Just not cricket...

The World Cup is over and the consistently better team won.
But Cricket has lost. Period.
The Aussie win, their third time in succession and the fourth overall, has tarnished Cricket in an odd, monopolistic way. I’m not saying the Aussies should have reduced their standards and played like mere mortals but, with grudging acquiescence of their superiority in the game, and with a tinge of envy, I berate the way they played the game, a way no other team can even hope to play, and a way which, if continued, will cause an already dying sport (maybe even in the Indian Sub-continent) to come to a swift end. The Aussies won every match by a considerable margin, their resources not being stretched even once in twelve matches they played and in the process made fewer fans than they would have deserved. However, it is ironic, and I pity the Aussies for it, that this World Cup will be remembered for a lot of things, the least of which would be the Aussies’ domination and their third straight win.

There was no spark left in the world cup after the first week itself, once both the sub-continental giants crashed out and the remaining 40 odd days of cricket were just an obligation. The four semi-final slots were decided even before the super-eights stage started. South Africa and New Zealand may have made it to the semi-finals but they were never going to be a challenge to the cold-blooded efficiency of the men from down under. The only teams who could and would have troubled the Aussies (and the Aussies will probably reluctantly admit to it) were the two Asian teams, who did not even make it to the super-eight stage, because they had a certain something which no other team in world cricket has – Unpredictability, a trait which was very much evident in the way they lost to so-called minnows.

A day after the conclusion of the World Cup, a leading Australian commentator & ex-cricketer comes out with a statement ridiculing the number of associate countries and insisting that the WC should only showcase the best. Sorry mate, but the most interesting match of the WC was provided by the minnows - the Zimbabwe-Ireland Tie and if there weren't any minnows, your country would probably have lost to a South Asian team and we would not have had the ignominy of having to watch Bangladesh & Ireland playing what should have been a colossal contest between the sub-continental adversaries. I can’t think of anything positive that came out of this 49 day, 51 match burlesque of Cricket (except perhaps Ireland getting into the ICC rankings) but the list of negatives is endless – The Longest schedule ever, Poor turnouts, No typical West Indian calypso music, poor infrastructures, under-prepared pitches, pathetic television coverage (never got to see the last ball of the over being completed and the first ball of the over about to be delivered due to the commercial breaks), Indian cricket down in the dumps, Windies cricket in pretty much the same place (been there for a long time now) and Pakistan cricket in an even worse condition, the umpiring joke of the finals, one sided matches, gutless cricket, financial losses for the sponsors, premature retirements, pre and post-match mindless gibberish by the Experts and a murder (not just of the game).

I envy, rather than pity, the late Paki Coach. He was lucky that he did not live to see his (and my) favorite game in such a pitiful state.
RIP, dear Cricket.