There are certain memories etched vividly in the mind and one such is the NZ vs Eng clash on Feb 14th 1996. I started following cricket seriously around the autumn of 1994 and the 1996 world cup happened to be my first big ticket tournament experience as a fan.
I was so excited about the Wills World Cup being staged in the sub continent and had done a thorough homework pertaining to the history of the past 5 world cups thanks mainly to a red covered book of Gulu Ezekiel 'The Story of World Cup Cricket' which gave a brief synopsis along with score lines of all the previous editions from 1975-1992.
The world cup in 1996 opened with the New Zealand vs England clash and as it was a school going weekday, I recall rushing back as soon as the last bell rang at 2:45 pm from P. S Senior Sec School, Mylapore to scamper home to watch a closely contested tussle which NZ held on to sneak through thanks largely to a platform laying hundred by Nathan Astle.
Over the years since 1996, England's performances have nose dived in world cups with them hardly ever putting even a meek foot forward whereas the Kiwis have consistently managed to get to a top 4 finish in most of the events gone by with even a final run finish in the last Trans Tasman edition in 2015.
And now almost 23 and a half years and 7 world cups later nostalgia is recirculated as these very same teams who I witnessed playing a world cup game for the first time in 1996 are locking horns with each other to earn their maiden World cup triumph. May the best team win!
#nostalgicmemories #beforegooglewasborn #preinternetdays #14feb1996to14jul2019 #longworldcupjourney #engvsnz #iccworldcup2019
I was so excited about the Wills World Cup being staged in the sub continent and had done a thorough homework pertaining to the history of the past 5 world cups thanks mainly to a red covered book of Gulu Ezekiel 'The Story of World Cup Cricket' which gave a brief synopsis along with score lines of all the previous editions from 1975-1992.
The world cup in 1996 opened with the New Zealand vs England clash and as it was a school going weekday, I recall rushing back as soon as the last bell rang at 2:45 pm from P. S Senior Sec School, Mylapore to scamper home to watch a closely contested tussle which NZ held on to sneak through thanks largely to a platform laying hundred by Nathan Astle.
Over the years since 1996, England's performances have nose dived in world cups with them hardly ever putting even a meek foot forward whereas the Kiwis have consistently managed to get to a top 4 finish in most of the events gone by with even a final run finish in the last Trans Tasman edition in 2015.
And now almost 23 and a half years and 7 world cups later nostalgia is recirculated as these very same teams who I witnessed playing a world cup game for the first time in 1996 are locking horns with each other to earn their maiden World cup triumph. May the best team win!
#nostalgicmemories #beforegooglewasborn #preinternetdays #14feb1996to14jul2019 #longworldcupjourney #engvsnz #iccworldcup2019
