They were the champions, my friends - Iain O'Brien at Cricinfo

There was a little bit of ‘shell shock’ when we all realised we were going to be missing a stand-out player and our captain; not an uneasy feeling but we knew our chances of winning had just taken a hit. You need to have the best team possible out in the big matches. We’ve had our injuries throughout this tournament like nobody’s business. I was only there because of one, [Aaron] Redmond and [James] Franklin, both playing, were there for the same reason; late call-ups after injuries. We had our best team on the park that we could field. We had lost [Jesse] Ryder, [Jacob] Oram and [Daryll] Tuffy; all guys who would have been playing had they been fit. The good thing within the NZ setup at the moment is that we have some bloody good players waiting to get their turn (again).

The match against Pakistan was brilliant; we knew we had held them to a score we would have been very happy with before the match started. Sure, their tail put on a couple more than we’d like, but we’d take it. And our run chase was superb. Grant Elliott was at his best. The pace of his innings made our chase feel comfortable and when Dan joined him still with over 100 to get, we were still very confident of getting through.

Grant and Dan put on 104, a fifth-wicket partnership record for the Wanderers, to get us to within four of the needed runs. They took their time, because we had it, and took their chances, because they were given. A catch at cover, that should have been taken, really put the final within reach. Their partnership was 40 from 70 balls at one stage, if I remember rightly. A little slow but controlled none the less. They then proceeded to up tempo. The hundred brought up from almost even balls. The Powerplay used perfectly!

I’m now home and have had a short break in Belgium, Bruges to be exact. Great fun, great city; more about that later.

I’ll get this finished and leave some room for another in a couple of days but before I finish I want to have a small dig at the South Africa press. Sitting at the airport in Jo’burg, Franky and I sat reading the paper, the morning after the final. The way the two main stories read on the back page, the main sports page, was that it was unfortunate that the ‘underdog couldn’t come through.’ We both sat there and thought that it was poor media, not for us, we’d have loved to have won, but for the Australians that won the event, the Champions Trophy. They won it, they deserved it. They went through the tournament unbeaten and deserved to win. Unfortunately the tone of these two stories was that it would have been great if NZ had won, against all odds; instead of congratulating Australia for a great tournament. Had we been Australian we would have been very disappointed that our success was not celebrated like it should have been.

Hi there!
It was a bit dissapointing about the final,yes,but it was great the way new zealand came to the finals.it is hard for any team to beat australia when they are at their element.According to some critics,the black caps were supposed to be kicked out in the group stages, but new zealand with an inspirational captain and a never-say-die attitude team defied all the odds stacked up against them and showed the world what could be achieved through sheer grit.But they could not pass the final hurdle.
Really glad that india got kicked out in the group stages.But it would not have hurt the indian fans so much since they have 'mighty Modi's mighty leagues' to follow.Thank God Vettori missed the CL.

Iain You are a true gent and sportsman a pity those gutless chokers South Africa haven't laernt the art of sportsmanship i suggest they take lessons from You.I have watched You improve immjensely as a true international top-class test bowler i admire Your committment and guts something that crybaby Smith,selfish Kallis do not have they have repeatedly choked because they lack that champion instinct they have never been finalists in a World Cup that's because they are completely devoid of that champion like status they will always be second class unlike the Aussies oh i am a Pom by the way hey Iain you had a great season for Leics. as well look forward to seeing You on the test/domestic arena have a great and well earned break.

From a friend (or is that enemy) from across the ditch may I congratulate a truly noble sentiment in praising your eventual conquerers in the final.
Hardly a surprise though, South Africans (or most other cricket media/fans around the world) death riding Australia is it? The high price of success, I guess, ha.
I must admit myself that while I would never consider cheering against Australia, if anyone was going to beat us I would happily have had it be NZ.
You guys seem to lift for these big one day tournaments and often find yourselves in the semis so was good to see a trip to the final.
If fate conspires to see the Aussies out early next time then hopefully you blokes can do the business.

Hi Iain, Don't feel sad for Australia. They may have been the deserved winners but they also deservedly have been perceived as being the most obnoxious when it comes to on-field manners. Look at it this way: Wherever the great Windies team of the 80s went they were greeted with awe and when the West Indian cricket went into the doldrums people recalled that great side with a lot of nostalgia. But when Australia were knocked off their twin perches (Test & ODI) the world rejoiced. Why? Reason it out for yourself. Tks, D.Pramod

Different question for you - what's it like growing up in New Zealand playing cricket? In high school do the kids say 'The big strong kids play rugby while the leftovers play cricket'? Or is it 'The kids with fast reflexes play cricket while the ones who have too many teeth left play rugby'? If you're a good cricketer in high school, how far down are you on the social status pole?

And what's it like at the club level? Have you phased out 50 over games yet in favour of 20 over games so that paying crowds come in and watch? How many professional players can such a small country support? Do any women play for men's sides (first team or reserves)?

It's pretty incredible that such a small country (population-wise) can do so well in a sport that isn't even its major sport. Reaching the final isn't as much an achievement as consistently reaching so many semifinals. (Even Roger Federer is very proud of his semifinal record - what's it now, 23 in slams?)

Hi Lucy - I can answer that question as I've grown up in NZ and represented NZ at a schoolboy level in Rugby as well as ND (schoolboys) in Cricket.

Cricket is very much the summer sport in NZ, therefore it gets a lot of the rugby players who come through and play in it. You may have heard of Jeff Wilson who played both sports to a high level?

Guys like Dan Carter, Jason Spice, Nick Evans and so on were all very good performers in Cricket but ultimately chose Rugby.

There is hope with the IPL that people will now take Cricket more seriously as an earning option.

In answer to the above questions, first Vikram Maingi, Iain O'Brien lives in England during the northern summer, so flying via Australia would not have been a good option. The New Zealand team came straight from Sri Lanka, so flying the route that they did (via India) was sensible. To Lucy Ferr, I am a high school teacher, so I get to observe the social status of cricketers at school, and the answer is that it depends on the school. At some schools being a talented cricketer puts you higher up the scale than a rugby player, where as in a lot of the poorer areas cricket is not as popular as softball, and so it does not have the social status. I'm not aware of any women who have played for mens teams at senior club level, but I believe that Emily Drumm opened the batting for the Auckland under 17 team once.