The appointment of Kumar Dharmasena as one of the umpires for the match on Thursday between England and New Zealand in the T opening World Cup game seemed appropriate: if the teams involved in the 2019 final, that dramatic day at Lord's, were being thrown back together at the earliest opportunity, may as well toss in an official and make it a full-blown reunion.
The schedule already guaranteed that the most discussed match during the tournament buildup would be the final of the last one, a showdown of breathtaking drama that set a standard no humble group game can hope to reach.
For the players on the losing side that day, it holds conflicting memories, of pride and of disappointment, but most importantly, four years on, of a standard of performance on which they hope to improve. "I'd love to tell you the full story about it," Lockie Ferguson says, cryptically. "But we as a group focus on what's ahead of us, learn from mistakes of the past and try to be better than that next time."
We meet at the Oval during the recent white-ball series in England - a run of fixtures that culminated in a scarring defeat at Lord's - that he says triggered only "great memories". But then the 2019 World Cup was something of a personal triumph for Ferguson, with 21 wickets at 19.47 - only Mitchell Starc took more - and a place in the team of the tournament. "It was my first World Cup and it's pretty spectacular to reflect on where I was at the start of that competition," he says.
"I still have vivid memories of walking out on the last day, banners flying for the World Cup final at Lord's, and just the whole spectacle. It was a great day of cricket. Clearly, it came right down to the last moment and that's great too, but it's been four years.
この記事は The Guardian の October 03, 2023 版に掲載されています。
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この記事は The Guardian の October 03, 2023 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
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