Fun is the word that describes Twenty20 cricket and the West Indies' victory was exactly that: great fun!
They have terrific power players, they're billed as a very dangerous team and they held it together in the final. They've been in the doldrums for a long time and it was wonderful to see.
They hit two of the highest scores of the tournament (205 in the semi-final and 191 against Australia earlier in the tournament) and I thought they fielded terrifically well most of the time.
West Indies: their three-week party ended in glory
Darren Sammy was on top of his game as a captain. It's pretty apparent that Chris Gayle and some of the other players have a bit of an influence on what's going on, but Sammy is fundamentally a very good man.
By his own admission, I would say he's not the greatest cricketer in the world but he managed to get the best out of this team and I don't think anybody in the world of cricket begrudges them the win.
The tournament was one three-week party for them (in fact, they're probably still partying now) and I think the fact they didn't take things too seriously and had a lot of fun was a big reason for their success.
Bumble
Quotes of the week
He used the leg-spinner, Samuel Badree, very well and Sunil Narine was a massive influence for them. Once the batsmen had delivered, there was a terrific response from the fielders and the bowlers.
Gayle was absolutely awesome throughout the tournament, but I feel Marlon Samuels matched him and is going to be a world-class player. Dwayne Bravo also played really well, even though he was unable to bowl (which would have made them an even stronger team).
All in all it was a terrific team effort and they beat some very good teams to lift that trophy.
Can this success be translated to other forms of the game? I'm sure the problems over player availability will continue because of the domestic one-day situation around the world.
Their legendary team of the 1980's was borne out of a wonderful battery of fast bowlers and world-class batters. To be fair that sort of team only comes around once in a blue moon.
But my view is that if they can get this team together then they should have enough to hold their own in Test match cricket.
The tournament was one three-week party for them (in fact, they're probably still partying now) and I think the fact they didn't take things too seriously and had a lot of fun was a big reason for their success.
Sometimes after you win a competition, the players don't know what they're doing, but you could see the raw emotions of the players when they were dancing on the pitch after the final. They've had a bit of turmoil recently, but after responding in that way then why not have a sing and a dance?
I could tell from Twitter that all of the islands are ecstatic and for three weeks those boys sure did party!
On the day
On the other side of the coin, the Sri Lankan people were devastated.
As the home team they thought they were going to win the final, but they came up against a stronger outfit on the day.
But the tournament overall was a great success. The only tweak I would make would be the first week, which seemed to be an exercise in eliminating the so-called lesser teams, which isn't the way to do it. There were some negative comments about that week, which was a bit unfair.
It would probably be better if those associate teams played off to put two of them into the group stage. The Super Eights would then be extended to 10 teams with two of those sides involved.
One thing that worked really well was having the women's tournament running alongside it. That's so important for the women's game.
I know England, who were strong favourites to win, were bitterly disappointed to be beaten by an Australian side that played very well in the final. They can now turn their attentions to the 50-over World Cup in February.
I enjoyed the tournament, but I'm glad to be back home. Time for a bit of golf I reckon!
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