“Dear Rob,” writes Gus Unger-Hamilton. “Long time follower, first time emailer. I’m just thinking, seeing as England supposedly love playing at Edgbaston so much, don’t we need a fear-inducing nickname for it, à la the Gabbattoir? Perhaps people have some ideas better than Sledgbaston, which is terrible.”
It’s not that good. Any suggestions?
“Morning Rob,” says Simon McMahon. “I’m off out for a bracing walk. It’s good for your mental health. Be back in eight hours…”
“It’s just a cricket match,” says Jane Evans. Only cricket. Not important. Just a cricket match. Just cricket. Only cricket …”
There are infinite possibilities today, with so many matchwinners on both sides. It could come down to three things: the toss, the battle of the opening partnerships and how England respond to adversity. They are probably the better side, but Australia are probably the tougher side. They have won all seven World Cup semi-finals (if you’re into the whole pedantry thing, they’ve won six and tied one) and have fought back to win a few games in this tournament.
England got themselves out of a hole to quality for the semi-finals, and were enormously impressive in doing so. But they haven’t really come from behind to win a match at this tournament. They are formidable front-runners, and the ideal scenario is that they bat first, are 100 for nought after 15 overs and control the game throughout. It’s not going to be like that. If I had to pick the deciding factor in this game, it’s how England cope if they are 10 for two or Australia are 100 for nought.
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Australia hammered England in the league match two weeks ago. The margin of victory – 64 runs – isn’t huge, but trust me, it was a doing. England have rationalised it as a hangover from the Sri Lanka fiasco, which is a clever move, if they genuinely believe it. I suspect they do. But I wouldn’t want to go fishing round their subconscious without a protective suit.
The weather It’s beautiful at Edgbaston this morning, although the Met Office are forecasting thunderstorms for early evening. That means DLS could be a factor in this match. There is a reserve day scheduled, but I think the match will finish today as long as 20 overs have been bowled in the second innings. There’s a strong whiff of potential farce and controversy there. But the playing conditions have a level of clarity usually reserved for mudheaps, so I might be wrong.
Preamble
Hello again. Glad you’ve logged on – you’ve obviously heard there’s a cricket match today. It’s Australia v England, for the right to play New Zealand in the World Cup final on Sunday. This game is almost too big to function. It’s England most important since September 2005, Australia’s since March 2015. For both countries, defeat is so unthinkable that it hurts trying not to think about it.
There’s a rare old Royal Rumble of feeling and emotions this morning/evening: hope, fear, nervousness, anticipation, fear, curiosity, fear, fear, greed, nostalgia, pride – and I suppose, if I’m being brutally honest, there’s also a soupçon of fear. But most of all, as Eoin Morgan said yesterday, there is excitement about what might be achieved. In one hemisphere or another, a lot of grandchildren are going to hear about the events of 11 July 2019.
There was no way England – England – were going to be allowed to win a World Cup without beating Australia en route. Only one side, West Indies in 1979, has ever done so. This is England’s World Cup but it’s also Australia’s trophy, which they have lifted in four of the last five tournaments. And one of them has got to go. Deep down, we always knew it would be like this.
The match starts at 10.30am BST, 7.30pm ACT.
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