Pain and blame

I'm a believer in fate, so when I was told that being sent to a speed awareness course was the best thing that could have happened to me I believed it.

Now nobody wants to go to one of these courses.

It cost me £90 plus petrol for driving over 90 minutes to get there and back.

It's also fair to say finding out I had been clocked doing 80mph in a 70mph left me feeling like Ross in Friends - "I'm fine, no problem," when really all I wanted to do was smash up everything around me in a violent rage then use my work phone to ring someone I know, but who would not recognise the number, and shout abuse at them down the phone before hanging up and stamping all over the phone and chucking it against a wall.

Seriously, I was that pissed off. I thought I was getting three points on my licence which in turn would mean my insurance would go up in price, which would probably mean I'd sell my car, which would then make me have to get a train everytime I want to go to Nottingham. And trains are overpriced, cramped and always late except for the one time when you are not there bang on time and it actually decides to leave early.

But I left my course in January a different person. I wasn't quite going to become a missionary and give all my earnings to charity, but I did feel as if I had had the most intense educational experience of my life.

I learnt that the difference between 30 and 32 mph can mean stopping in front of someone and hitting them at a speed quick enough to cause serious damage.

I learnt that the survival rate of someone hit at 30mph is 80%. At 40mph that becomes 20%.

I saw the devastation of a family who had lost their daughter from a driver who was marginally speeding over the 30mph limit.

I saw a reconstruction of a horrendous motorway crash and how so many people ended up piled on because they did not leave anywhere near enough of a gap between the vehicle in front of them.

In 2013, 3,064 people were killed or seriously injured in crashes where speed was a factor.

You could see the horrified reactions of the people in the room as videos and stats hit them one after the other.

The devastation of a road accident was brought home to me recently by the trial of Debra Weston, a Nottingham woman who caused the death of Stephen and Samantha Durber and left their three-year-old son Lucas as an orphan.

She had not been drinking or on drugs and she was not even speeding. Quite simply, Weston seemed to veer into the wrong lane and, on trying to correct herself, lost control of her car.

She received 12 months for death by careless driving, but in reality she will live a life sentence of her own.

When you think that in the past year someone was clocked doing 128mph in a 30mph limit and that countless people get caught over the drink-drive limit, there are a lot of motorists out there who are lucky.

I know having written this that I'm bound to be involved in an accident soon, but if I can convince anyone to drive a little slower then I'll be pleased.

Not everyone will be lucky to be caught by a camera.

Sporting pain

Being a Forest fan and England fan generally feels like being repeatedly kicked in the nuts.

There's the sporting nadir of play-off defeats, Ashes whitewashes and underachievement in major tournaments.

Initially, like the initial contact on your scrotum, the pain of the defeat leaves you bent over as it's so raw and hard to take.

Once the initial shock disappears it's then the months of lingering disappointment and anger before slowly rousing yourself to go again. That's like the throbbing pain in your stomach which takes a long time to disappear before you finally feel like moving again.

Of course as a Forest and England fan there is the odd moment of fleeting glory. An encounter which, so unexpected, leaves you feeling joyful and leaves you with that sweet taste of success.

It's only a fleeting taste and all it does is leave a deep craving for more, which in turn only makes the next collapse, last day defeat or ritual spanking that even harder to take.

With that background it's worth taking a look at recent events at Forest.

I was in a minority who did not want Steve Cotterill sacked when he was here. I was then annoyed when Sean O'Driscoll was sacked with Forest in touching distance of the play-offs and having just beaten Leeds in thrilling fashion.

I wasn't disappointed to see Billy Davies or Stuart Pearce appointed even though I thought both were brought in by Fawaz to get the fans on side after some bad publicity. Which frankly was deserved when Alex McLeish was hired.

Now? I just feel embarrassed by the club. Under a transfer embargo, not paying clubs what we owe them then sacking a club legend and replacing him a couple of hours later.

It turns out Dougie Freeman was hired for the simple reason that he was available which makes perfect long-term planning.

It also later turns out that he is only a three month contract, although this might be extended.

People I used to meet always said how they liked Forest and wished we would be back in the top flight. That good faith is being tested.

It says a lot that our slide down the league table this season didn't annoy me that much. In fact, it was the terrible slump in form which made a heavy loss to Derby all the more likely. Which, as alluded to earlier, made the last minute, comeback winner that so much sweeter.

There was Pearce celebrating in the dug-out, the glorious Andy Reid was in the stands lapping it up, the camera spun to Fawaz who took a break from crafting his P45 for the manager to see what pleasure spending millions of pounds could actually bring.

What a moment, what a match. Again, as I said earlier that's the moment of unexpected bliss which is soon followed by a complete and utter pile of piss and things go back to normal and you're 3-0 down at Fulham after half-an-hour.

Fawaz, who has been playing air-guitar all around his 30 acre pad in celebration at the Derby result, suddenly remembers that he left Pearce's P45 at the iPro and a few days later he is sacked.

It's just an utter shambles. And just like Pearce before him, and Davies before him, and O'Driscoll before him, Freedman starts off with a few wins and everyone is happy again even though the season is already over and the next one is already in trouble with Britt Assombalonga out injured for a large part of it.

To be honest, if you hire enough managers to a good side one is eventually going to do well. So Freedman may well be doing the Dougie in celebration next May. Or maybe in November we will be outside the play-offs and he will be sacked, the chairman will refuse to talk the media because it accurately reports what he said, Reid will be injured again and thus somehow miss out on the Ballon d'Or which he is long overdue,

And we will not pay for the players we have bought, our new chief executive will walk out and we will start this cycle all over again with Pierre van Hooijdonk as the manager, Eugen Bopp as his assistant and Eugene Dadi the director of football.

Marlon Harewood will then be re-signed but fail a medical because he can't read a number plate from 30 yards away and Derby will be in Europe under Shteve McClaren.

To continue the theme...

The first week of the World Cup has pretty much gone to script. Australia and New Zealand have been convincing winners, England decided to change their side last minute and have been smashed.

Pakistan have made no runs, Ireland have beaten a Test side and South Africa have collapsed chasing a target.

Batsmen have scored big runs and there has been plenty of long hitting.

Whilst I'm here, it's worth giving a quick update on how the marathon tournament is unfolding.

England

I didn't expect much so I'm not disappointed. I wrote last week the batsmen find it tough to score 300 and there is no variety to the bowling and it showed.

Being hammered by two really good sides doesn't annoy me. What I hate are the last-minute changes to the side. Why have we put inGary Ballance at three, pushed James Taylor down to six and, to a lesser extent, not given Chris Woakes the new ball?

Peter Moores chose his Test side this summer and largely stuck with it despite losing. He was rewarded with three wins at the end.

But with the ODI team it's hard to have much confidence in him.

In his first series against Sri Lanka, the top three was Alastair Cook, Ian Bell and Ballance.

Against India, Cook, Alex Hales and Bell started in the top three. Ballance and Moeen Ali also featured at three.

Away at Sri Lanka. First match is Cook, Ali and Bell. That later becomes Cook, Ali and Hales, then Hales, Ali and Taylor when Cook was suspended. Then Cook, Ali and Taylor, before ending with Cook, Ali and Hales.

Then it's the beginning of the tri-series in Australia against the hosts and it's Bell, Ali and Taylor.

There is finally some continuity as those three play five matches in a row.

So on the opening day of the World Cup... Ballance comes in at three.

What chance are we giving ourselves? Why are players who have been dropped suddenly getting straight back in?

England wasted their summer by playing with Cook at the top for so long.

The summer in domestic cricket showed that Hales, Taylor and Ben Stokes were match winners.

Jason Roy at the top of the order deserved a go in Sri Lanka.

If England wanted a tall quick to take with them, I would have also gone with Boyd-Rankin over Steven Finn who still lacks pace.

It's a fine line in cricket between changing too many players or none at all as it's hard to suddenly bring someone in and expect them to be in form.

Still, England are favourites to win their remaining four group matches. They need to win at least three and to do so with a team who can then take on and beat three other big sides in knock-out matches.

For me, that team would have included Stokes and Adil Rashid. Possibly Roy if he had had the chance to stake a place.

But with the players available, I'm going: Hales, Bell, Taylor, Root, Morgan, Buttler, Ali, Jordan, Woakes, Broad, Anderson.

The team I would have liked at the start of the Sri Lanka tour was: Hales, Roy, Root, Stokes, Morgan, Buttler, Ali, Rashid, Jordan, Woakes, Boyd Rankin.

Broad and Anderson would then have come in once fit, probably for Jordan and Boyd Rankin. Taylor would have been next in line with the batting, although he has done really well since selected.

Anyway, let's really hope England get out the groups and maybe catch India on a day when the ball swings.

Elsewhere

Australia have only played one match and that was against England, so we won't know how good they are until they play a decent side.

South Africa contrived to collapse embarrassingly against India to give their side a taster of what to expect when they reach the knock-out matches.

New Zealand are in absolutely top form, which means they will probably win all six group matches then lose their first knockout match to really mess me about.

India, who ridiculously were longer odds than England at one point, have scored heavily. This is vital with their poor bowling attack. Virat Kohli has shown why I think he is the best ODI batsman in the world.

Sri Lanka rely heavily on Lasith Malinga who looks like he has indulged himself a bit too much whilst injured and is bowling like a medium-pacer. They were my dark horse tip, but their bowlers look out of form.

Pakistan are doing even worse than England, somehow. West Indies are scoring runs, but surely will embarrass themselves soon.

Pool B is beautifully open with Ireland and Zimbabwe both feeling they can qualify.

Book in for bed and breakfast... for six weeks

The most over-blown, badly organised, major sporting event.

I admit this is hardly going to entice you to keep reading, but I hope seeing me badly predict what will happen at the Cricket World Cup is worth doing.

With a rough guide to the big teams, predictions for the tournament, Lamy's guaranteed-to-fail bets and my Dream XI, hopefully this blog will be as sharp and dynamic as a Glenn Maxwell cameo.

Group A

England
Australia
New Zealand
Sri Lanka
Bangladesh
Afghanistan
Scotland

England

Judging by the form guide, England are in the group of death. That's not saying much as there are only two groups, but it wouldn't be a World Cup without the obligatory group of death for us all to pore over in giddy excitement.

Dropping Alastair Cook will help their chances, but too much attention was paid on Cook's poor form. England's problems are much deeper.

The recent tri-series showed a welcome return of top order runs, but in the last decade England have only scored 300 on 21 occasions. Other than against Bangladesh, their highest score is 340.

India, in contrast, have scored 300 on 53 occasions.

At least if Ian Bell continues his good form, England fans will be in such a massive state of elation and satisfaction that they won't even notice the routine hammering being handed out.

The bowling is slightly less of a concern, with James Anderson one of the best with the new ball. But with nothing other than right-arm fast-medium and right-arm off spin, containing sides on good pitches will be really difficult.

Assuming England will make it to the quarter-finals is not a clever idea. Bangladesh and Afghanistan will both think they can win and Scotland seem to have the Midas touch under Paul Collingwoodl

However, should they get through as expected, as long as they avoid South Africa in the quarter-finals, England should not be worried by who they face.

Australia

A huge, hard-hitting batting line-up who are all in form. Two fast, slingy, wicket-taking left-arm bowlers. Confidence in abundance. Non-stop-winning this season and home conditions.

In terms of a build-up, Australia couldn't be in a much better place.

There are some injury concerns though. Captain Michael Clarke is desperately trying to get himself fit which is taking up a lot of attention. Key all-rounder James Faulkner is also an injury doubt. His absence would be a bigger blow than losing Clarke.

The only other concern is the lack of a world-class spinner, but that is a position most sides are in. Distractions over Clarke's fitness appear to be the only way for the Aussies to lose their momentum, unless David Warner decides to try and punch Joe Root in the opening fixture.

New Zealand

Another team with a long batting line-up and players in form. Like Australia, New Zealand go into the tournament full of confidence and with home advantage.

Kane Williamson's last 16 ODI scores read: 71, 77, 65, 60, 88, 10, 70*, 46, 123, 97, 15, 103, 26, 97, 54, 112.

So just the 12 scores over 50.

Brendon McCullum is breaking records, Ross Taylor is in great touch, Corey Anderson has the second-fastest international ton of all time and wicket-keeper Luke Ronchi recently whacked 170* off 99 balls.

The bowling attack has a lot of depth to it as well with left-arm and right-arm options in the pace and spin department.

A lack of quality reserve batsmen could be a worry, but for the first time in a while New Zealand go into this tournament as strong contenders rather than dark horses.

Sri Lanka

Speaking of dark horses, Sri Lanka are very much under the radar. A lot depends on the fitness of Lasith Malinga.

If he can find his form in the group stages, Sri Lanka will be a tough side to beat. The experienced Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene all come into the tournament in-form and knowing this is their last World Cup.

The bowling has suffered recently in New Zealand and against India. But Sachithra Senanayake and Rangana Herath are decent spin options, and it was only last year that Malinga and Nuwan Kulasekara bowled brilliantly to take Sri Lanka to victory in the World T20 final.

At least nine of that side could start this tournament.

The lack of a settled opener alongside Dilshan is a concern, but Sri Lanka have excellent World Cup records. In their last six tournaments in the 50 over and 20 over World Cups, they have only failed to reach the final once. That includes being runners-up in the 2007 and 2011 50 over events.

The rest

Playing outside the sub-continent will make life hard for Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

Bangladesh know that one win against a major nation could see them through and they come into the tournament with some confidence having whitewashed Zimbabwe, although that was a few months ago now.

Left-arm spinner Taijul Islam has made a cracking start to his career, Mominul Haque has four Test hundreds from 12 matches and there is experience and the potential for explosive displays from Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan and Mashrafe Mortaza.

Afghanistan are extremely hit-and-miss and will not go down wondering. Their recent form against fellow Associate nations is respectable, and if Hamid Hassan stays fit they have a fast bowler who can cause damage.

Scotland are the weakest side in the group, but having Paul Collingwood on-board has galvanised them. This includes a staggering 179 win over Ireland in a warm-up match followed by a three run loss to the West Indies after a late collapse.

Group B

South Africa
India
West Indies
Pakistan
Ireland
Zimbabwe
UAE

South Africa

Hashim Amla, Ab De Villiers and Dale Steyn and would get into any side at the moment, with Imran Tahir not far behind.

The batting is strong and the bowling attack is arguably the best around.

But with South Africa there is so much more to it than just their side, having never won a knockout match in this event.

That should change this time, but they will almost certainly have a tough quarter-final contest.

The issue for them is they are missing a James Faulkner figure. Their batting and bowling is a player light. Farhaan Behardien as the seventh batsman and fifth/sixth bowler looks the weak link in the side. If he plays well, though, South Africa will feel really confident of contesting the final.

India

Reigning World Cup and Champions Trophy champions. It seems ludicrous that you can get longer odds on India to win than England.

But India have fallen into the trap of touring Australia before a World Cup, and having not won a single match on tour and with a lot more hotel rooms to check-in to, it is hard to see how they can rouse themselves.

There is hope, of course. The batsmen have enviable records on paper - Virat Kohli is probably the best ODI batsman in the world, Rohit Sharma has two double hundreds in the format and MS Dhoni can provide inspirational leadership and destructive late-order hitting.

No total is safe if India get going.

The problem is, they don't appear like they are going to. Their bowlers take a pasting in all formats, and over three knock-out matches you would fancy one side will hit a massive total.

India won their last global tournament in England. But this, surely, is too much to ask.

West Indies

Disarray and West Indies go together like Homer Simpson and donuts. To go into detail here would take me far too long, but having left half-way through a tour of India and not picked two of their best players for this tournament, seemingly for revenge, it is not surprising some fancy Ireland to knock them out.

Their captain is 23-year-old Jason Holder, and he will be praying Chris Gayle shows his recent T20 form rather than continue his run of one 50 in his last 17 ODI innings.

With Sunil Narine also not available, there are very few reasons to have any confidence in the West Indies challenging.

It will require Gayle, Marlon Samuels, Darren Sammy and Andre Russell to find their range. If you are a West Indies fan, you will hope they find it against Ireland. Otherwise, they might yet reach a new low.

Pakistan

Missing three of their best bowlers in Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Hafeez and Junaid Khan, it seems impossible for Pakistan to repeat their 1992 triumph Down Under.

Unusually, their batting looks the stronger suit with elder statesmen Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq and Shahid Afridi clear threats.

An opening fixture against India will be a great start to the tournament, but it's hard to see them proving much of a threat unless Afridi fires with bat and ball.

The rest

In the last six months Zimbabwe have been whitewashed in an ODI series by Bangladesh and beaten Australia.

Their two warm-up matches saw them have New Zealand 157-7 before rain intervened, and after that they chased down 280 against Sri Lanka with seven wickets and 28 balls remaining.

If they can maintain that form then they will be eyeing three wins out of six which might take them through.

Ireland have starred in the past two World Cups and will be eyeing wins against West Indies and Zimbabwe.

That opening fixture against Chris Gayle and co is huge for Ireland who must feel that a quarter-final place is a huge possibility. Recent form is not as consistent as it needs to be, but there is plenty of experience to expect that a couple of wins, if not more, is achievable.

The complete unknowns are the UAE, but having beaten Afghanistan 3-1 in a recent series, they will fancy at least one win in a group where only South Africa and India stand out.

Predictions

Winner: New Zealand

Dark horse: Sri Lanka

Top run-scorer: David Warner

Top wicket-taker: Mitchell Starc

Quarter-finals:

Australia v. West Indies - Australia win

New Zealand v. Pakistan - New Zealand win

Sri Lanka v. India - Sri Lanka win

England v. South Africa - South Africa win

Final:

Unless they meet in the semis, Australia v. New Zealand

Dream XI:

Amla, Sharma, Kohli, Sangakkara, De Villiers, Warner, Afridi, Faulkner, Johnson, Starc, Steyn