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World Cup 2019: Cricket loving UK PM Theresa May hails World Champions England
The way England became champions on Sunday continues to be debated but euphoria did not leave 10, Downing Street, where the cricket-loving PM Theresa May welcomed the team on Monday evening.
The way England became champions on Sunday continues to be debated across the cricket world, but euphoria over the win did not leave 10, Downing Street, untouched, where the cricket-loving Prime Minister Theresa May welcomed the team on Monday evening. May has often spoken of her admiration for the legendary Yorkshire batsman, Geoffrey Boycott, who was the scourge of many due to his dour plodding at the crease. He and his quality of ‘getting the runs in the end’ were often mentioned in Brexit debates by May.
It is a different matter that she failed to ‘get the Brexit runs’ and is due to hand over to her successor in Downing Street next Wednesday, but that did not stop her from joining the chorus over England’s win over New Zealand. Both she and husband Philip love cricket.
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She said at the team reception: “The final was not just cricket at its best but sport at its best – courage, character, sportsmanship, drama, incredible skill and even the odd slice of luck…All combining to create a real thriller, one of the great sporting spectacles of our time”.
“It was a fitting end to what has been a great tournament…The incredible spectators from 10 nations who brought such colour and passion to England and Wales this summer”, she said, heaping praise on the ‘true character’ of the New Zealand team.
But May saved her best while dwelling on England: “Then of course, there is England. Or ‘World Cup-winning England’, as we can get used to saying. You are a team that represents modern Britain – and that plays like no other side in the world”.
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“In the group stage you responded to setbacks not by giving in but by coming back stronger than ever. And, when the odds were against you in the biggest game of your lives, you simply and stubbornly refused to lose”.
“It is that determination, that character, that has made you world champions. But more than that you have made history. You have helped the nation fall in love with cricket once again”.
In a country where immigration is a sensitive issue, many have pointed out the non-British origins of some players, including the captain, Eoin Morgan (Irish), Adil Rashid (Pakistan) and Jofra Archer (Barbados).
Known for her tough stand on immigration as the home secretary and prime minister, May went on to say: “And, perhaps most important of all, as we saw across the country last night and at the Oval this morning, you have inspired countless future Morgans, Rashids and Archers. This was a record-breaking World Cup”.
“Yesterday we saw a final for the ages. And here today we have a team that will be spoken of in awe for generations to come. Thank you all once again. On behalf of the whole country congratulations to – and I just want to say this one more time – England’s World Cup winners”.
