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passionpopTomorrow is the day that we have been waiting too long for. We have endured a long Series this (Mens) Cricket World cup, and finally tomorrow we have The Match. Tomorrow we find out who will be the world champions for the next 4 years.
The two countries vying for the prize are the two hosts of this year’s event. Australia has been a favourite for a number of months but New Zealand have played the tournament of their lives and now the win is down to a coin toss.
As an Australian I should want Australia to win. As a Sports fan I want the best team to win. This causes a massive conflict within me, who should win?
If New Zealand win it will be their first World Cup win, it will also mean that out of the 7 countries that have played ever World Cup since its inception, only England will have never have won the tournament. That fact in itself is beautiful. For it to happen though, my great and proud sporting nation has to lose to those guys from across the ditch.
We are very proud of our sportsmen and we are very proud to pay them. Our players are some of the highest earners in our country. New Zealand players also earn a nice living but out of all the Kiwi cricketers that made last year’s top 20 paid sportsmen, their earnings combined total six hundred thousand dollars less than our Highest paid (and many would say most over paid) cricketer, Shane Watson.
We have to thank the sponsors and the Indian Premier League (IPL) for making Australia the most overpaid team in this World Cup. Shane Watson ($4.5 million), Mitchell Johnson ($4.1 Million), Michael Clarke ($4 Million), David Warner ($3.8 Million), Steve Smith ($3.1 Million), James Falkner ($2.8 Million), Brad Haddin ($2.5 Million), Glen Maxwell ($2.4 Million), Mitchell Starc ($2.2 Million), George Bailey ($1.8 Million) and Aaron Finch ($1.8 Million) not only make up the bulk of our World cup squad, but they are all paid more than New Zealand’s Highest paid player Brendon McCullum ($1.1 Million), but then even Brett Lee ($1.5 Million) made more than the Kiwi Captain in 2014, and Lee retired from international cricket in 2012.
I do have to note that the income statistics are slightly different years. The New Zealand earnings are to end of the 13/14 financial year, whereas the Australian earnings are over all of 2014. I also should note that the Australian Sporting rich-list (that this is taken from) Stops at Golfer Karrie Webb at number 50 who earned $1.28 Million, so there is potential that Pat Cummings, Josh Hazelwood, Xavier Doherty and Mitchell Marsh also earned more than Brendon McCullum. The final note here is that though Shane Watson earned $4.5 Million in 2014, which was actually down from the $6 million he reportedly earned in 2013, so it is plausible that Watson alone earned more in 2 years than the entire Kiwi cricket squad earns in one.
Our poor cousins from the other side of the Tasman don’t play as much cricket as we do, though really it is not that much less. Our players just seem to whinge more about it. When all our bowlers started falling down in 2012 and 2013, the fault was not IPL which they choose to play, but the fact that cricket Australia makes them play too much cricket. Many countries restrict the availability of top tier players to these T20 circuses, but there is no such restriction for Australia’s ‘best’ and with Australia being higher on the T20 rankings than New Zealand, our players are more desirable.
I hate to harp on about the players earnings but my tax dollars go to Cricket Australia and what have we got for that? In this tournament Warner has scored 300 runs. Though that makes him the third highest runs scorer on the team (behind Smith and Maxwell), he got the bulk of those runs in one match. If you average what he got in the other 6 innings he has played, he averages just over 20 runs a game. Warner has also batted in more innings than any player other than Finch (4th for the I hate to harp on about the players earnings but my tax dollars go to Cricket Australia and what have we got for that? In this tournament Warner has scored 300 runs. Though that makes him the third highest runs scorer on the team (behind Smith and Maxwell), he got the bulk of those runs in one match. If you average what he got in the other 6 innings he has played, he averages just over 20 runs a game. Warner has also batted in more innings than any player other than Finch (4th for Australia overall in the tournament) and with their earnings combined that’s already $5.6 million too much.
We then have the captain of self-interest. Though I am dissatisfied with the batting of both Clarke and Bailey, I would have preferred Bailey remained the ODI captain rather than being dropped from the team when Clarke was fit, particularly for the previous match against New Zealand in the rounds. I think Bailey thinks more One Day and Smith, being a future captain could have learned more from Bailey than the more Test style of game that Clarke tends to lead. Then today Clarke had to make the final all about him. It will now be his last ODI. Good, great, I am glad you are going, now just fvck off!
Not everything about the match tomorrow is negative. There is Martin Guptill who scored the most runs in one innings not just for this year’s tournament, but in the history of The World Cup. There is Tim Southee who has the best bowling figures for a single innings this year and the third best in World Cup history. With Trent Boult currently being the highest overall wicket taker for this year’s event (one above Mitchell Starc), it leaves only the overall tournament runs total being the only record for 2015 that a New Zealander doesn’t own, and Guptill is only 9 runs off that. The question is can win the World Cup trophy and make it a clean sweep.
Then there is Daniel Vittori, the man how retired from ODIs only to return for this one series and it was well worth watching him play. He is a magnificent (bowling) all rounder who has not had much of a chance to bat, but has an economy rate of 3.98 and taken 15 wickets for the tournament with his best bowling figures being 4/18. He is awesome to watch and not just because I have had a bit of a crush on him since I first started seeing him play. It is the glasses; I cannot go past a man in glasses. I actually had to stop watching Australia play New Zealand due to the conflict between me wanting to support my nation’s team and me wanting the better looking team to win.
I still think New Zealand has better looking men playing for them, but then that may be the arrogance that exudes from the Australian players. Most of the Aussie team seem to be the type of guys that stand around in a upmarket bar swinging the keys to their Ferrari around their finger while waiting for the women to come on to them. The Kiwis don’t looks like they use as much cleanser and toner as some of the Australians do.
It is not just that Australia has won four World Cups, more than any other team, it is the arrogance of some of the Australian team that makes the whole squad less likeable. If New Zealand loses tomorrow, they will rue the change they should have taken. If Australia loses then the players fly back to their luxury homes, hire a couple hookers and get some head while crying onto a glass of whiskey. A win to New Zealand means that the best team of the tournament won and is generally better for the World Cup and ODI as a whole. Who do I want to see win? The best team on the day.
The two countries vying for the prize are the two hosts of this year’s event. Australia has been a favourite for a number of months but New Zealand have played the tournament of their lives and now the win is down to a coin toss.
As an Australian I should want Australia to win. As a Sports fan I want the best team to win. This causes a massive conflict within me, who should win?
If New Zealand win it will be their first World Cup win, it will also mean that out of the 7 countries that have played ever World Cup since its inception, only England will have never have won the tournament. That fact in itself is beautiful. For it to happen though, my great and proud sporting nation has to lose to those guys from across the ditch.
We are very proud of our sportsmen and we are very proud to pay them. Our players are some of the highest earners in our country. New Zealand players also earn a nice living but out of all the Kiwi cricketers that made last year’s top 20 paid sportsmen, their earnings combined total six hundred thousand dollars less than our Highest paid (and many would say most over paid) cricketer, Shane Watson.
We have to thank the sponsors and the Indian Premier League (IPL) for making Australia the most overpaid team in this World Cup. Shane Watson ($4.5 million), Mitchell Johnson ($4.1 Million), Michael Clarke ($4 Million), David Warner ($3.8 Million), Steve Smith ($3.1 Million), James Falkner ($2.8 Million), Brad Haddin ($2.5 Million), Glen Maxwell ($2.4 Million), Mitchell Starc ($2.2 Million), George Bailey ($1.8 Million) and Aaron Finch ($1.8 Million) not only make up the bulk of our World cup squad, but they are all paid more than New Zealand’s Highest paid player Brendon McCullum ($1.1 Million), but then even Brett Lee ($1.5 Million) made more than the Kiwi Captain in 2014, and Lee retired from international cricket in 2012.
I do have to note that the income statistics are slightly different years. The New Zealand earnings are to end of the 13/14 financial year, whereas the Australian earnings are over all of 2014. I also should note that the Australian Sporting rich-list (that this is taken from) Stops at Golfer Karrie Webb at number 50 who earned $1.28 Million, so there is potential that Pat Cummings, Josh Hazelwood, Xavier Doherty and Mitchell Marsh also earned more than Brendon McCullum. The final note here is that though Shane Watson earned $4.5 Million in 2014, which was actually down from the $6 million he reportedly earned in 2013, so it is plausible that Watson alone earned more in 2 years than the entire Kiwi cricket squad earns in one.
Our poor cousins from the other side of the Tasman don’t play as much cricket as we do, though really it is not that much less. Our players just seem to whinge more about it. When all our bowlers started falling down in 2012 and 2013, the fault was not IPL which they choose to play, but the fact that cricket Australia makes them play too much cricket. Many countries restrict the availability of top tier players to these T20 circuses, but there is no such restriction for Australia’s ‘best’ and with Australia being higher on the T20 rankings than New Zealand, our players are more desirable.
I hate to harp on about the players earnings but my tax dollars go to Cricket Australia and what have we got for that? In this tournament Warner has scored 300 runs. Though that makes him the third highest runs scorer on the team (behind Smith and Maxwell), he got the bulk of those runs in one match. If you average what he got in the other 6 innings he has played, he averages just over 20 runs a game. Warner has also batted in more innings than any player other than Finch (4th for the I hate to harp on about the players earnings but my tax dollars go to Cricket Australia and what have we got for that? In this tournament Warner has scored 300 runs. Though that makes him the third highest runs scorer on the team (behind Smith and Maxwell), he got the bulk of those runs in one match. If you average what he got in the other 6 innings he has played, he averages just over 20 runs a game. Warner has also batted in more innings than any player other than Finch (4th for Australia overall in the tournament) and with their earnings combined that’s already $5.6 million too much.
We then have the captain of self-interest. Though I am dissatisfied with the batting of both Clarke and Bailey, I would have preferred Bailey remained the ODI captain rather than being dropped from the team when Clarke was fit, particularly for the previous match against New Zealand in the rounds. I think Bailey thinks more One Day and Smith, being a future captain could have learned more from Bailey than the more Test style of game that Clarke tends to lead. Then today Clarke had to make the final all about him. It will now be his last ODI. Good, great, I am glad you are going, now just fvck off!
Not everything about the match tomorrow is negative. There is Martin Guptill who scored the most runs in one innings not just for this year’s tournament, but in the history of The World Cup. There is Tim Southee who has the best bowling figures for a single innings this year and the third best in World Cup history. With Trent Boult currently being the highest overall wicket taker for this year’s event (one above Mitchell Starc), it leaves only the overall tournament runs total being the only record for 2015 that a New Zealander doesn’t own, and Guptill is only 9 runs off that. The question is can win the World Cup trophy and make it a clean sweep.
Then there is Daniel Vittori, the man how retired from ODIs only to return for this one series and it was well worth watching him play. He is a magnificent (bowling) all rounder who has not had much of a chance to bat, but has an economy rate of 3.98 and taken 15 wickets for the tournament with his best bowling figures being 4/18. He is awesome to watch and not just because I have had a bit of a crush on him since I first started seeing him play. It is the glasses; I cannot go past a man in glasses. I actually had to stop watching Australia play New Zealand due to the conflict between me wanting to support my nation’s team and me wanting the better looking team to win.
I still think New Zealand has better looking men playing for them, but then that may be the arrogance that exudes from the Australian players. Most of the Aussie team seem to be the type of guys that stand around in a upmarket bar swinging the keys to their Ferrari around their finger while waiting for the women to come on to them. The Kiwis don’t looks like they use as much cleanser and toner as some of the Australians do.
It is not just that Australia has won four World Cups, more than any other team, it is the arrogance of some of the Australian team that makes the whole squad less likeable. If New Zealand loses tomorrow, they will rue the change they should have taken. If Australia loses then the players fly back to their luxury homes, hire a couple hookers and get some head while crying onto a glass of whiskey. A win to New Zealand means that the best team of the tournament won and is generally better for the World Cup and ODI as a whole. Who do I want to see win? The best team on the day.