I was told by a colleague that my column last week was a bit too much doom and gloom, so I have some good news to cheer you up this week.
THE CRICKET WORLD CUP HAS STARTED!!!!
Last Thursday, England played New Zealand in the opening game of the tournament being played in India. The opening game of the tournament is a replay of the final from 2019, where England prevailed on the number of boundaries they scored after the match was tied after 50 overs and a super over. (For a baseball analogy think number of home runs scored over a 612-pitch game). Unfortunately, England did not prevail this time, but there are still eight more matches to play in the group stage.
The tournament will have at least one game every day, with ten countries competing to be the winners. Current favorites are India with England also being highly fancied. The final is on November 19th, I’ll keep you updated, especially in the spirit of good news, if England wins!
Cricket is enjoying a resurgence in popularity in the United States (it was more popular than baseball through the early 20th century). There was a well-supported inaugural Major League Cricket competition played this summer in Dallas, TX, and Morrisville, NC. The next 20 over version of the game will have a World Cup next year and several matches will be played in New York, Dallas, and Central Broward Regional Park in Fort Lauderdale (see below – not responsible for spelling mistakes!).
In other good news, England has made it to the quarter-finals of the Rugby World Cup, currently being played in France. This is a little more surprising, as England’s form coming into the tournament was disappointing. They suffered their biggest-ever home defeat, to France, and also lost to Fiji for the first time ever. Their quarter-final opponents will again be Fiji.
Tournament favorites are Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand, but because of the draw, only two of those countries can make the semi-finals.
If you want my forecasts (just to make this a little economicisy), they are India edging England in the cricket final and Ireland to beat France in rugby.
You can watch the Cricket World Cup on ESPN+ and the Rugby World Cup on Peacock.
