Best player
Vic Marks Kane Williamson. With minimal support he scored the runs that took New Zealand to the final; he stayed incredibly cool when defending all those low scores. And he was so classy after the final.
Andy Bull Ben Stokes, man of the match in the first game of the tournament at the Oval, and man of the match again six weeks later, in the last at Lord’s. In between, there were 465 runs, five fifties, and seven wickets in 50 parsimonious overs.
Ali Martin Stokes ushered in the tournament with a stunning catch, averaged 66 with the bat across the campaign, claimed seven wickets with the ball while going at under five runs an over, and simply refused to accept defeat in the final. Case closed.
Barney Ronay Jonny Bairstow. Fearless back-to-back tons when England had to win to save their World Cup and all its attendant baggage. A fantastically imposing, skilful, thrilling presence and the best outfielder in the world. Just don’t tell him.
Emma John Williamson. He took the entire burden of his team on his shoulders, got them to the final and even managed to be gracious in defeat.
Tanya Aldred Williamson. With a primeval calm he mustered together his troop of underdogs, led from the front, carried the weight of the batting and showed the utmost grace in the cruellest of defeats.
Best match
VM New Zealand v India was trumped by New Zealand v England, matches that offered further proof that 350+ scores are not necessary for a great game of 50-over cricket. The tournament was defined by its final.
AB On Wednesday, I’d have said the first semi-final, when New Zealand pipped India. On Thursday, I’d have said the second, when England trounced Australia. But after everything that happened at Lord’s on Sunday, there’s only one answer.
AM That would be the final, the most heart-stopping game of one-day cricket ever witnessed at the famous ground. Both sets of players were winners, really, forever able to say they were part of history.
BR Lol. Er … Let’s think shall we? Bangladesh-Pakistan had some nice moments. India losing is always an event, all the more so when it’s “a nipper” and the crowd is fully involved. But the final probably shades it, if only for the fact it was a complete mind-bending LSD trip of cricketing lunacy.
EJ Clearly the last one. But West Indies v New Zealand ran it close – it also had more dynamic individual performances, a see-sawing narrative, multiple Sheldon Cottrell salutes and a lot more sixes than the final.
TA The final: the greatest match in the history of one-day cricket, if not all cricket, with heartbreak and joy divided only by the number of boundaries. A highly commended, too, for every game at Old Trafford, especially the semi-final.
Best moment
VM Stokes’ catch at the Oval launched the tournament brilliantly but Martin Guptill gets the gong for his run out of MS Dhoni at Old Trafford and that throw at Lord’s which prompted the ricochet.
AB The last half-hour of the final. In the middle of it, if I had to pick just one out of the catch that wasn’t, the ricochet that flew away for six, the final run-outs and the rest, it might just be the way Jofra Archer closed out the super over.
AM Jos Buttler gathering the throw from Jason Roy and demolishing the stumps to win the World Cup for what is a hard-working, talented and diverse England team. Hard to see how that can be topped.
BR The redemption of Stokes. The last three years have left some genuine marks. He has fought and dug in and worked to repay his teammates. He can let it go now.
EJ Tempted to say the Stokes bat deflection, but it feels unkind. So how about Martin Guptill’s glory moment, running out MS Dhoni in the semi, while Ian Smith screamed “IS THIS THE WORLD CUP?” It wasn’t, but it might have been.
TA When Eoin Morgan gave the ball to Archer for the super over, trusting his youngest, newest bowler with the World Cup’s most pressurised moments. That ability to hold their nerve was utterly astonishing.
Best fans
VM Bangladesh. They travelled far and filled every corner of Taunton’s County Ground, including a prestigious area in one of the pavilions, prompting the innocent query: “Are they members?”
AB Pakistan’s, and in particular the guy dressed as a sheikh who arrived for the match against India at Old Trafford riding a white shirehorse down Talbot Road. I’ve no idea where he parked it.
AM Pakistan’s supporters took over Edgbaston for their side’s group game against New Zealand and turned the noise up to 11. Have never covered a louder cricket match in this country. Bangladesh a close second.
BR The Anglo-south Asian presence, with the exception of the hoolies at the Pakistan-Afghanistan. This was a World Cup that showcased the mixed nature of the UK population. Often this was where the most heat and light came from in the stands. The challenge is to get them back in.
EJ Bangladesh. Their joyous presence at the Oval, where their team showed the rest how to create a close game, was the best possible start to the tournament. Plus everyone loves a cuddly tiger.
TA Impossible to choose: this country’s multicultural heritage meant that every nation was embraced with joy. Jacob Rees-Mogg wins worst fan for his utter misunderstanding of what cricket is about.
Biggest grumble
VM The constant fear that an excellent tournament was taking place yet it was only the preserve of the dedicated few in this country while being consumed eagerly overseas. At least sanity prevailed for the final.
AB That more of the tournament was not available on free-to-air TV, blame the ECB and the ICC for their money-grubbing broadcast strategies, which price the terrestrial stations out of bidding for the rights.
AM The ECB’s “not us, guv” spin whenever they fielded questions about the TV rights, as if the ICC is independently-run and they have zero influence from their seat at the top table. Laughable stuff, really.
BR The format is wrong. World Cups need at least three knockout rounds. Take a hit on the guaranteed Indian TV money. They’ll still be there to the end anyway.
EJ That most people in the UK had little idea their country was hosting a Cricket World Cup until the final. Sky’s generous agreement to share coverage on free-to-air TV was too little too late.
TA The tournament’s half-arsed attitude to sustainability. The competition played lip-service to the idea of being green, despite most of the playing nations being at the heart of the climate emergency.
One thing I’d change for 2023...
VM The format changes every time. So does my view of the best one. Currently, I favour 14 teams, two groups of seven, a passage to the semi-final for the group winners, “quarter-finals” for the other four qualifying teams. This means fewer games and a slightly shorter tournament – so the ICC may not like it.
AB Kill off the Royal Stag adverts, for one, with their ear-bleeding jingle. If you want to fill grounds with families, don’t then try and flog them whisky. Especially if the whisky is Royal Stag.
AM Would be head-to-head results between sides before net run-rate in the hierarchy of tie-breakers for the group table(s). It just seems like a simpler method for the wider public to understand.
BR Expand it to 12 teams. World Cups need to spread the game not concentrate its energy in one place. And as for the cricketarist … I will look for you. I will find you … And I will kill you.
EJ I’d like to see the cricketarist replaced by musical entertainment that’s both musical and entertains. And less American-style forced fun on the big screens between overs – no one needs snack cam, or Lord’s trying to Make It Large.
TA Other than get it on free-to-air TV … ensure that the scoreboards do what they say they’ll do. Too often they were plastered with adverts at crucial times – irritating for regulars, hopeless for new fans.
Next time around England will …
VM … not be accustomed to 50-over cricket since none of the best ones will have played this format in county cricket for four years. It’s been a grand tournament, but the ECB has relegated the 50-over game; it becomes developmental and peripheral from now onwards. However, if they reduce matches to 100 balls per side in 2023 the rest of the world had better watch out.
AB … keep getting bowled out in 16.4 overs because all their players will have spent the past four years playing in The Hundred?
AM … probably still be in decent shape given the ages of those currently in the team and some very good players of spin. With domestic 50-over cricket set to become second-class, it’s further down the line where you worry.
BR … have a completely different team. Only Archer in the current one is under 28. The top three will be 33 or 32 and the best bowler from the final will be 38. The question is whether there’s a layer of talent waiting to come through. The back-up batting here suggests it’s quite a big question.
EJ … have some World Cup winners in their team. And that’s a first.
TA … not be able to top that. I hope the viewing figures for the final compared with what went before will persuade the ICC to sell at least some of their rights to free-to-air broadcasters.
Comments (…)
Sign in or create your Guardian account to join the discussion