It always sucks when rain ruins a cricket match.
You get excited, you get your head in the ‘patriotic fervour’ space, you prepare for an epic sporting battle, and then you get a sad wet fizzing sound as the flame of competition is extinguished by fickle nature.
The washouts of Australia’s first two Champions Trophy games were like that, and yet they were also strangely apt – what is more fitting than a washed-out game for a washed-out tournament?
The matches began with an air of anticipation, only for the realisation to grow that nothing of significance would happen, which is basically the exact blueprint of the Champions Trophy itself.
It’s hard to narrow down the reasons for the decline of the 50-over format to one specific factor, but if you want to make the effort, the Champions Trophy would do.
Created by an ICC executive to win a bet that he couldn’t invent an international cricketing event of less importance than the 1988 Bicentennial Test, the Champions Trophy has grown from these humble beginnings to become one of the sporting world’s genuinely aggravating white elephants.
Who cares about the Champions Trophy? I confess that as a true Australian I have no interest in or knowledge of what people in other countries think, so maybe around the globe it is considered a riveting event followed closely by billions whose personal happiness lives or dies on the results.
Maybe nations who haven’t reached the point of seeing the World Cup as their own personal plaything need to grasp at any straw they can.
I won’t, then, say definitively that nobody cares about the tournament. I will simply say that if somebody cares about the tournament, they are wrong and should take stock of their lives with urgency.
A good measure of a tournament’s priority in the sporting hierarchy is how well its high points are remembered down the years.
Does anyone remember anything that has ever happened at a Champions Trophy? Every so often I read an article that references a time when Australia won it, and I have no idea what they’re talking about.
When did that happen? Was that during World Series Cricket? Did a rebel South African tour win it on a stopover?
I’m not even sure how often the Champions Trophy is on. Every two years? Every four years? To be honest it seems like it’s on every five months, but that’s probably just because things you wish would never happen always seem like they happen more often.
It’s like how I only have three children but it feels like I keep having new ones every few weeks.
The fact it’s called the ‘Champions Trophy’ is another issue. In one sense it’s a tautology: every trophy is a champions trophy because ‘champion’ is a word for ‘one who wins a trophy’.
In another sense it’s a blatant lie because it implies that to be in the tournament you have to be a champion of something, which is untrue, because England is in it.
There is no champion requirement to enter the Champions Trophy. In fact the very existence of the Champions Trophy dilutes the concept of ‘champion’, meaning that if you are a champion of something, being in the Champions Trophy means you’re less of a champion than you used to be.
Australia, for example, has now won only three world cups. The winner of this year’s Champions Trophy will be declared the champions’ champion, but the two champions there cancel each other out, meaning they will actually be nothing.
If you care about cricket, caring about the Champions Trophy should be anathema. It is a tournament that eats away at the game’s credibility and makes it look foolish in the eyes of the world, which are all focused on sporting events that retain a little dignity, like the French Open and the Victorian gridiron league.
There are those who claim that modern cricket is plagued by a bloated international calendar full of irrelevance and cynical cash-grabs.
The Champions Trophy not only gives these people ammunition, it forces the rest of us to get down on our knees and beg tearfully for forgiveness for having doubted them.
Kill this idiotic tournament now. Shut it down like an English summer shuts down cricket in general. Save ODIs from themselves.
Having said all that, if Australia fails to make the semis, sack Steve Smith immediately.
vikram
Guest
dont worry it will be killed india not getting enough money ...... they almost did it but court order prevented tham i m sure they might .....
Nick Newbury
Guest
whatever u say
Ben Pobjie
Guest
"if you are a champion of something, being in the Champions Trophy means you’re less of a champion than you used to be. Australia, for example, has now won only three world cups." Get it yet?
Ben Pobjie
Guest
That's. The. Joke.
Ben Pobjie
Guest
I know they've won five. That's the joke.
DavSA
Guest
And yes Ben it sure does suck when rain spoils a cricket game. But its been happening since cricket was first invented in ...yes I don't have to say England , do I ? ...... So for those who say ODI tournaments shouldn't take place there because it might rain should just pause for a while and think about how silly that statement is... I have seen my own team eliminated from tournaments and not just in England because of rain .. I have also seen us winning or saving games because of rain too.
Dexter The Hamster
Guest
yeah those teams have never been in the champions trophy. its hard to see how watching Canada v Netherlands in cricket would interest you, but fair enough.
Jacko
Guest
i just went back and had a look and there was no LOL at the end of the article. If you need to explain that it is humour then its probably failed
Philip O'Donovan
Guest
Personally I am quite enjoying it.As Australia are no longer in it I trust we will not have more of your sour comments.
Bakkies
Guest
No different to the Champions League where the 4th placed team in the Premier League is able to qualify
Anindya Dutta
Roar Guru
@Josh - talk to warner now. He will tell you it MOVES ?
Josh
Guest
I'm looking forward to tonight but ODI cricket is so boring when the ball doesn't move. They need to redefine it as a bowlers game, all the great ODIs I can remember featured scores between about 120-240. Nothing like the thrill of a fast bowler getting on top to have a team 5/30 then them coming back and scraping over the line
Timmuh
Roar Guru
It is hard to find a point to the Champions Trophy, but that is true of the continuous ODI circuit. One thing it does that other series do not is to give players a tournament-style series, something closer to the World Cup. I could understand it if it was the automatically qualified nations, closer to the WC. As it is, its just the ICC filling a calendar gap that doesn't exist. At least when the CT began there was a purpose. It was to raise money for Associate and Affiliate nations. Now, its just another source of ICC revenue that mostly goes back to the nations who raise enough revenue of their own. One thing world cricket does need is less ODI cricket. The big ntions play far too much.
Glen
Guest
The best part of the Champions Trophy and the World Cup is watching teams like Ireland, Netherlands, Canada, Afghanistan go round. Looks like they aren't included anymore hence my interest in the tournament has gone completely.
Nick Newbury
Guest
It's 5 world cups.. already make the writer look like a goose. I love ODIs and i couldnt care less what the name of the competition is, just play more. Someone above said the icc should reduce the odi matches... thats a terrible idea?? Thats like slashing the afl rounds before the grand final. Not less cricket more cricket!! Love it
DavSA
Guest
Ben , are you sure , sure , sure you are not just saying this as a bit of insurance just in case Australia have an early exit .mmmmm ? And where are the ICC gonna get all that extra revenue from in between all those world cup years ? You do know that they have pretty elevated lifestyles to support.
David a Pom
Guest
5.
Mitcher
Guest
Guess again
Rabbitz
Roar Guru
Once again, a large number of commentors fail to see a lighter side in an article. Lighten up and laugh - your lives may just start to look less dreary.
David a Pom
Guest
Horrific article. Also Australia have won 4, not 3, world cups.