As some of you may know I've been in Australia for the cricket World Cup, I did say I'd post a bit from the England games but being honest we played so disappointingly I didn't have the enthusiasm for it. Disappointing tournament for us and a hole in my wallet going to follow them. Fortunately I've run off to New Zealand and its a beautiful country! Forgetting England though I think the tournament has been very exciting some absolutely cracking games, particularly South Africa vs New Zealand the other day which was brilliant. Could well be one of the last 50 over world cups if t20 continues to bloom... What did you guys think, was the coverage at home any good after England's poor show? Shame I'm missing all the fun with Norwich, but if we play well when I'm not in the country maybe I should think about emigrating.
I think the combination of all games being played overnight, together with England's absolutely dismal form, served to blunt the passion of even the most die-hard Cricket fans on this side of the world. I go into every World Cup (Football, Rugby(ish), Cricket) with that unwarranted enthusiasm that a lifetime, well 34 years, following England should have by now tempered. I don't know why I do it. Kicked in the teeth time after time. Anyway, England failing so spectacularly meant that interest in the tournament as a whole dwindled pretty early on. That's what I sense anyway. The usual excellent coverage on Sky I would say for those who have the time. Of course there were a few really good matches, and, as expected, some mind-blowing individual innings', but I don't think it will go down as a classic.
I agree with Fleet. Too many one-sided matches where one team won by 100+ runs, etc. The NZ vs South Africa semi-final was sensational stuff, as was the group game between Ireland and Zimbabwe that went to the final over. Saddest thing really was how many iconic cricketers have called it a day as far as 50 over competitions are concerned. Sangakarra, Jayawardene, 'Boom-Boom' Afridi, Misbah, Brendan Taylor, Michael Clarke - oh, and in my dreams Gary Ballance, Eion Morgan..... Hope you had a great time out there, Billy, regardless of England's swift and gut-wrenchingly inept demise
Yeah I thought it may not have captured the imagination at home as much, fortunately out here in both New Zealand and Australia the coverage and hype aroud the whole thing has been amazing so maybe I'm looking at it through tinted glasses. I can see what you mean by thrashings but I think there's been plenty of really good games, the first New Zealand vs Australia was a corker. Shame it's not really taken off in England but I think the format may be doomed with the razzmatazz of iPl and t20
Isn't there plans to get an English IPL-type competition off the ground shortly? With city based franchises?
For obvious reasons it was pretty popular here in Aus. Time difference (and winning the thing) helps of course but it was a great tournament for the neutral fan too with some really exciting games, some won on the final ball. A lot of fans travelled here from Asia in most cases drowning out the locals for noise and colour. 93000 at the final is a pretty healthy interest in this format. If you're only interested in Eng games then I'll understand it wasn't a classic!
It's not that I'm only interested in England games - I'm a big cricket fan in general. But I don't think I would have kept my job if I'd attempted to watch most of the other games and, the main thing I meant, was that England's lack of form / likeliness to go home early, took away that 'who are we going to play in the knockout stages'?...'How are they playing?'....'Can we beat them?' thinking, if that makes sense!
