Distorted Vision: 20/20 World Cup

[ursus arctos]

Distorted Vision: 20/20 World Cup

Boom Boom Boom

We may crap at real cricket, but we are pretty damn good at this format

[Tony C]

Distorted Vision: 20/20 World Cup

Fantastic finish.

[Duncan Gardner]

Distorted Vision: 20/20 World Cup

Amazing final over, well done Windies Tough on Ben Chokes.

Did anyone hear the BBC interview with veteran commentator Tony Cozier after the semis? He was very downbeat about the health of the game over there, even if they won both games today.

Is Aussie keeper Alyssa Healy still planning to marry big Starc-ers? Looks good for Slovenian diaspora cricket if so.

[Duncan Gardner]

Distorted Vision: 20/20 World Cup

@Ursus- afraid this is real cricket now, or soon will be. The two formats are now as different as Sinn Finn in Dublin and Belfast

[Satchmo Distel]

Distorted Vision: 20/20 World Cup

Cozier is right to be depressed because he loves Test cricket and I think WI are finished at that level. However, if T20 is the future, WI are in the box seat. I thought England played very well in this tournament but WI beat them twice. Clearly they are an awesome 'chasing' side and don't get fazed when needing 13 an over off the last 40-50 balls.

They were a bit lucky that they always batted 2nd. Freakish number of won tosses.

I'd be very worried, as a Test lover, that this will simply accelerate WI's transformation into purely a T20 culture, even dropping out of 50 overs cricket.

"Ben Chokes" is harsh. Margin of error is a few inches in that situation, against a batsman with a licence to just hit sixes; huge bats, small boundaries.

[Duncan Gardner]

Distorted Vision: 20/20 World Cup

Cozier also pointed out that the men's side is likely to break up this Northern summer- a lot of guys in their mid and late 30s.

I too love test cricket, but remember it worked on a very limited circuit (ENG/ AUS/ SAF) for decades up to the 50s, and pretty soon after that limited-overs began as a response to the four innings game being seen as losing its appeal.

[Duncan Gardner]

Distorted Vision: 20/20 World Cup

PS re Stokes, I agree. Just anticipating the redtop headlines.

[E10 Rifle]

Distorted Vision: 20/20 World Cup

The first ball of that over was poor, the other three weren't great, but they had the right idea and were of the type that had yielded a lot of dots and ones in the match.

England lost because they didn't bat well enough, and West Indies played intelligently in the field and didn't let them get away.

Still, they did better than anyone expected in this tournament. A fine final for a fine tournament.

[Etienne]

Distorted Vision: 20/20 World Cup

Nah, they lost because Stokes couldn't defend 19 off the last over. It turned out and 155 was a par score on a turning pitch, and England (including Stokes) bowled brilliantly up until the last over - if they had fielded as well, they'd have won).

The first ball was terrible. Really terrible. And that gave Braithwaite the momentum. Yes, none of the other ones were far off target, but that is why bowling yorkers at the death is given to specialist bowlers, because you don't have to miss by much and it's a bad ball.

Stokes couldn't execute 1 out of 4 balls right, in a specialist role. He's a big talent, and he had a good tournament, but England were in a winning position till he bowled a half volley outside leg stump. The extenuating circumstances are huge - pressure, dew, small margins, but top level sport is unforgiving.

[tee rex]

Distorted Vision: 20/20 World Cup

Selfish bugger Braithwaite, denied Samuels his hundred.

The obligatory prefix "NZ born" is hastily being removed from Ben Stokes.

[Mr Beast]

Distorted Vision: 20/20 World Cup

Good to see Shane Warne singled out at the presentation as the utter wanker he is.

[E10 Rifle]

Distorted Vision: 20/20 World Cup

Yeah I enjoyed that.

[Satchmo Distel]

Distorted Vision: 20/20 World Cup

WI won't be in the 2017 ICC Trophy (top 8 only) and on current ranking will have to pre-qualify for the 2019 World Cup. The next T20 World Cup is not currently until 2020 due to the change in calendar announced in 2013.

As it currently stands, therefore, WI have one event to look forward to every 4 years where they would be a fancied side.

[G-Man]

Distorted Vision: 20/20 World Cup

Ben eventually drifted off to an Iron Maiden earworm. "Six... six, six, the num..." SIX!

"Oh damn you, Brathwaite," Ben muttered as he again was wide awake.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Distorted Vision: 20/20 World Cup

I still maintain that T20 is to cricket as rugby sevens is to rugby, or penalty shootouts are to football. But my goodness, that was a lot of fun. The whole tournament.

The ICC are kidding themselves if they think people are going to wait four years for another edition of that. If they don't stage one in the meantime, someone else well.