3 minute read
India’s World Cup victory appears to have ushered in visions of a new era of endless dominance for the winners. Alex Hartley and Ian Bishop both used the word ‘scary’ in reference to the team’s potential – but honestly, what should we be afraid of?
These expectations for the future can seem a bit cataclysmic, but things never quite work out the way people think. Even if they did, it’s not like we’re not used to this kind of thing. At least we’d get a different flavor of the apocalypse.
And it’s not like the latter did any lasting damage anyway. The burning looks bad in these hellish Armageddons, but the ash enriches the soil and eventually new stuff will grow.
Personally, we always felt like Australia went a bit far with the whole invincibility thing. It’s one thing to go out and win it all, but they’ve just gone a little crazy with it.
Okay, India has won a World Cup, but as things stand, Australia has still won more than everyone else combined. They have also won six of the nine T20 World Cups.
Their winning streaks highlight how long and brutal their dominance has been: 26 wins in a row between 2018 and 2021; 15 in a row from 2022-23; 14 in a row from 2024-25. It’s not even like it’s anything new. They won 17 in a row from 1997-99 and 16 in a row from 1999-2000.
The only series they have lost recently was the ODI leg of the 2023 Ashes, which England won 2-1. Since then they have won nine series in a row. Before that, they had won the previous 13.
But the records are changing. One Australia no longer owns is the most successful pursuit. Their 331 against India last month topped the charts for barely a fortnight before their opponents returned the favor with interest. Not a bad time to do that, in a World Cup semi-final.
To further contextualize some of the frightening ‘end is nigh’ doom-mongering that has greeted India’s victory: that particular result ended a 15-match World Cup winning streak for Australia, while recently snapping a three-match losing streak to the mighty indomitable India in this tournament.
For now, India remains a team that can do both great and rather sub-par things. We’ll try to stir up some fear for their future once we’ve had a breather and the colossal tsunami of Australian fears has finally been washed away.
Book news
It seems a bit crazy to reference Christmas at all, but if you were planning on buying The 50 most ridiculous Ashes moments for everyone, it now appears to be out of stock at TG Jones and Awesome Books, while there is a suspiciously long delivery time on Amazon, indicating a lack of stock there as well.
We think it is still available from bookstore.orgAnd Blackwells seems to still be in pre-order phase (it still is). We suspect it might also end up in some physical stores once it, you know, actually releases.
Publishing is publishing, the situation is all a bit mysterious and we claim not to know what is really going on. We wish Affirm would print a few more copies once they’re all sold, but unfortunately that won’t help you buy Christmas gifts as there’s no way that would happen before the new year.
So, please buy our book very soon – if you can.
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