Injuries, recoveries, surprising selections, awe-inspiring feats with bat, ball and in the field, on-pitch controversy and off-field scandal: as the world’s elite cricketers have gathered in Australia over the last couple of weeks all of these boxes have been ticked – and the T20 World Cup has not even started.
That changes on Sunday, when the action gets under way in somewhat understated style with a double-header in Geelong, where Namibia play Sri Lanka and then Netherlands face the UAE.
Though Sri Lanka are a team on the rise, and recent winners of the Asia Cup, these are not exactly the kind of blockbuster fixtures that will grab the world’s attention, nor are they being played on one of Australia’s legendary grounds.
On Monday, while the second group of the opening phase – which includes West Indies, as well as Scotland, Ireland and Zimbabwe – begins in Tasmania, many cricket fans will be distracted by events in Brisbane, where the eight teams that have automatically qualified for the second round play each other in warm-up matches.