LEEDS, July 2: Rarely can a misprint in a press release have proved so prophetic.

Before England's World Cup quarter-final defeat against Portugal, officials at Headingley – where the England cricket team were playing Sri Lanka at the same time – issued a statement saying “poignant” moments of the football would be shown on the ground's big screen during gaps in play.

Fears the football might overshadow the cricket proved unfounded to the extent that Sri Lanka's crushing win with a huge 75 balls to spare meant there was no cricket action to distract the crowd from watching England's latest penalty shoot-out failure.

But, even allowing for the cricketers' poor performances in a series they lost 5-0 to Sri Lanka, no-one at Headingley could have planned for both the cricket and football to dovetail quite as well as they did.—AFP