Cricket is a game which is striving to be more popular while firmly hanging onto the traditional posh clobber. Various forms of the game now provide a healthy living across the world. The introduction of the shorter game series really has helped push audience numbers up. It reminds me a lot of darts, most spectators are there for a piss up and some good patter.
The forms of the game.
Test Cricket – the red ball and oldest form where games are played over a number of days. ‘Overs’ (the bowling of 6 balls) are unlimited and its a slog until the batting side have no one left, teams then swap sides and do it all again for another 2 days…a tough watch.
20/20 Cricket – the game that makes it much more bearable. 20 overs batting, and 20 bowling for each team. Basic, faster and more aggressive form of the game. Teams send out batsmen looking to score big runs, and quickly. 4 runs for a ball reaching the boundary after hitting the ground, 6 if it flies over!
50 over Cricket – the world cup form sees 50 over cricket in a round robin structure and this year featured 10 teams: England, New Zealand, West Indies, India, Australia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and South Africa.
The ICC Cricket World Cup.
Like most world cups, the cricket world cup comes round every 4 years. Although formats have changed over the years, the One Day International and ‘White Ball’ format certainly suits the number of games required to play! Preliminary qualification rounds take place throughout the years and given the popularity in India and Pakistan, the world cup is regarded as one of the most viewed sporting events around the globe.
The World Cup TrophyThe story so far…
With the round robin format, each team played 9 games and the top 4 seeded teams would then qualify for the Semi-finals. Over the first 6 weeks the group stage games were held between England and Wales in a number of stadiums. The results means India, Australia, England and New Zealand all went into the Semi finals with everyone else packing their bags.
Semi Finals
India were widely expected to walk into the final but a shock defeat to New Zealand meant a large number of the viewing population now didn’t have a team to follow. New Zealand won by 18 runs at Old Trafford (no, not the football one) on Wednesday.
England kicked off their semi final on Thursday against Australia and made light work of it. Bowling first at Edgbaston in Birmingham, Australia were all out for just 223 runs. England surpassed that with 8 batsmen still sitting with their cup of tea.
The final.
Neither side has ever lifted the World Cup with current world number 1’s England losing in the final 3 times and New Zealand’s best result their runners-up medal in 2015.
New Zealand enjoyed a long unbeaten run at the beginning of the tournament but saw their form dip in the latter stages of round-robin competition, they were the last team to secure a place in the top four. England beat New Zealand by 119 runs in the group stages and finished with 12 points, qualifying in 3rd spot.
Kane Williamson has carried much of the responsibility for ensuring the Black Caps have scored enough runs. Williamson is the only Black Cap to have scored a hundred in the 2019 Cricket World Cup.
Kane Williamson of the Black Caps
New Zealand have bowled very well to make up for some poor batting. Lockie Ferguson and Matt Henry have sent 49 batsmen on their way over the course of the tournament.
While for the English – Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow have reached the century mark twice while Jason Roy, Jos Buttler and skipper Eoin Morgan have all made hundreds.
Bowlers Chris Woakes and Jofra Archer sent the home team on their way by helping dismiss the Aussies for 223.
The pitch…
The 22 yard long surface at Lord’s has always had a reputation of being suitable for all. Although pitches can differ in so many ways, it seems everyones content with the Lord’s pitch.
In four matches played at Lord’s prior to the Cricket World Cup final two teams have managed to get past 300 runs and both sides won. All four games won by the team batting first. In three of the four matches, the side batting second has been bowled out rather than reaching the 50 over limit! They say pitches evolve in cricket, so winning the coin toss might be the most important part on Sunday.
Sunday
Although not my personal highlight for Sunday viewing, the Cricket world cup faces strong sporting competition with the Wimbledon mens final and the British F1 Grand Prix. If you do chose to watch this over either of the above, be sure to enjoy it!
Prediction – England win.
Cheers!
Post Match Pints 