England 70s World Cup winning cricket captain John Evans was delighted by his side’s “exceptional” effort to retain the title earlier this month.
The 75-year-old led them to the trophy in 2024 and they retained their crown against Australia in New Zealand on March 5.
“It was amazing,” he said. “First of all the two openers put on an incredible 183 which is hard to recover from. The Aussies came back well but we had some late partnerships which helped.
“I always thought our slow bowlers would be key and that proved to be right as we kept getting wickets until five down.
“They did have a scary partnership of over a hundred, but they needed 30 off the last over so I thought we were alright even though they did get 15. Obviously, they were very disappointed as it was two World Cup’s running that the same thing’s happened where we lost to them in the pool and then beat them in the final.”
England toured Australia before the competition and won the Silver Ashes 3-0 in February with everyone in the squad featuring at least once.
The World Cup then began in the middle of February with the top two of the group stage reaching the final.
England were defeated by Australia in the group stage match after they set Australia 248 which included a 147 partnership from Derek Towe and Neil Calvert, but it wasn’t enough as the Aussies made it to the target with eight balls and six wickets spare.
“We had history as that’s exactly what happened in the home series. They played really well in the pool game and we had an off day which gave us a kick up the back side, having beaten them 3-0 in Australia, which was exceptional because the heat there was incredible. I’ve never played in anything like it, so in their own backyard to win that one 3-0 was brilliant.”
These competitions and tours present a brilliant opportunity for lots of different people from different backgrounds and cultures to meet each other which Evans really values.
“Off the field you become their friends as well which is nice. They want to win as much as we do but it was an incredible six-and-a-half weeks.”
Evans joined the 70s Cricket side after being selected for a trial in 2022 due to his performances playing for Gloucestershire.
He was then selected as vice-captain in 2023 and when Chris Watkin was taken ill for the Silver Ashes, he took on the role as captain. He then eventually became permanent captain for the 2024 World Cup.
After so much success Evans admits he is unlikely to feature in the next World Cup.
“I sort of felt I led from the front in the previous Ashes and World Cup and whilst I did okay in Australia, I didn’t have a very good World Cup with the bat.
“A lot of that was fatigue with having to captain every game as our vice-captain was injured sadly as I could’ve done with a couple of rests. I didn’t bat like I know I can so it’s unlikely I make it.”
