CWC Day 1
So the Cricket World Cup is finally underway and it was quite the start.
98 seemed to be the deciding number today. It was the number of runs the New Zealand team beat Sri Lanka by and it was the score James Taylor was stranded on after the umpires prematurely and incorrectly ended the match between Australia and England.
First things first. Congratulations to New Zealand team on their resounding win over Sri Lanka. A wonderful all-round performance from a very exciting team.
Congratulations also to Australia. They were great and we were…not so great.
There were highlights though:
Finn’s Hat-Trick (and five-for)
The partnership between Taylor and Woakes
James Taylor’s innings of 98*
The Australia highlights (apart from their batting, bowling and fielding) were: that amazing catch by Steve Smith, Marsh’s five-for and Finch’s 135.
It’s just such a shame that it had to end the way it did.
Australia were going to win, there’s no doubt about that, but there was every chance that James Taylor could have got a hundred. Now, I truly respect the umpires and the two officiating today are amongst my favourites (shh, I can have favourite umpires) but to make the decision they did (with the assistance of the third umpire) was, to use Jason Gillespie’s words, ‘a farce’. The ICC has now admitted they were wrong and that the game should have continued but it’s a bit late for that.
An ICC statement can’t get the game restarted at that moment. It can’t give a player who had worked incredibly hard to salvage at least some dignity for his team a chance to get his maiden ODI century/ century on World Cup debut.
Maybe it wouldn’t have changed things at all. Maybe he would have been bowled the next delivery or run-out or he might have nicked one to slip. Or maybe he’d have done it. Maybe he would have got his century. Maybe he could have added another ten/twenty runs so we wouldn’t have been thrashed by such a margin. Also, who knows what this might mean later in the competition if it comes down to run-rate…
It’s done now though. That decision, Morgan’s latest duck, the painful amount of runs conceded at the death, that’s all been and gone. Now it’s time to put our best bats forward (or feet if you’re bowlers) and get ready for Friday’s match against New Zealand. We can turn everything around, we just need to keep our heads up and believe.
#LoveEngland
98 seemed to be the deciding number today. It was the number of runs the New Zealand team beat Sri Lanka by and it was the score James Taylor was stranded on after the umpires prematurely and incorrectly ended the match between Australia and England.
First things first. Congratulations to New Zealand team on their resounding win over Sri Lanka. A wonderful all-round performance from a very exciting team.
Congratulations also to Australia. They were great and we were…not so great.
There were highlights though:
Finn’s Hat-Trick (and five-for)
The partnership between Taylor and Woakes
James Taylor’s innings of 98*
The Australia highlights (apart from their batting, bowling and fielding) were: that amazing catch by Steve Smith, Marsh’s five-for and Finch’s 135.
It’s just such a shame that it had to end the way it did.
Australia were going to win, there’s no doubt about that, but there was every chance that James Taylor could have got a hundred. Now, I truly respect the umpires and the two officiating today are amongst my favourites (shh, I can have favourite umpires) but to make the decision they did (with the assistance of the third umpire) was, to use Jason Gillespie’s words, ‘a farce’. The ICC has now admitted they were wrong and that the game should have continued but it’s a bit late for that.
An ICC statement can’t get the game restarted at that moment. It can’t give a player who had worked incredibly hard to salvage at least some dignity for his team a chance to get his maiden ODI century/ century on World Cup debut.
Maybe it wouldn’t have changed things at all. Maybe he would have been bowled the next delivery or run-out or he might have nicked one to slip. Or maybe he’d have done it. Maybe he would have got his century. Maybe he could have added another ten/twenty runs so we wouldn’t have been thrashed by such a margin. Also, who knows what this might mean later in the competition if it comes down to run-rate…
It’s done now though. That decision, Morgan’s latest duck, the painful amount of runs conceded at the death, that’s all been and gone. Now it’s time to put our best bats forward (or feet if you’re bowlers) and get ready for Friday’s match against New Zealand. We can turn everything around, we just need to keep our heads up and believe.
#LoveEngland