It is easy to get inspired from all this great archive footage of great players and games.
Taking a leaf out of Martin Crowe's Raw book, here is my dream World Cup final scenario. I've deliberately set it up as the Rest of the World against the Subcontinent given that the Subcontinent holds the most power in the game today. It's definitely one for the gamers!
DREAM WORLD CUP FINAL - REST OF THE WORLD v SUBCONTINENT
Venue – Lord’s Cricket Ground, London
Umpires – Dickie Bird, Steve Bucknor
TV Umpire - Aleem Dar
Referee - Chris Broad
Reserve Umpire - Simon Taufel
TV Commentary –
Tony Cozier, Richie Benaud, Mark Nicholas, Ravi Shastri,
Geoff Boycott, Ian Smith, Michael Holding, David Gower, Peter Williams (studio presenter)
Radio Commentary –
Christopher Martin-Jenkins, Bryan Waddle, Jeremy Coney, Jonathan Agnew, Henry Blofield, Peter Roebuck, Jim Maxwell
REST OF THE WORLD -
Martin Crowe, New Zealand
Adam Gilchrist, Australia (wicketkeeper)
Ricky Ponting, Australia
Clive Lloyd, West Indies (captain)
Steve Waugh, Australia
Ian Botham, England (all-rounder)
Jonty Rhodes, South Africa
Shane Warne, Australia
Richard Hadlee, New Zealand
Craig McDermott, Australia
Glenn McGrath, Australia
SUBCONTINENT -
Kumar Sangakarra, Sri Lanka
Tilakaratne Dilshan, Sri Lanka
Sachin Tendulkar, India
Imran Khan, Pakistan (captain)
Javed Miandad, Pakistan
Aravinda da Silva, Sri Lanka
Moin Khan, Pakistan (wicketkeeper)
Kapil Dev, India
Roger Binny, India
Wasim Akram, Pakistan
Anil Kumble, India
Clive Lloyd's captaincy skills extend to the coin toss. A last minute call on tails mean the Rest of the World win the toss and elect to bat on a unusually hot day in London with a wicket looking great for batting.
The Rest of the World score 100 without loss for the 1st wicket in 15 overs before the ball starts to swing for Pakistan's swing kings and Wasim Akram takes 3 quick wickets. Clive Lloyd and Steve Waugh help rebuild the innings and take the Rest of the World to 200 for 3 in the 35th over. Then spin takes over and Waugh and Lloyd go quickly. It's left to Ian Botham to help get the Rest of the World to 280 for 8 with cameos from the tail - Hadlee hits 3 sixes including one into the Member's Stand.
In reply, the Subcontinent score 100 without loss in 14 overs before McDermott and Hadlee finally get the ball to swing and remove both Sri Lankan openers. Tendulkar and Imran Khan steady the innings and the Subcontinent are ticking nicely to 200 for 2 in the 30th over. Up steps Warney who grabs a hat-trick to nab Khan, Miandad and da Silva in quick succession to leave the Subcontinent 210 for 5. Indian legends, Tendulkar and Dev hold steady to ensure the game is delicately poised going into the last overs as the precipitation from a hot summer's day results in cloud building up over north London.
Sensing an opportunity, Lloyd sends Botham and Hadlee to bowl in tandem and they remove Tendulkar and Dev quickly. However, Binny and Akram are stubborn against them and the Subcontinent reach 240 with 5 overs to go. Binny quickly goes along but Akram hangs around with Kumble at the other end and starts slogging the ball around the ground, meaning the Subcontinent need 10 runs from the last over to win the Dream World Cup Final.
McGrath bowls the last over. The first three balls go for singles, leaving Akram and Kumble to get 7 runs from the last 3 balls. Akram hits a beautiful boundary with McGrath's 4th ball and it's now 3 from 2 balls with only one wicket to spare. McGrath bowls a yorker which Akram plays well for a single, leaving Kumble to face the last ball of the innings and needing 2 runs to win the game. McGrath bowls a short one which is played by Kumble well. Too well, though as Jonty Rhodes picks up the ball and throws it to the other end and runs out Kumble.
The Rest of the World win by 1 run.
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