With the 2017 Champions Trophy a week old, the tournament has already provided great insight into the teams playing and what can be expected for the rest of the competition.
While some useless bastards tried to cause an upset to English society through the medium of violence, the English dealt with this through commendable restraint that made it seem like they had simply run out of Earl Grey.
You’d have to call that a win for England.
Regardless, the Champions Trophy has continued on with the greater interruption being presented by the English weather.
Now, the English summer can be absolutely glorious, in fact it is one of my favourite days of the year, but it is hardly the sort of thing to give you enough confidence to host a 15-match ODI tournament.
Almost every match has been (at least) interrupted by rain so far, with Australia yet to play a game that can be considered complete. Some of this may have to do with the ICC’s rule that a game must go to at least 20 overs before a result can be decided, which seems to be as sensible as Adam Zampa’s barber.
Surely the Duckworth Lewis result prediction system can be updated with the change in scoring rates and more data to work with? It seems odd that the administrators change the laws by which the game is played, but not the rules by which the game is decided.
Regardless, the games have all shown that the biggest decider for matches has been the ability to take wickets, particularly the ability to deal with the two-speed decks that have been presented so far.
The most successful batting teams are those that have been able to be patient and wait for bad balls while also taking singles wherever possible. It is certainly different to the run-fest most predicted at the start of the tournament and the ICC may be as concerned with the lack of spectators being threatened by sixes as they are with the weather.
Aside from the stoicism of the English, the other highlight of the tournament so far must be the relative equality of the teams, which has largely been created by the conditions.
All games have been relatively close early and, like the Karate Kid, it is the contestant with the best discipline that can win and paint fences.
This means that, with the influence of the weather included, almost any side can win the Champions Trophy from here.
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