I think I may be personally responsible for England's bad form against Australia in all sports between 1988 and 2003...
I emigrated to Australia in 1988... I began loudly proclaiming that England would wipe the floor with Australia in all sports... they then spectacularly lost the Ashes 4-0 in 1989... we then proceeded to be utter shite in pretty much every sport... we lost against Australia everything from rugby league, to union, the olympics, even football (and I was at that game)... we were dire!
Boy did I cop some shit from my mates in Australia over that 15 year period!!...
Then, in August 2003 I moved to America... three months later, Martin Johnson is holding the world cup aloft... and the cricket team has started to eclipse the Australian team...
Ribbing your mates isn't the same over the phone or by email... I bloody wish I was in Australia right now to serve it to my mates!... but then again, if I was over there, we'd probably be getting pumped in the cricket and Australia would again have the William Webb Ellis Trophy.