The night in sports we shouldn't forget
- Brett Moorgas
- Jun 21, 2020
- 6 min read
Firstly, the wine
Went back to the cellar for this week's wine. I am a huge fan of Torbreck. They do some outstanding reds at either end of the the price range. In fact, if there is one everyday wine that is worth having around it is their Woodcutter's Shiraz. Reasonably priced and one of those wines that you have when you feel like a good, full bodied Shiraz without having to break the bank. That said, last week as the cold weather well and truly with us, I decided to do a lamb shoulder roasted on the BBQ, roasted vegetables in the oven so I couldn't resist the 2014 RunRig that has been staring at me for many a month. I opened it up as I started the preparations for the Sunday roast and poured when all was ready. It isn't for the fainthearted as it is a big Shiraz but it doesn't disappoint. It is one of those wines that you enjoy as you drink it, great with a Sunday roast and makes you want to reach for another bottle as soon as it is done. Sadly, there wasn't one around. May need to rectify that sometime soon. As an aside, Torbreck have a great cellar door if you get the chance to be in the Barossa Valley.
It was lunchtime on Friday March 13th and I saw the email on my phone which informed me that there was a positive test in our office building for COVID-19. That and the instructions were to leave the office immediately; which started the last three and a bit months of being in lockdown.
Hard to believe it was over three months ago. Even harder to believe that less than a week before, I was in Melbourne where my like for major sporting events, Australian Cricket & Katy Perry intersected to a perfect moment with me and 86,173 of my close personal friends.
I am referring to the Women's T-20 World Cup Final where the Australian team beat India to win the title on home soil in front of the largest crowd for a women's sporting event in Australia. It seems like a throw away line now after many months where we have all been through so much but it may be easy to forget how great an achievement that win was. In fact, I think it is one of the greatest achievements in Australian sporting history.
The World Cup win was Australia's fifth in T-20's adding to their six in the 50 over format. Add to that, Meg Lanning is only the third Australian Captain to lead a team to a home World Cup win joining Lyn Larsen & Michael Clarke. That alone would have made this a notable win but there was so much more to it that made it even more memorable.
When the tournaments (Women's & Men's) were launched, there was also the public declaration by organisers that they wanted to #FilltheMCG on International Women's Day 2020 and break the record for the largest crowd at a women's sporting event in the world. To do that, despite all the worthy teams that would be playing in the tournament, the Final had to be between Australia & India.
While this meant a lot of pressure on both sides, there was even more pressure on the home team to ensure that they delivered on the promise. This meant over twelve months of not only preparing for what they needed to do on the field but also being asked to promote the event at the same time and a game where there were no guarantees that they would be a part of.
The tournament began in Sydney when the same two sides would play the first preliminary game in front of what was at the time a record crowd for a stand-alone women's game of 13,432. India won by 17 runs and while that was a hiccup for the home side, it also meant that their job just became a lot harder to ensure a semi final place.
From there, the Australians traveled to Perth where they played Sri Lanka and in the run chase of 122, Australia were 3/10 and at that point, the dreams of the organisers, supporters and importantly the team itself were perilously close of disintegrating before everyone's eyes. It took a partnership by the Captain & Vice-Captain (Meg Lanning & Rachael Haynes) to get the hosts back on track and secure a win.
Australia then had to head back across the country to Canberra where a win against Bangaldesh set them up for a winner take all game against New Zealand in Melbourne for the second semi final place from their pool. In the end, Australia won in the last over by 4 runs but paid the price with Ellyse Perry injuring her hamstring and being ruled out for the semi final in Sydney against South Africa.
Which then brings us to the double header semi final day in Sydney. For those who don't remember, those who arrived at the SCG were greeted to the sight below.
It looked for all money that both games would be postponed and seeing there wasn't a reserve day for the semis, it meant the winners of each pool would progress to the Final; which were India & South Africa.
The first semi final was officially abandoned which saw India go through at the expense of England. There was a then a tense wait to see if the heavens would clear and the second semi could take place. Turns out, miracles can happen. The rain stopped long enough for the ground to be prepared and Australia to fulfil their destiny by beating South Africa by 5 runs through the good old Duckworth/Lewis method. It meant that the Final that everyone was hoping for, would happen and breaking the crowd record was a real possibility.
As we know, Australia left their best performance for when it mattered most and in one of the most clinical performances by any cricket side that I have seen, destroyed India in the Final by 85 runs. The hero that night was Alyssa Healy, who was under the microscope leading into the tournament with an unusual dry spell of runs which ended in that first game in Sydney and culminated in an innings of 75 off 39 balls with some of the best clean hitting ever seen at the MCG. The only thing that was more impressive that night was seeing the Australians join Katy Perry on stage for a rendition of 'Firework' that will never be forgotten by anyone who has seen it.
It is easy to confine this win to just another title win but the pressure of expectation of this team to not just make the Final but win was enormous; almost comparable to that on Cathy Freeman to win gold in Sydney in 2000. Especially when their progress was occupying nearly all of the sporting media for not just the tournament but the weeks leading up to it as well.
Then there was the rollercoaster of the tournament itself. The slow start they had, the only team that was asked to travel across the country more than any other but also losing Ellyse Perry, a player who was one of the key elements for a title win made it that much more of an achievement. Yes, the weather gods smiled on them in Sydney but they still had to win the game. Then it go out and perform on what was the biggest stage that any of them had ever appear before and deliver the almost perfect game was a testament to a team that has long been one of Australia's high performing and most admired teams; a fact confirmed by the release of a recent survey.
With what the world has had to deal with and the challenges of getting life up and running let alone sport, I think that there is a real chance this achievement could be forgotten by so many. Understandably so given the bigger picture. For me as a sporting fan (not to mention a cricket one), it was one of the best achievements that I had the pleasure of witnessing. Let's hope that their place in the sporting history books is not diminished.
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