Australian Flavour: Cricket, Wine & World Cup

April 29th, 2007
By SWARAAJ CHAUHAN, International Columnist

Cricket arouses unbelievable passions around the world, especially during the Cricket World Cup tournament in the former colonies of (what was described as) the British empire - ‘where the sun would never set’.

For cricket lovers Saturday was a special day as the TV beamed the 2007 Cricket World Cup final between Australia and Sri Lanka from Barbados in the West Indies. The World Cup was televised in an estimated 200 countries watched by more than two billion television viewers.

As Australia seems to have made a habit of lifting the World Cup often (as it has done during the last three consecutive finals), my favourite place to watch this major cricketing event is the residence of the Australian High Commissioner (as the Ambassador is addressed in the Commonwealth countries).

At the Australian High Commissioner’s home, situated in the lush green heart of New Delhi’s exclusive diplomatic enclave, a huge screen is placed in the sprawling lawns that beams the cricket match, and watched by about 200 to 300 special invitees.

My wife and I reached our host’s home at 8.30 pm. But owing to the rains at Barbados in the West Indies, the match started almost an hour late. This was a good opportunity for the invitees to enjoy the Australian hospitality…excellent Australian wine and beer, and a lavish spread of Indian, Italian and Chinese cuisine.

In the absence of His Excellency Mr John McCarthy (the informal, amiable and friendly Australian High Commissioner to India), the Deputy High Commissioner David Holly played a perfect host. “The match may finish very late at night but you are more than welcome to stay on and watch it until the end,” Mr Holly told me.

Soon we saw on the TV the opening Australian batsmen playing wonderful cricket against the Sri Lankan team, and scoring at a rapid pace. In about two hours time it was becoming clear that Australia would be the winner.

And as the atmosphere at the New Delhi host’s party became more festive, the imbibing of the heady liquid servings, and partaking of the gourmet dishes, rose in equal proportion.

The World Cup has grown as a media event with each tournament. The World Cup venue (from 13 March to 28 April 2007) this year was awarded to the West Indies via the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) rotational policy.

The United States contingent lobbied strongly for matches to be staged at its newly built cricket ground in Lauderhill, Florida, but the ICC decided to award all matches to Caribbean nations for this year’s World Cup.

The 16 competing teams were initially divided into four groups, with the two best-performing teams from each group moving on to a “Super 8″ format. From this, Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and South Africa won through to semi-finals, with Australia defeating Sri Lanka in the final, giving Australia its third consecutive World Cup victory (and fourth in all the World Cup matches that started in 1975).

A basic form of cricket can be traced back to the 13th century, but it may have existed even earlier than that. The game seems to have originated among children of the farming and metalworking communities in the Weald between Kent and Sussex in England.

It originated in its modern form in England and is popular mainly in the present and former members of the Commonwealth. In the countries of South Asia, including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, cricket is the most popular sport.

It is also a major sport in places such as England and Wales, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Bermuda, and the English-speaking countries of the Caribbean, which are collectively known in cricketing parlance as the West Indies. The Indian Cricket Team is currently the highest paid national sports team in the world (in terms of sponsorship).

Though the first match in India was recorded in 1721, when a group of sailors gathered to play in Western India, India’s national cricket didn’t play their first Test match until 25 June 1932 at Lord’s (in England), becoming the sixth Test playing team.

The Indian team has continued to be highly ranked since then in both Test cricket and One-Day Internationals. The team won the Cricket World Cup in 1983 and was runners-up in 2003.

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 29th, 2007 at 3:27 am and is filed under Popular Culture, Britain, United Kingdom, India, Asia, Australia, Africa. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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