Sunday, July 11, 2004
Number 2! Number 2!
Well that was a turnround! In the triangular West Indies/England/New Zealand pajama-party*, the Kiwis were unbeaten, dumped their hosts out of the final and went on to crush the Windies by 107 runs. The Black Caps are now second only to the World Champion Australians in the short form of the game.
*One day cricket, being largely derived from Australian media magnet Kerry Packer's failed attempt to buy the nobel game of cricket and turn it into a commercial cash cow in the '70's, differs from traditional Test cricket in that the teams wear bright uniforms of different colors (*GASP!*) instead of the traditional white, the teams often play in the afternoon and night under lights so the exciting bits end up in primetime (*SHOCK!*), and people actually watch it (*HORROR!*). The emphasis is on runs (points) rather than wickets (removing batsmen) so there is a lot of big hitting, conservative bowling, and spectacular fielding. New Zealand's traditionally fragmental bowling attack has always favoured the so-called "dibly-dobly" slow, accurate bowling that literally bores the opponent out of the game, and while New Zealand's batting is not terrifying, the fielding has always been consistent - and was the decisive factor in this tournament. Unfortunally Test cricket requires the Big Guns bowling, and while England had Steve Harmison, New Zealand's secret agent disintergrated at the start of the tour.
C'est la vie.
*One day cricket, being largely derived from Australian media magnet Kerry Packer's failed attempt to buy the nobel game of cricket and turn it into a commercial cash cow in the '70's, differs from traditional Test cricket in that the teams wear bright uniforms of different colors (*GASP!*) instead of the traditional white, the teams often play in the afternoon and night under lights so the exciting bits end up in primetime (*SHOCK!*), and people actually watch it (*HORROR!*). The emphasis is on runs (points) rather than wickets (removing batsmen) so there is a lot of big hitting, conservative bowling, and spectacular fielding. New Zealand's traditionally fragmental bowling attack has always favoured the so-called "dibly-dobly" slow, accurate bowling that literally bores the opponent out of the game, and while New Zealand's batting is not terrifying, the fielding has always been consistent - and was the decisive factor in this tournament. Unfortunally Test cricket requires the Big Guns bowling, and while England had Steve Harmison, New Zealand's secret agent disintergrated at the start of the tour.
C'est la vie.
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