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.