T20 World Cup 2022: Australia’s sobering wake-up call as crowds surge despite exit
Australia is out of its own World Cup and the crazy thing is it could cause a spike in crowds. Here’s why that should sting.
Australia is out of its own World Cup, and the crazy thing is it will cause a spike in crowds.
This was the joke doing the rounds, but don’t laugh – only 18,000 turned up to watch the Aussies at Adelaide Oval last Friday night to confirm the chastening reality that the host nation had become a sideline spectator to the greatest Twenty20 World Cup ever staged.
The prospect of Australia not making the semi-finals would have seemed a nightmare scenario which would have haunted organisers for months.
But in actual fact it’s barely hurt the tournament because the buzz created by giant sub-continental crowds and giant-killing upsets has made the Australian team’s woes largely irrelevant.
That’s great for the overall health of cricket in Australia’s rich multicultural communities, but it’s a sobering wake-up call for Cricket Australia when it comes to the image of its national team.
Justin Langer might have lost the support of his players, but he never lost the backing of the Australian public, and ex-players and radio commentators are reporting a sense of apathy around the national team at the moment where fans seem disengaged.
Adelaide is Australia’s most passionate and dedicated cricket city and the fact less than 20,000 turned up to the second leg of a double-header on a Friday night that was to decide Australia’s World Cup fate was as underwhelming as the performance on the field.
Maybe Australia’s traditional cricket fans are just waiting for the Test matches to start and the health of the game will be restored then, but it still feels like a big opportunity was missed by the defending champions to thrill a new generation of fans at the first ever T20 World Cup on home soil.
It should sting Australia that its dominating presence hasn’t really been missed this tournament, but organisers are singing ragtime because suddenly the MCG could play host to arguably the biggest cricket event in history on Sunday.
South Africa’s epic choke has brought Pakistan back from the dead, and now suddenly, an India v Pakistan rematch in the final is very much on the cards.
As if the group clash in front of 90,000 people wasn’t big enough, the prospect of the two super powers facing off in a final where a World Cup trophy goes on the line is simply epic.
Being a final, the crowd will feature more neutrals than the group game, but there would be tens of thousands of Indian and Pakistan fans outside the MCG as well in a festival that would sweep the city.
To get to the dream final, Pakistan will need to overcome the always steady Kiwis at the SCG on Wednesday night, while India faces a massive challenge in Adelaide on Thursday against England, who, on paper at least, would appear their biggest threat.
Even if the script is flipped, an England v New Zealand final would represent an enthralling rematch of the 2019 ODI World Cup at Lord’s, which the Black Caps lost in heartbreaking circumstances.
If it’s India v New Zealand, the final would still be an epic, because India is a colossus and its presence would carry the match to hundreds of millions around the world (reminder: India just sold out a dead rubber group game against Zimbabwe at the MCG).
The World Cup has served as a reminder that Australia needs to do more to engage the sporting public, but it’s also been proof that there are few better host nations for World Cup cricket.
Hordes of multicultural fans and world class venues across the country makes Australia an ultimate destination for a game that is now equipped to spread its reach even further across the globe.
Now bring on the 2028 World Cup in Australia.
Proteas fumble another World Cup
– Robert Carddock
Whoops … it’s happened again.
There’s an unfortunate saying in cricket that World Cups are not officially over until South Africa’s stumble and fall under pressure and trip over their own bootlaces.
It’s happened again at the Adelaide Oval today and it was numbing to watch as the unsung and truly inspired Netherlands turned South Africa blue in the face as they stumbled to a 13 run loss.
The Netherlands, playing with blissful freedom of expression, scored 4-158 before a sweaty palmed South Africa, batting with the intensity of grade 12 students in their final exams, responded with a limp 8-145.
The result eliminated South Africa from the World Cup and opened the door for a possible iconic rematch of India and Pakistan in the final if Pakistan could beat Bangladesh in their final pool game.
South African captain Temba Bavuma played his part in the demise by making the poor decision to bowl first after winning the toss.
Sadly, South Africa’s batting was a nerve-ridden shambles in a run chase in which they were always going to be carrying an historical ball and chain.
Even when South Africa needed more than two a ball they were batting as if singles were enough. It was as if their mental radar became completely scrambled under pressure.
Given South Africa’s tortured history of buckling under pressure in World Cups surely the safest way home was to bat first, put 160-plus on the board then back your bowlers to handle the late match pressure better than your batsmen.
But Bavuma went with the stats that said bowling first was the way to go. Unfortunately those stats don’t take into consideration the painful history of South Africa’s World Cup record.
As the pressure rose the cameras turned to South African assistant coach and fast bowling great Allan Donald who was part of the coaching staff.
The first time the cameras caught him Donald smiled.
The second time he was chewing gum and his face was expressionless behind his dark sunglasses. Memories of past torture must surely have been kicking in.
Maybe he was thinking about the 1999 World Cup when he was run out off the last ball against Australia in England and the tie meant Australia went through to the final.
Maybe it was the match against Sri Lanka in the 2003 World Cup in South Africa where the host nations missed the finals after miscommunication during a rained out match.
Maybe it was the 2015 semi-final against New Zealand when Grant Elliott his Dale Steyn into the grandstand to seal victory with one ball to spare.
South Africa, great cricket nation though they are, have a habit of bowling out of World Cups in the most crushing ways and have won neither the 50 of 20 over Cups.
This result can only add another layer of pressure in future Cups.
It was hard to watch but it was also a gold star for a tournament in which the smaller nations have tormented the big boys with regularity.
This has been the greatest T20 World Cup because it has proved that the game is expanding in a beautiful way.
Crash: Minnow magic shows cricket can conquer world
Wet weather may be sucking the life of this T20 World Cup but there’s a golden shaft of sunlight spearing through the clouds.
And it spotlights the important message that cricket has finally found a format to sell to the world.
We can all have a whinge about why Australian grounds are not fully covered like they are in some parts of Sri Lanka, why games in Perth start so late you feel like having breakfast when they are finished and why two games are scheduled for the one venue on one day which increases the damage when the rain hits.
The soggy days have been dreadful but the best moments have delivered great hope for cricket’s eternal quest to spread its wings across the world.
The sight of Namibia beating Sri Lanka, of Zimbabwe beating Pakistan, of Ireland beating England has shown that – in this form of the game – the gap between the big boys and the rest can be smaller than you think.
It means that T20 cricket is a genuine chance of cracking major markets like the United States in a way the Test game could never do.
It will take time. It won’t take forever. There’s a T20 major league scheduled for the USA next year and with 2.7 million Indians living in the USA there is a solid base of support already.
This could be one of the most significant World Cups ever held.
USA cricket may be a financial basket case but it is hosting the 2024 T20 World Cup and could easily become a force in this form of the game.
The first game of international cricket was between the USA and Canada in 1844 yet both of those nations went the baseball way and never came back.
This is the chance to change the narrative.
In Test cricket, sadly, the horse has bolted. The gaps between the big and the small, the rich and the poor are getting wider and will continue to get wider.
The mid-range and weaker nations are struggling to keep pace because first class cricket structures cost too much.
India is getting stronger. Australia and England are holding their powerful ground. New Zealand is solid. South Africa are starting to fade. The West Indies look gone.
But smaller nations can draw great heart from the T20 game because the short sprint keeps them in the game.
Cricket wants to be in the Olympics and while it still seems an awkward fit the T20 scene has given it a genuine chance of being admitted before Brisbane 2032.
One bonus from being an Olympic sport is that ensures the game grows worldwide.
Leading tennis players say it became harder to win a tournament after tennis rejoined the summer Olympics in 1988.
Massive money was poured into development programs worldwide.
If you thought Namibia and Ireland were quaint stories wait for the day when Uganda, Kuwait and Italy shine as well.
All of them are in the top 20 in the ICC’s T20 world rankings.
You never know.
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