Take it like a man Denis
Defending Kenya’s honour
As New Zealand bow out of the CWC, coach Denis Aberhart claims the tournament format is flawed. Cricket365’s Anthony Pascoe laughs loudly in his general direction and tell the out-of-touch old goat to take it like a man. Go Kenya!
Denis Aberhart: Grumpy old man
I wish New Zealand coach Denis Aberhart - and all those people who think like him and flood my in-box every morning - would stop with their whinging and incessant complaints about the CWC being flawed and devalued.
The arguments that the World Cup format is flawed are lame and they smack of bitterness and the disappointment of unfulfilled dreams. What the hell is the matter with the format? The way I see it the best teams have advanced! Nobody bothered to complain prior to the tournament.
I get sore-losers telling me on a daily basis that they will not be watching the CWC, now that great teams like South Africa, Pakistan and England are no longer playing. The reality however is that those are not great teams. They couldn’t win enough games to go through to the Super Sixes and they were knocked out as a result. Shame. Given the way they played in this World Cup I would watch Kenya versus Australia ahead of South Africa versus Pakistan any day!
Just because they are traditional power houses doesn’t give them the right to advance beyond the opening rounds - to move forward in what is the World’s showpiece tournament teams need to play their games and they need to win them. That’s a pretty simple format!
Reminder: South Africa failed to beat Sri Lanka, New Zealand or the West Indies.
Reminder: Pakistan failed to beat India, England or Australia.
Reminder: England failed to beat India and Australia and they failed to play in Zimbabwe.
Reminder: New Zealand failed to beat Sri Lanka, Australia and India and they refused to play in Kenya
That England failed to play in Zimbabwe should not be turned into an issue. It was their decision and theirs alone and they knew the potential consequences of their actions when they made that choice.
Co-hosting has been a feature of the CWC since New Zealand and Australia did it in 1992. After that Sri Lanka, Pakistan and India shared the event and then games were split between Holland and England. In 2007 they will be shared between as many as seven independent countries - possibly including the USA.
But the reality is it doesn’t matter where the games are played, winning your games is what ensures you of a place in the next round and failing to do so is the reason that teams don’t go through. The format of the tournament has nothing to with it; neither does the weather and if you don’t agree then lets use Australia as an example.
If Australia had decided not to play in Zimbabwe it wouldn’t have mattered. They won all their other games. If Australia’s game against Namibia had been rained out it wouldn’t have mattered either. If you win when it matters then you’ll make it through.
“I don’t think there’s much doubt that we would have qualified if we’d played Kenya,” says a sour Aberhart. Yes Denis, well you should have played them then! Alternatively if you had just beaten Sri Lanka in your opening game then maybe your decision not to go to Kenya would have had less severe repercussions for your lads. In fact if you had won that game you could even have been in the semis. Or Dennis, if you had beaten India or Australia in the Super Sixes then you would be in the semis as well. Maybe you ought to accept the fact that you aren’t amongst the four best teams in the world.
What really seems to be getting to folk like Aberhart and the legions of disgruntled losers around the world, is not so much that their teams failed to make it to the Super Sixes, or the semi’s, but that Kenya has made it all the way.
I would like to suggest that Kenya are fully deserving of their place amongst the four semi-finalists. They may not be the team with the most talent but they are certainly the best TEAM at the tournament.
Their spirit and passion are evident and their respect for the game and for each other cannot be questioned. England lost sight of cricket and played politics. South Africa couldn’t get behind their own skipper and paid the price. Pakistan preferred brawling amongst themselves. The West Indies played hard and looked the part but fell short at the final hurdle on too many occasions. Kenya got it right!
Where New Zealand beat Zimbabwe by 6 wickets, Kenya won by 7. Where India ran out winners over the Kiwi’s by 7 wickets, Kenya lost by a smaller margin. And perhaps the most telling result of all… New Zealand lost to Sri Lanka while Kenya clobbered them! So while Dennis Aberhart may have no doubt about his sides ability to beat Kenya, you will have to excuse me if some of us do marvel at his arrogance.
Mr. Aberhart and all the other cricketing elitists should take your hats off, apologise and enjoy watching Kenya. They are a treat. They deserve to be there. With none of the facilities that you have back in Lahore, Auckland or Johannesburg. With none of the endorsement money and million dollar sponsorships. Without the Test status or decades of established cricketing traditions, Kenya have made it to the semi-finals.
Aberhart’s assertion that “the CWC format will not necessarily find the best team in the world,” is highlights an inability to lose from a man whose side showed a remarkable inability to win. Suck it in mate and get on with it. The format was good enough to eliminate your side and all the other over-confident, under-performing outfits that expected to cruise through. Kenya, Australia, India and Sri Lanka deserve to be where they are. If, as I expect, Australia go on to win the tournament on Saturday then it really will be tough to deny that the tournament format as failed.
And even if Australia don’t go on to win it… Nobody complains about the format of the FA Cup when there are two first division sides playing in the semi-finals. We all say well done and we root for the under-dog. Lets take that route Mr. Aberhart and others. Congratulate Kenya, stop whinging and admit that Kenya got as far as they did because of what they did - rather than because of what you didn’t do!
By: Anthony Pascoe
I agree with what Mr. Pascoe has to say on the World Cup format. The mission is winning, not relying on another team for your sucess. Kenya played with good emotions, they weren’t given a free ride, they actually did have to win games. Kenya will prosper into a better, stronger, cricketing nation challanging all the top contenders really well.
Why do we include minnows in the World Cup? Because they too are capable of winning games, and who knows you may even reach the WC Finals if you play well.
