The Cricket World Cup has a problem, and the problem is a metric it is too late to admit I do not entirely understand. Net run rate in a ten-team pool means that risking a big loss can cause a tournament exit. What you get instead is teams dragging out their innings to 50 overs to protect themselves. Here are five more fun ideas to give teams a bit of pep in their step.
Mascot Race
Starting off with a classic, we can look to the Blast for a bit of inspiration. In the case of a tie, we put a mascot from each team head to head. No frills, give us a footrace. To add to proceedings the mascot has to be a randomly selected member of the audience, no professionals! As long as there are no cheats like Lanky (no doubt Australian in some way), this adds plenty of fairness.
I Quit Match
If the mascot race was a tad vanilla, we can look to our sports entertainment friends at the WWE. No rules, no holds barred, just the first player to concede defeat in a match that can go anywhere around the ground. Teams get the honour of nominating who takes part so expect to see a profound impact on squad selection. Ben Stokes vs Mitch Marsh could easily crack a 5 Star rating.
Total Wipeout
If the I Quit match was too extreme, let’s take a step back and put it to a Saturday evening classic. The captain of the team has to run a custom-built Total Wipeout course, fastest time wins. To add a bit of spice the setting for this will be the Dharamsala outfield, slippy.
Mario Kart
Sometimes rain gets in the way. If rain and NRR collide, we take it to Mario Kart. No characters banned, all items left on the table. Most interestingly we get to see which characters the captains would pick. For what it’s worth my money is on Jos Buttler leaning towards the modest selection of Luigi to represent our great nation.
Battle of the Bands
Finally we go for more of a team effort, every side gets an hour to write, practice, and then perform a custom musical number. Bonus points are awarded for creativity and involving as many players as possible, the scoring will be done by umpires Wilson, Erasmus, and Dharmasena. Foolproof.
