Why Making the CWC Final Will Be Bigger than Winning the RWC

The summer of 2014/15 will forever be remembered by New Zealanders as the summer the country fell in love with cricket again. 

Thanks to the Blackcaps and brilliant marketing and management by the organisers of the Cricket World Cup, our summer game has never been so popular amongst the public and media. 

And now we've made a World Cup Final and obviously the goal is to win the whole thing in Melbourne. 

New Zealand has won every game we've played in this World Cup at home - something the hallowed 1992 side failed to achieve - and earned our right as the 2nd best side in the world.  

Victory in the Final at the MCG will be bigger than winning the Rugby World Cup in my opinion. Not putting down Stephen Donald and Richie McCaw's achievements of 2011 but you must remember that the All Blacks of 2011 and today are the world's best team at their sport and are expected to win the World Cup - a bit like the Aussies at cricket or Brazilians at football.

Perhaps also, it is the fact that for much of this century, the Blackcaps have made New Zealand sport's could-do-better list. 

Other than fleeting cameos which showed how brilliant they could be on their day, the Blackcaps have lost more games than won them and spent much of this century in the bottom half of the top ten of test nations, floating just above the likes of Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.

I myself have had a love-hate relationship with the Blackcaps to the point that defeats were just shrugged aside and considered part as the norm. I certainly think that the years after the likes of Fleming and Astle retired were one of the worst years for New Zealand cricket, i.e. 2008-2011.

Which makes this recent rise of the Blackcaps so great and thrilling to watch. What has been even more satisfying is the fact that the Blackcaps have not only risen to midtable security but have now emerged as real contenders for the title of best cricket team in the world in all forms of the game.

Obviously with the Cricket World Cup over the last month or so, that has been evident in the 50-overs format of the game but improvement has been very evident in the other forms of the game. 

It is a remarkable achievement given that in New Zealand, other sports like soccer, basketball, tennis, rowing, cycling, golf and video games have started stealing youngsters who might have gone on to play cricket. The professionalism of rugby union and rugby league have also meant that youngsters no longer have time to play cricket in the summer, further reducing our pool of cricketers.

It is also a win for the world game in a time when the big 3, i.e. Australia, India and England are negotiating to play more cricket with each other and less cricket against the "lesser" nations. The way New Zealand dispatched England earlier in the World Cup must make a mockery of those claims for superiority. 

Whoever New Zealand face in the Final will be tough but as McCullum and co have shown throughout the tournament. This World Cup campaign will be marked down as a success for NZ cricket whatever happens in the Final but it would be nice to have that icing on the cake.