An extraordinary final has opened a gateway to a new, dissimilar and burgeoning audience
It is rare, which is what makes it so special, but just occasionally the extraordinary nature of an event allows it to cross societal boundaries; through age, race, religion, gender and background, into the very essence of what it is to be human. Such an event offers a joyous and shared middle ground between you and your children, your mother-in-law, your neighbour, shopkeeper, bus driver, pub landlord, client, colleague and many more. It also offers a precious sense of connection to the loved ones now watching from a little further afield.
In the current political landscape, where these boundaries have at times seemed so dishearteningly impervious, you started to wonder if we would see the like again. Yet, on Sunday 14 July, as the sun set on arguably cricket’s finest hour, we had witnessed such an event. After a tie and a tied tiebreaker, England won a maiden ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Final, beating New Zealand by way of boundaries scored. Eight hours of storytelling which built into 60 minutes of jeopardy, of agony, ecstasy, joy, disbelief, despair, redemption and wonder. A cocktail of emotion which only sport, and in particular cricket with all its unrivalled idiosyncrasies, can conjure.
When trying to gauge the breadth and depth of impact of an event like that remarkable final, the cold, hard statistics paint only half the picture. Thanks to Sky Sports’ generosity in opening this event up to free-to-air coverage, more than 8 million people sat on the edge of their seats to witness that unforgettable crescendo. A fine tally, particularly when you consider that 9.6 million people were otherwise engaged with Wimbledon’s longest-ever Men’s Final featuring two of its greatest-ever competitors. Double screen viewing has never been so in vogue.
However, to understand the emotional resonance of the drama that unfolded at the Home of Cricket, you have to dig a little deeper to unearth the impact it had on its rich tapestry of viewers. Through texts appearing on the BBC Sport live feed, which boasted a remarkable 40 million page views, tweets, Instagram stories, emails to the radio, frantic WhatsApp exchanges and many more mediums, you began to get a palpable sense of a generation-defining moment.
A father in Devon tucked his two daughters into bed that evening; one hugging a cricket ball and the other wearing batting gloves.
We heard of a father in Devon who tucked his two daughters into bed that evening; one hugging a cricket ball and the other wearing batting gloves. Another sent in a photo of his son and daughter, in matching uniform, competing in a pre-school back-garden ‘super over’. There were the infectious and heart-warming tears of joy of an 80-year-old grandmother in West Sussex, shared as a video on her granddaughter’s Twitter feed. Linda, the church deacon from Stoke-on-Trent, told us of a secret system she developed with the organist to keep him abreast of proceedings as she covertly kept tabs during their evening service.
A group of fans in Cambodia were rewarded after their desperate search for a live stream in a country not familiar with the art form. Ken got in touch from Manchester telling us of how he was in the Wembley terraces in 1966 when Geoff Hurst changed football in England forever, and was watching in awe some fifty years later knowing that cricket was following suit. We could all relate to Nepali, the British Indian cricket fanatic, who was so exhausted by proceedings that he was nodding off at his desk on Monday morning. One of the English heroes helped James and his wife finally settle on a name for their impending baby boy, Jos. Then came the crowning verse of adulation from Her Majesty the Queen herself, who, like millions of others, felt compelled to add to the groundswell of goodwill.
A six-week tournament decided on the final ball of an additional Super Over; it was a script so romantic in nature that even Richard Curtis would struggle to dream it up, and was also one tailormade for user-generated content. Soon enough clips appeared from across the UK, and around the world, of teammates, families, friends, clubs and communities wildly celebrating that historic run out. Notably, the England Men’s Rugby Team, busy preparing for their own World Cup charge, the England Women’s Cricket Team, in the midst of an Ashes series, Stuart Broad and his county compatriots, fresh from the field of play, cricket clubs in clubhouses across the country, and the fabulous footage of the Trafalgar Square fan zone, a patchwork of multi-cultural and multi-generational delirium.
As the historic run out took place, the Trafalgar Square fan zone was a patchwork of multi-cultural and multi-generational delirium.
For the fortunate few thousand who wandered out of the famous Grace Gates at Lords, their faces a canvas of the emotional rollercoaster they had ridden, they were greeted by strangers embracing, cars honking, flags waving and a movement beginning. Just as today’s fans were inspired by the free-to-air fervour of the 2005 Ashes series, or the generation before by Ian Botham’s era-defining summer of 1981, the next generation of stars have begun their journey thanks to two World Cup winning teams: the Women in 2017 and now the Men in 2019.
What sets these latter two achievements apart is that these successes have been anticipated so that their mark on the sporting landscape can be indelible. After England’s humiliating showing at the 2015 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, Andrew Strauss, then director of cricket at the ECB, set in motion a strategy to revolutionise white ball cricket in his country. The strategy has delivered dual ascents to the two summits of One Day International cricket.
Given the profound impact of the two World Cups, the anticipation for the Ashes series this summer, and the wave of new, and renewed, ardour for the sport, it would not be hyperbole to say that there has never been a better time for a brand to engage through cricket. Just as Ben Stokes cleared the boundary in that historic run chase, cricket has breached its age-old societal constraints and the opportunity to connect with this dissimilar, burgeoning audience is compelling.
By Simon Lamb, Brand Communications Director at ESA member: CSM Sport & Entertainment
To begin your journey in cricket, get in touch with: simon.lamb@csm.com
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