – to mix a media metaphor – tend to be a bit ‘tabloidy’.

This sits very comfortably when it comes to the overblown and over-hyped world of Premier League football (perhaps Talkfootball would be a better name for the station), but can be incongruous when it comes to other sports.

“Is this the end of the road for this England team” one presenter yelled down the mike as he tried to whip up the debate on our cricketers’ failure in Ahmedabad.

My straight answer to that question would be to point out that this was actually the first step on the road for this England team.

Alistair Cook was in his first match as England’s permanent Test captain, but did all he could to keep his side in the game, while selection lessons will have been learned in terms of adding more spin to the attack in the shape of Monty Panesar and possibly a little more height and bounce in the form of quickie Steve Finn.

However, pinning the tag of panacea on Panesar, as some pundits seem to have done, is hardly seeing the whole picture and if England’s batsmen – yes that’s you Mr Pietersen – fail to give the bowlers anything to play with that particular selection issue becomes a moot point.

Talksport were far more at home with Roy Hodgson’s team’s destruction in Stockholm, though it is arguable how much longer they and many other media outlets can lean on the ‘Was that the best goal ever?’ line after Zlatan Ibrahimovic handed everyone a dream space filler.

But the real horror of the weekend was perpetrated at Twickenham.

If a presenter was going to go purple in the face about any issue it should have been over ‘that’ dreadful kit the England rugby union team wore.

‘Damsons In Distress’ was the pick of the punning headlines in the nationals, but even funnier was kit-maker Canterbury’s explanation for the hideous maroon and gold colours.

“The purple follows the tradition of England tracksuits of the 1970s, and the gold detailing emphasises England place as a member of rugby royalty,” was the guff offered by the company. Since when have Canterbury been taking fashion tips off Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine?