Great fun and games but shame about the counties (22 June 1999)

22 June 1999

Great fun and games but shame about the counties

David Lloyd

Done and dusted by 4.30 on Sunday afternoon, Australia put Pakistan firmly in their place - pack your bags, put your jacket on, and thanks for popping in. The two best teams contested the final but Australia showed they are way ahead of the rest in this latest demolition job.

There were questions to be asked before the game - would the two epics against South Africa take their toll of Australia? Would Shoaib Akhtar's pre-match burst of "I will win it, I will" blow Australia away? The answer was an emphatic "No".

Steve Waugh made his statement at the toss when Paul Allott asked: "Would you have liked to bat first?" "The best team will win," was the reply. The Australian backbone was there for all to see: Glenn McGrath with his opening burst, Shane Warne at his arrogant best, Mark Waugh exuding authority and Steve Waugh the ultimate general. Throw in a gem of an innings from Adam Gilchrist, two cheap tricks for Tom Moody and solid support from Paul Reiffel and Damian Fleming and it was all over.

I think the carnival of cricket - the World Cup - has been a fantastic event. I asked the organisers for official viewing figures for Sunday's final. Five hundred million was the figure quoted and impacted viewing figures were two billion at any one time. The game is very much alive and kicking worldwide.

In this country, we simply cannot go on slagging the game off with everyone from Government ministers, to dizzy celebrities, to tired old retired players - male and female - droning on about what is wrong. We all have a duty to sell the game to more people, to highlight the beautiful skills within the game and really show how much fun it is.

The results for our national team have been poor but I know, from the very sharpest of ends, that everyone that matters within the team will work tirelessly to reverse that trend. Notice I say everyone that matters. There are too many too near the team that don't.

England went out at the group stage quite simply because we could not produce when it mattered. It was a numbing feeling in our dressing room immediately the game against India at Edgbaston ended but it put our national team in perspective and order of priority when a number of counties were quite literally ringing the dressing room asking for the availability of their players for the following matches. Shame on you, shame on all of you.

There were other major casualties at the group stage. Sri Lanka were a shadow of their former selves and internal politics and an inability to play the moving ball did for them. Arjuna Ranatunga jumped on the England knockers bandwagon when asked what is wrong with English cricket. "Everything," was his reply. Not too much, though, to stop his star performer earning a corn for a few matches at Lancashire. Have a look in your own backyard, mate.

It was sad to see the once-mighty West Indies bow out. Sad for great men of cricket. Clive Lloyd, Malcolm Marshall and King Viv were with the team but Brian Lara can't do it on his own and Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose have done all they can. They all need time to rebuild and come again. For the West Indies read England. Don't keep knocking it - everybody roll up your sleeves and get down to business.

The two showdowns between South Africa and Australia were the games of the tournament. What skill, what commitment, what pazzaz. The atmosphere was electric and the matches should be replayed time and again by all the other teams who are looking for clues about how it is done.

What will linger long in the memory? Well, Lance Klusener will for a start. Every time he came to the crease it was crash, bang, wallop. Every one a winner. No slogger, our Lance, that is pure skill. Then there was Shoaib's dismissal of Stephen Fleming, bowled neck and crop - like a scud missile, you could see it coming but you couldn't do much about it. Warne returned, Gen McCarthy style. He said he would, and believe me, he is back.

I mentioned that the game is fun and there was nothing funnier than watching dear old Inzamam-ul-Haq running between the wickets, unless of course you are 22 yards away from him at the time.

The best in the world have graced this World Cup. They have shown that one-day cricket is a work of art and can stand comfortably on its own on the global stage. The performers - the players - have entertained us, and that is the most important thing in this, the most glorious of games. Lance Klusener summed it all up: "Yes, we lost the World Cup but nobody died."

Source :: The Electronic Telegraph