An ICC Trophy finally for England
The masters of the game finally had something to cherish after waiting an eternity for the crown of world champions of a limited overs contest. After failing to win four 50 over finals, Paul Collingwood’s men prevailed in the crash, bang and wallop format as they thrashed their oldest cricketing enemies Australia by seven wickets in the final at the Kensington Oval in Barbados.
The significance of England’s win can be gauged by the fact that the first limited overs trophy was held in 1975 in England and since then a total of nine 50 over world cups besides, six champion trophy tournaments and three T-20 world championships have taken place across the world but for the first time an English captain has laid hands on the trophy!
Over the years some of the most outstanding talent to have played the game has represented the POMS in World events, the list includes the likes of Ian Botham, Graeme Gooch, Alec Stewart, Alan Lamb, David Gower, Mike Gatting, Darren Gough, Nick Knight Neil Fairbrother, Robin Smith, Derek Pringle, Devon Malcom, Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood. But the English teams failed to gel in at the crucial moments, succumbing under pressure and losing the initiative.
Their inability to push for the jugular was made apparent in the 1987 and 1992 World cup finals, against Australia and Pakistan respectively. Both finals were lost narrowly at Kolkata and Melbourne, first by a margin of seven runs, and the second one by twenty-two runs.
After the 1992 World Cup the Englishmen fell of the pedal, failing to qualify for the semi-finals of either of the four 50 over world cups held since then.
They had a golden chance of winning the 2004 ICC Champions trophy, when they had eight West Indian wickets down with more than 50 runs left for the Calypsos to chase, but the West Indian ninth wicket pair hung for sear life, gaining a remarkable win for his team, leaving the English gasping for breath once more.
The POMS also fared poorly in the first two editions of the T-20 World championship, crashing out in the super eights stage at both occasions. However after eighteen tournaments and a wait of 35 years later the Englishmen were all smiles as celebrations went late in the night in not only Barbados, but entire England. Paul Collingwood’s men were a different team altogether and with a young and inexperienced squad achieved what many better English outfits failed to achieve in more than three decades.
Throughout the tournament the POMS looked like a well oiled machine, led by the brilliance of Kevin Pietersen who was named man of the tournament for his special performance in the event. Other than KP, the openers Michael Lumb and Craig Kieswetter played splendidly at the top of the innings, scoring crucial runs to get the team off to a flier in almost every match that the team played. The middle order was shored up by Eoin Morgan, Paul Collingwood and Luke Wright who all chipped in with vital contributions at crucial junctures of the game.
The bowling line-up was also remarkable throughout the tournament with Ryan Sidebottom, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann and Michael Yardy churning out one special performance after another.
The POMS were brilliant with their attack that contained the opposing teams to totals below 150 throughout the series. So finally England has made their presence felt in an ICC world event, and joined the league of eight test playing nations that have won at least one global trophy, this is the time for them to build onto their success and come up with a squad that can give the 2011 fifty over World cup in subcontinent a serious shake!
Tags: