They say you never get a second chance to make a first impression and in that respect, both England and the Cricket World Cup’s organisers will hope theirs is not a lasting one.
This was a perky start to the tournament on the field at least, a resourceful New Zealand side brushing off injuries to three key men and serving up the dish best served cold. After the barest of margins at Lord’s in 2019 came a hammering in the sequel, the stand-in captain, Tom Latham, marshalling an attack padded out with part-timers before Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra ransacked a target of 283 in only 36.2 overs.
Conway is an old hand in these parts, his unbeaten 121-ball 152 very much forged in the heat of his Indian Premier League experience. Ravindra made for a simply delightful story. Aged just 23 and thus the youngest player among two ageing sides, the Wellington left-hander’s 123 not out from 96 put his name up in lights in the country of his parents.
All told it was some statement, neatly summed up by Conway registering New Zealand’s fastest World Cup century from 83 balls only to see it fall to his apprentice by one ball moments later. And it will probably have been welcomed by the officials in the ground after the scenes that were beamed around the world earlier in the day.
Sure, we got Sachin Tendulkar escorting the trophy out to the middle before the toss at the Narendra Modi Stadium, his suit sharp and his hair remarkably luxuriant. The little master looks in excellent nick aged 50, as if he could simply buckle up those trademark old pads, pick up that railway sleeper of a bat and peel off another frictionless century.
We also had the reassuringly familiar sounds of Ian Smith, Nasser Hussain and Ian Bishop to start with on commentary. Having deftly shepherded folks through that stomach-churning finale four years ago, the trio’s reunion in the box very much added to the rematch vibe that the International Cricket Council was so keen to riff on.
But all this appeared to be occurring in a vacuum. No sport does an existential crisis quite like cricket and at a time when the 50-over format’s future is being debated – despite television rights having already been sold until the men’s ODI World Cup in 2031 – the sight of empty orange stands for the first ball was more fuel to the fire.
There are, as always, a few caveats and mitigations. If the ICC is to be believed, this ended up as a record crowd for an opening match in a men’s 50-over World Cup; a final gate of more than 47,000 but in a 135,000-capacity stadium. The day-time temperatures were clearly a factor in those early optics, the handful who were present sticking to the shadier parts and the majority not arriving until the mercury had dropped.
And for all the love of cricket in India, even factoring in the greater ubiquity created by the IPL’s rise, it was always wildly optimistic that a ground that holds more than Lord’s, Edgbaston, Headingley, Old Trafford and the Oval combined – the largest sporting arena outside of North Korea, no less – would be a good fit for these two teams.
You also have to go back to 1996 for the last time the hosts did not start the tournament (England versus New Zealand in Ahmedabad, as it happens, with a good few in at the start that day). It was strange therefore that India were not deployed to light the touchpaper, with Rohit Sharma’s favourites not starting until Sunday’s encounter with Australia in Chennai.
But even accepting the illusion of a regular crowd looking poor in a gargantuan stadium, it still wasn’t a great look and followed some questionable organisation. Though seemingly not exorbitant price-wise, tickets were not placed on sale until 25 August – only 41 days ago. And the fixtures themselves weren’t released until a month before that and have been tinkered with since, sowing further doubt in the minds of potential attendees.
Whether an earlier release of tickets and fixtures would have significantly boosted the number of travelling supporters is up for debate but any self-respecting host board – never mind the richest in the world – would have surely wanted to find out.
The impression given here, accurate or otherwise, is of the Board of Control for Cricket in India not massively caring. Reports of spectators arriving on the day and being told they needed to travel to a hotel some 20 minutes away to collect tickets only added to this.
The same cannot be said of England but they played nothing like defending champions. Jos Buttler brushed off that term, in fact, insisting his players wanted to attack this tournament. The upshot? A timid performance that was so brutally swept aside by the end it could easily come back to haunt them should net run-rate enter the equation.
As for New Zealand, not for the first time they have entered a global tournament slightly unfancied and, going by first impressions, this is once again looking questionable.
