Jacob Rees-Mogg’s crass comment on Twitter that “we clearly don’t need Europe to win” in reference to England’s triumph in the Cricket World Cup has backfired spectacularly given the international makeup of the team.
The 15-man squad includes five players born outside the UK, including the Irish-born captain, Eoin Morgan. Tom Curran and Jason Roy are originally from South Africa, while Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer, who bowled the super over, were born in New Zealand and Barbados respectively. In addition, Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid are the grandchildren of Pakistani immigrants and both belong to the Mirpuri community.
So, the team was captained by an immigrant, with batting led by an immigrant, the fastest bowler an immigrant, the leading all-rounder was an immigrant and the main spinner the son of an immigrant.
Perhaps instead of making a silly Brextremist point Mr Mogg could have offered congratulations to the Irish captain, the New Zealand-born man of the match and the Barbadian bowler who got England over the line.
Alex Orr
Edinburgh
• To win a World Cup final under a rule that should be confined to school kids playing down at the local park simply beggars belief. If a match goes to a super over then why not follow the practice of football’s penalty shootout? Tied after the first over, what’s wrong with playing one or more overs until one team scores more runs than the other? Is that not fairer? (And no, I’m not a Kiwi.)
Steve Moore
Leumeah, New South Wales, Australia
• Deciding the outcome of the Cricket World Cup Final on the basis of which side scores more boundaries is illogical and arbitrary. The game is meant to be an equal contest between bat and ball. A run is a run, and a wicket is a wicket. Both teams managed to score 256 runs in total (241 + 15). A tie. New Zealand’s bowlers, on the other hand, took two more wickets than England’s; so shouldn’t they have won?
Fr Alec Mitchell
Holyhead, Anglesey
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