New Zealand robbed of home victory parade but WTC is worth celebrating | Ali Martin

World Test Championship can bind supporters worldwide and become a competition every cricketer dreams of winning

The pandemic robbed New Zealand’s cricketers of a much-deserved victory parade on arrival in Auckland on Saturday morning. Instead the World Test Championship mace will now spend the next 14 days in a hotel room with BJ Watling while the team undergo quarantine.

With the captain, Kane Williamson, staying behind in England to play in the Hundred, Watling was a fitting choice as its custodian, the now retired wicketkeeper having truly embodied their understated, team-first culture. Zoom calls and room service are no substitute for ticker tape and fans, of course, although the afterglow from their victory over India – and the final as a whole – feels scarcely diminished.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/3wXlf9W