Yesterday, New Zealand's exhausted cricket fans went about their Monday business bleary-eyed and shell-shocked after staying up all night to watch one of the most epic Cricket World Cup finals of all time. The Black Caps fell narrowly short of the win after the match and then the super over
Rotorua cricket fans proud of Black Caps despite World Cup final loss
Subscribe to listen
Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber? Sign in here
Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
England celebrate winning the Cricket World Cup as Black Caps batsman Martin Guptill is run out going for what would have been the winning run. Photo / Getty Images
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
Stewart has a close connection with English cricket. He was the first overseas import for the Parley Cricket Club in Bournemouth who he played for in the 1997 and 1998 seasons.
Last year his son Cohen became the first person to play for the club on an international junior cricket scholarship.
Stewart said the best way to describe English fans was "passionate" and he spent much of the night messaging those he knew from his time there.
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
"They went to the game and one of them summed it up well, he thought England were the better team in the tournament but New Zealand were the better team on the day. It just came down to small margins.
"The win will mean a lot to them."
Rotorua cricketer Cam Ingram is a 17-year-old with lofty ambitions in the sport. He lives and breathes cricket.
Like many, he stayed up all night to watch the final and went through the full range of emotions.
"I'm gutted to be honest. I thought we started so well, compared to the semifinal it was so much better and I thought we were in for a good total.
"I backed our bowlers to do the job and obviously it got towards the end and it was pretty tense."
Ingram plays for the Central Indians and is one of the youngest players in the Baywide Premier competition. He said the way the Black Caps carried themselves on and off the field inspired him.
I look up to all those boys in the Black Caps and I try to play my cricket just like them.
"I think the way they showed themselves at this tournament was amazing. They showed emotion but they showed it in a sporting manner which I found some of the other teams don't always do.
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
"I look up to all those boys in the Black Caps and I try to play my cricket just like them. Being a good sportsman, being fair and being true to the game.
"It's definitely going to influence a lot more people to become a part of cricket, especially in Rotorua and Bay of Plenty."
Bay of Plenty Cricket manager Tai Bridgman-Raison says Williamson and Boult are the epitome of what athletes should be, holding positive traits that go beyond their sporting achievements and successes.
Their sporting skills are evident - Williamson as one of the world's best batsmen and Boult, one of the best bowlers New Zealand has had for years - but Bridgman-Raison says it's their sportsmanship that makes them even more inspirational to young cricketers in the Bay and around New Zealand.
He says the Bay of Plenty cricket community could not ask for two better role models for the sport.
Their success on the world stage is what Bridgman-Raison believes will surely prompt more young people to take up cricket, while their humility, character and genuine sportsmanship will teach the next generation of cricketers about being athletes worthy of being looked up to.
"What an advertisement for the sport," Bridgman-Raison says.
