All your mace are belong to us

Sport Review #158

Jun 24, 2021

So we’re champions now. After years of being dark horses, two world cup finals in a row, loving how and the way our team plays but worrying we’re somehow destined to miss out, we’ve nabbed a big one.

This was different to a white ball tournament with everyone there playing until there’s just two left. This Championship was literally years in the making, ending with us and India travelling to a ground next to a Southampton car park for some reason to play it out.

Nearly all the Test was played in the gloom. Winning the toss and bowling showed big dog India we weren’t going there to make up the numbers. The pitch and grey skies meant a nervy match, with batsmen looking more uncomfortable than Mike Hosking when confronted by facts.

The cricket was incredibly tense. With so much at stake and rain compressing the action (even with a reserve day, they are great, we should always have them), there were no periods of down time. The bowlers were magnificent. The batsmen applied themselves like those bits of super glue that always get on your fingers. The catching was amazing when it counted. The selections were spot on.

Back home, it was a week in the dark. Cricket chat with friends was about the match, but also tactics for when to watch, and when to sleep. I’m delighted for the new New Zealanders in Southampton that were able to get on the razz and celebrate, because after we won, I just wanted to go to bed.

Comparisons are meaningless, really. It’s a world cup, we’ve never won one before. And in Tests, undoubtedly the highest conceivable form of any sport. We might get a meaningless Halberg after the inevitable pointless arguing, but it won’t matter. We have the mace.

I’d say it feels like a breakthrough but, boringly, it’s more of a culmination. We’ve been getting better and better for the last eight or nine years. We’ve already had great players leave and we’ve kept going. Sure, there are big holes to fill when people drop out, but it doesn’t feel like we’ll be back to square one. The leadership and investment in bringing players in slowly is top class, and solid reasons why you should feel optimistic about what’s next.

The socially distanced prize giving with the team just strolling about in jandals and bare feet felt appropriate. No giant cheques, no questionable commentator fashion statements, no line ups of sponsors. Just the guys picking up their own medals and the Mace - Kane waved it around in triumph while also wondering what the fuck it was.

For a team who often cites having a beer after the match as their favourite moments in cricket, the COVID bubble meant that’s all they could do. It couldn’t have been more appropriate.

Thanks for reading - Richard

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