For the first time ever, we can say – we are the world champions! How impossibly delicious those words sound, whatever you may think of Twenty 20. So nice, indeed, I’m going to say them again: we are the world champions!
Say them as often as you can. Say them to everyone in the office – especially your Australian collegues. Tattoo them on your forehead. Tell your aged grandmother, your six month old nephew, and your Lithuanian cleaner. Change your middle names to World and Champions.
Boast, revel, savour, and enjoy. It’s taken thirty five years to become world champions at any format of cricket – long years of inadequacy and cock-ups. It might not happen again for a long while. So let us make the most of it.
Picture in your mind the image of Colly striking the winning runs; recall to yourself the expression on Michael Clarke’s face. Feel your heart soar, and raise your voice to acclaim – that England are the *world champions*.
Maxie Allen
One word – Hypocrisy.
That said, a deserved victory
We played the convicts … and we took no prisoners. A 7 wicket win with 3 overs to spare is a thrashing! Well done lads.
A brillinat win and in many ways, far more significant than last years ashes win. Lets hope england can keep progressing and avoid the normal national character flaw of basking in glory and rapidly turning rubbish again!
More significant than the Ashes?!?!! Geez.
More significant than last years ashes win because the rest of the cricketing world don’t have the same fascination we do with it. Last years series was fought out between two middle ranked teams and England won in home conditions – do we really think that fans in Sri Lanka or New Zealand were that interested in the result? They are probably as interested as we would be in a Sri Lanka vs Australia series. At least this world cup win contained the best teams in a neutral venue with consistent conditions for all teams.
It’s only an opinion, but with perspective I think people will find it hard to equate a T20 win with the Ashes.
A limited overs competition comes along about once a fortnight. By the time of the next one, the English will be the only ones who remember this one. They are deliberately trivial. It was the intention of its creators to make it trivial.
It was a good win, but the game throws up unpredictable results by its very nature. A couple of unlucky dismissals in the first couple of overs often dictate the entire result. We got beaten by Holland not long ago, but are they better than us?
England played well, but it shouldn’t be overlooked that the change in attitude credited with the victory coincided with filling the team with foreign players. For a significant period in the final, not a single Englishman was on the pitch, and the dug-out boasted two foreign Test playing coaches.
A Test series is what it suggests – a proper test. The team who plays best wins, and every aspect of their game is examined. Ashes series remain the pinnacle of cricket for the bulk of English and Australian fans, and we remember them forever. No one’s going to write a book about this T20 because, in reality, in a few weeks no one will even remember it.
Thanks for that deep and penetrating analysis of the tournament and the final.
I suppose that’s the first time your name’s been attached to a sentence featuring the words ‘deep’ and ‘penetrating’, James.
@James: the newspapers can provide the technical analysis. Our role is the patriotism!