Champions Trophy Ends Badly

Let’s play the good and bad game. On the good side, the tournament was fairly exciting, with plenty of action and close matches and compelling cricket. But on the bad side, the Australians — the ones who’ve done the most to make cricket boring in the last decade — won, and that too against New Zealand, a competent side (but nothing more).

So where does that leave us? This was supposed to be the tournament that confirmed Australia’s official demise as the best team in the world, but instead we found all the top favorites — Sri Lanka, South Africa, India — out of the running. But then again, Australia seemed much more exciting, scrapping to win down to the tail against Pakistan. If this is the future, I like it: plenty of contenders for the throne.

UPDATE: Kridaya has a different, more resigned, take.