EMERGENCY NEWSLETTER - Cricket world cup final FAQ

Does it really, really hurt?
Yes.

Did you want to go up on that balcony and give everyone a hug?
Yes.

Does this one hurt more than 2015?
Tough one. Last time, we romped into the final and came up hard against Australia, and ran out of luck.

This time we scrapped and battled our way there by the skin of our teeth in the round robin and the semi-final, did the same to defend 241 runs and - this is important - didn't actually lose. So yeah, it hurts more because we were so much closer.

So did you actually realise that the rule about the side scoring the most boundaries through the match being declared the winner after a tied super over was only brought in for this tournament, and in any other tournament the trophy would have been shared?
No, but now I am MORE ROPABLE than before.

Does cricket need to re-think how it decides drawn games?
Yes. But if we'd won, we'd have taken it to be fair.

Is comforting to lose a game like this and be admired for the way we played? Or would you rather be a dick and win?
There's a solid argument the BLACKCAPS' play, culture and leadership played a big part in getting us this far and to the brink of winning the lot (did I mention we didn't lose?) today.

They were playing to win, don't worry, but in a confident and respectful way. I'm biased, but reckon they represent some of the godzone's very best values.

Besides, my understanding is that Australia have copyright over being dicks and winning.

Cricket wrecks your head eh?
If you can stomach a replay, watch Ben Stokes' eyes rolling around in his head like a pokie machine in those last few overs. And Jofra Archer just about bursting into tears when he bowled that wide in the super over. Or Martin Guptil, who put his hand up to do a job most of us wouldn't go near, after he couldn't quite make his ground.

Was this the greatest ODI ever played?
Easily. Australia beating South Africa in 1999 was the previous mark, mainly for the mad last couple of overs, where this one had more drama than trying to find gold coins for the kids' school sausage sizzle from start to finish.

Should we have won?
We certainly had our chances. And you won't see a ball deflect off a bat for six runs like that for the rest of your life, probably. Right up until two balls to go in 50 over bit, I would rather be us than England. And we still tied. Augh.

Where do we go from here?
Our next match is a Test in Sri Lanka in August. Then there's a T20 world cup in Australia next year, and some kind of world Test cricket championships in the works, which we have the potential to do very well in, we're good at that too.

But as of tonight, we're at the start of another world cup cycle. Not all the senior players will be back. Luckily we're a pretty youthful team and many of them will just be coming into their peak.

Remember, we're still in the early days of Gary Stead's coaching, and it's not that long ago Brendon McCullum retired and Kane took over.

It's heartening the handover went relatively smoothly, and here we are in our second world cup final in a row. We're in the middle of a remarkable run of consistent achievement, thanks to NZC's succession planning and faith in local coaches. It hasn't always been this way, as battle-scarred fans well remember - long may our golden run continue.

There's always the rugby eh?
Sure. It won't be as much fun though.

Should Super Overs be re-branded as Really Unsatisfying Overs?
Sign my petition.org.

Are you proud?
So, so much.


Shout outs
Fair play to the Off Spin podcast - they've been absolutely must-listen for the duration and recorded the cricketing equivalent of a primal scream shortly after the final ball this morning.

I enjoyed this article in the Guardian, mainly as it said very nice things about us.


Thanks for reading - Richard