Australian cricket legend Dean Jones once said something interesting about cricket in Australia and New Zealand. He said that when kids in Australia come home after a cricket match, their parents ask, “Did you win?” But in New Zealand, parents ask, “Did you have fun?”

This tells us a lot about why the New Zealand cricket team, the Black Caps, are known as the “nice guys” of cricket. They are one of the most consistent teams in the world, yet they never act arrogant about their success. Tomorrow, they will play against India in the 2025 Champions Trophy final. Many people think India will win, but New Zealand doesn’t mind being the underdog.

Players from different generations say it’s impossible to dislike the Kiwis. Remember the 2019 ODI World Cup final? New Zealand and England tied twice, but England won because of a strange boundary rule. Most teams would have been furious, but not the Black Caps. They accepted it with grace because, for them, cricket isn’t just about winning.

New Zealand Cricket even has a program called Smash Play Junior-Tamariki for kids aged 5-12. It teaches them to play the game with honesty, teamwork, and fun.

In a cricketing world where money and winning often seem like the most important things, the Black Caps remind us that sports can be different. And as they showed by winning the 2021 World Test Championship, nice guys don’t always finish last! 

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