It’s time to wrap up the OBO for today, and indeed the 2023 World Cup. Even a relatively modest tournament has left us with dozens of vivid memories: Virat Kohli’s 50th hundred, Angelo Mathews being timed out, Ibrahim Zadran’s historic century, Mohammad Shami the human statgasm, Glenn Maxwell’s double hundred, England being fried in Mumbai against South Africa, the spine-tingling elegance of Rachin Ravindra and many more.
The abiding memory is usually the last one. This time it’ll be Travis Head pulverising an all-time-great bowling attack and Australia winning an apparently unwinnable final at a canter. It’ll be a while before anyone writes them off again.
On behalf of all the OBO writers, thanks for your company and emails throughout the tournament. And don’t worry, there’s a 20-over World Cup next year.
Travis Head’s World Cup in numbers
109 off 67 balls v New Zealand
11 off 10 v England
0 off 2 v Afghanistan
10 off 11 balls v Bangladesh
62 off 48 v South Africa
137 off 120 v India
That’s 329 runs at an average of 54.83, with a0 strike rate of 128. He also took key wickets in both knockout games. Heinrich Klaasen with the ball, Rohit Sharma with a stunning catch. Yet he still bumbles along, happy to live in the shadows when he’s not killing dreams out in the middle. Yet Head was player of the match in the semi-final, the final – and the final of the Test Championship. He’s the phenomenon next door.
