One upset is expected; two are acceptable; but three? Surely, something’s afoot at the current edition of the One Day International (50-over) Cricket World Cup? Especially given that a fourth upset (no one seems to have taken serious note of it), the West Indies exit from the main draw, came well before the event.
There are always extenuating circumstances for upsets. The West Indies have been working towards this exit for a few years now; England’s current style of play
One upset is expected; two are acceptable; but three? Surely, something’s afoot at the current edition of the One Day International (50-over) Cricket World Cup? Especially given that a fourth upset (no one seems to have taken serious note of it), the West Indies exit from the main draw, came well before the event.
There are always extenuating circumstances for upsets. The West Indies have been working towards this exit for a few years now; England’s current style of play makes them vulnerable when things don’t work out; South Africa clearly has a problem facing the Dutch; and Pakistan is, well, Pakistan. And the emergence of T20 leagues around the world has increased opportunities for players from countries such as The Netherlands and Afghanistan to gain international exposure (just as it has, ironically, weakened the West Indies by making them a team of roving journeymen).
Those said, there appears to be a larger issue, one that is perhaps being noticed for the first time. With Test cricket and T20s bookending formats, the ODI, requiems for which were being written before the start of this tournament, has emerged as the cricketing equivalent of the 1,500-metre race, widely acknowledged as the most cerebral of all distance events.
Run too fast (or play like you would in a T20), and you run the risk of burning out early in the race; run too slow (or play like you would in a Test), and the race may be over before you realise. Who would have thought that a format once dismissed derisively as pyjama cricket would become a hothouse for strategy?
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