Cricket World Cup 
/ Frank Gregan / 07 February 2011 / Leave a Comment 
Knackered and fed up. Andrew Strauss looks like he just just wants to go home.
"There's also a context issue. What is the most important tour or event? Where does the Ashes or a Twenty20 World Cup or hosting the South Africans figure in terms of importance? How big a deal is this upcoming World Cup?"
This has been an unusually long Tour for England and no sooner has it ended, the likes of Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen fly off to the Sub-Continent for the World Cup. But should we feel sorry for these guys or envy them?
Right, that's the Australian tour done and dusted - what's next? Ah yes, just a small matter of the World Cup. The England players will be home for long enough to give the Missus their washing, and say "Hi kids, remember me, I'm your Dad," and then they'll be jetting off to the subcontinent with a monkey on their back, the 'never won a 50 over World Cup' tag that surfaces every four years.
They could hardly be going into this tournament in worse nick, the 6-1 mullering that they've just endured at the hands of the Aussies has got to have an effect on confidence. Or will it?
The schedule is such these days that our cricketers seem to move on from one major event to the next without time for reflection or contemplation and that must apply to the lows as well as the highs.
They performed admirably during the Test series, did a thoroughly professional job and were suitably rewarded with an Ashes win. That was the goal, even during the summer when England were hosting Pakistan, the talk was all about heading Down Under and putting it to Australia on their own patch. It was really quite sad that once England had won there was barely time for a decent hangover before they were back on One Day duty.
There was no time to celebrate, no time to sit back and put the feet up and feel that warm glow that comes from a job very well done. Instead three days after the Sydney Test they were in action against the Prime Minister's XI in Canberra and two days after that they played the first of the two Twenty20s in Adelaide and within a week they had arrived in Melbourne to start the first of the seven One Dayers. Phew! It really has been an exhausting schedule.
So should we be feeling sorry for our country's international cricketers? Not on your Nelly! They have a fantastic life and so they should. They have risen to the top of their profession and as such deserve all the perks that come their way. It really is a case of living the dream. Their remuneration used to be a thorny subject, they were not as well paid as players in the sexier sports but Twenty20 and the Indian Premier League has solved that problem.
It's not all about the money though, it's the venues. Tours to Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the Caribbean. Wow - who invented cricket? Thomas Cook? Of course it's five star luxury whilst they're there, even the old 'Ring of Fire' can't put a damper on a tour these days! But they must have a few moments of dizziness where they wake up in the morning, pull back the curtains and think "where am I now?"
There's also a context issue. What is the most important tour or event? Where does the Ashes or a Twenty20 World Cup or hosting the South Africans figure in terms of importance? How big a deal is this upcoming World Cup?
It's a very big deal. Only football's World Cup and the Summer Olympics gets more media coverage. The competition attracts a television audience of over 2.2 billion viewers! Australia have dominated the competition for more than a decade, having won the last three World Cups. If England were to win the competition it would be a tremendous achievement, right up there with football's 1966!
There was a genuine belief before the ODIs Down Under that this could be England's year. The Aussies have shot that theory down in flames and consequently England are now [8.8] to back having previously been traded as short as [5.7]. I was one of those that took the shorter odds and I'm running for cover trying to find another team with which to hedge. India are too short at [4.2] so it came down to a coin toss between Pakistan at [10.5] and Sri Lanka at [6] with Pakistan getting the nod from a value angle.
England still have a chance and if they do prevail let's hope the players are given the opportunity to sit back, reflect and savour their historic achievement!
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