Wellington: New Zealand veteran Trent Boult wants to play at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in India later this year after the Kiwis narrowly missed out on getting their hands on the trophy in 2019.
Boult is keen on righting the wrongs of the 2019 Cricket World Cup final and hopes to get another bite of the cherry during the marquee tournament later this year in India.
The wounds of the Cricket World Cup 2019 final against England at Lord’s have not healed entirely for New Zealand, who lost the game in the Super Over on boundary count, ICC reported.
Boult let go of his New Zealand central contract in August 2022 to be able to spend more time with his family while playing in other domestic T20 leagues around the world. However, he does hope to be on that flight to India later this year for the World Cup.
“I want to be there to have another crack and I hope that is still the case,” Boult said speaking to Australian newspaper The Age. “It’s still a wee way away.”
Since that day at Lord’s though, the Black Caps have become a force to reckon with, especially in ICC tournaments. They have since appeared in two finals and a semi-final and in June 2021, got their hands on the ICC World Test Championship Mace after beating India in the decider.
The victory ended a 21-year trophy drought, with New Zealand’s last major ICC triumph coming way back at the start of the century in 2000 at the ICC KnockOut Trophy.
Reflecting on the journey to the final and eventual win, Boult said, “For us even to get to that stage as a Test-playing nation of however many people (five million), playing probably only eight Tests a year – if that.”
“To get two years of results to get into the final, and then beat India – 1.4 billion people – will never happen again. I think that’s one of the proudest achievements any New Zealander could have, when you look at the sheer size of it,” he added.
