IAIN Balshaw felt for England's cricketers in Sri Lanka this week.

After suffering some dodgy umpiring decisions they slumped to defeat in the first Test.

The media coverage wasn't too damning, probably because the Series win over Pakistan is still fresh in the memory, but it is only a matter of time.

In contrast, England's Six Nations team are the media darlings. The usually cynical hacks are hailing Clive Woodward's side as one of the most exciting for years.

Odds-on for the Six Nations and hot favourites for the Grand Slam, Balshaw and his England teammates are riding high after two wins from two in this year's Six Nations.

But it could have all been so different.

And Balshaw knows it.

At 13 he was preparing to leave St Mary's prep school and move on to Stonyhurst.

He excelled at three sports: tennis, rugby union and Cricket.

But he didn't feel he could continue with all three, so he chose one.

Had he chosen cricket, he may well have ended up on that tour to Sri Lanka.

"I chose rugby because I enjoyed it more," he said.

"Cricket is just standing around being bored.

"And I am glad I didn't take that further having seen some of the umpiring decisions in Sri Lanka!

"I wouldn't have wanted to have been a part of that.

"And I gave up tennis because of boarding school and the amount of time I would have had to practise.

"You have to practise for about four hours a day to get to the top in tennis.

"These people practise phenomenal hours, like in most sports." So rugby it was, and Balshaw and his parents chose the right school for it, quite accidentally it seems.

Stonyhurst was, at that time, nurturing the likes of Kyran Bracken, who would later play for England, and current England star Will Greenwood, who was a pupil at St Mary's.

Balshaw was involved in the most successful rugby sevens team Stonyhurst has ever produced.

The side won every sevens competition they entered and Balshaw was the star of the show.

"A lot of people helped me when I was at school," said Balshaw. "At prep school Ken Webster and Chris Moxon encouraged me and then going onto Stonyhurst Simon Charles was my coach.

"I thoroughly enjoyed it there. My parents lived on site because my dad was the caretaker -- he still is -- but I boarded.

"Seeing all the players who have come out of Stonyhurst, like Will Greenwood and Kyran Bracken, you would think it was a really great rugby school but it didn't seem like that at the time. There didn't seem to be anything special about it.

"I went there not just because of rugby, but because it was best for my education, sport, everything.

"But hopefully there will be many more players come through from the school."

At 18, Balshaw was picked up by Bath and he was soon in the plans of England coach Clive Woodward.

He made his Twickenham debut against Ireland last year.

"Playing at Twickenham was like living a boyhood dream," said Balshaw, who is still only 21.

His early chances with England were restricted to substitute appearances until he hit the headlines late last year for inspiring a famous win over Australia after coming on late. But he is maybe more famous for being the player who refused to accept he had had a good game against Wales in the Six Nations opener this year.

Despite widespread admiration of the young player's pace, skill and exciting play, Balshaw couldn't get his mind off two tackles he missed.

"I thought Clive and the players would expect better from me, but they were fine about it," he said.

"It was nice to hear praise and read nice things but I couldn't hide from the things I did wrong.

"I missed two tackles. That irritated me a bit."

So after hours spent poring over a video of the game and several more spent out on the training pitch with defensive coach Phil Larder Balshaw felt he had done enough to correct the problem.

And in the next game against Italy at Twickenham, he allowed himself to be pleased.

"I was happier with my performance against Italy than against Wales," he said. "I just hope my performances can improve even more.

"Overall, though, the Six Nations is going very well. We have had two wins from two games and you can't hope for more than that."

Balshaw was this week preparing for today's game against Scotland in the Calcutta Cup at Twickenham.

The Scots were being given the utmost respect from the England camp after last season's shock defeat in the final game which denied the English the Grand Slam.

"It is going to be another tough game," said Balshaw.

But not as tough as being an England cricketer.