Tom Moody is sprawled across the Nursery Ground at Lord's recalling the crowning moment of his playing career. Moody was the unsung hero of Australia's 1999 World Cup win, recast as a bowling allrounder late in his career, and he will always associate the ground with their victory over Pakistan in the final .
"We came in as favourites, but we played poorly for the first half of the tournament," he recalls. "We basically had to win seven in a row to be crowned champions." Enter Moody, who had been left out of their first three games, which included defeats to New Zealand and Pakistan. "Being part of that journey for those seven games was pretty special."
The final was an utter thrashing: Australia won by eight wickets in a game that lasted 59.1 overs, with Moody dismissing Abdul Razzaq and Azhar Mahmood. "We had a long period of time in the dressing room to enjoy the experience of the journey and the occasion. All sorts of people came through, from family to famous cricket fans, but we were in our own bubble."
Several hours after the conclusion, the team gathered on the pitch to sing Beneath the Southern Cross. "Traditionally in the Australian team, we'd always sing that team song after a Test or a one-day series win," Moody explains. " Ricky Ponting was the songmaster, and he delivered it on my shoulders, right in the middle. My lower back is still recovering."
Twenty-five years later, Moody is back at Lord's with Oval Invincibles ahead of Sunday's Hundred final, looking to win the title for a second season in a row. He "pulled stumps early" on the celebrations last year, leaving his players to enjoy themselves, but took pride from their recovery from 34 for 5 : "In adversity, we had the characters to step up under pressure."
The Invincibles have not quite lived up to their moniker, but have only lost three games across the last two seasons and qualified directly for the final as group winners. "It's a very calm, relaxed environment," Moody says. "Everyone's very clear on their position and their role… a lot of it is to do with personnel, and the leaders within the group."
Foremost among those is Sam Billings , the Invincibles' captain, exemplified by his decision to retire himself out against London Spirit in order to get Donovan Ferreira in. "That reflects not only him as a leader, but the culture in the team," Moody says; Billings describes Moody as the squad's "cultural architect" in his role as head coach.
The Invincibles have adapted well to the significant drop-off in scoring rates this year, which have dropped by around 15 runs per 100 balls in the men's Hundred. Moody believes it has been prompted by the combination of a "narrower seam" on the ball and pitches with "quite a bit of grass on them" but his players have dealt with the challenge.
There have been difficult moments for some batters: Dawid Malan, who has replaced Jason Roy this year, managed 14 off 31 balls during a low-scoring win over Southern Brave . Where some teams would have dropped him, the Invincibles kept faith. "If anyone's going to be able to navigate challenging conditions early, he's one bloke that you'd put your marker on," Moody explains.
Moody has retained a core of players for all four seasons in Billings, Will Jacks, Sam and Tom Curran, Saqib Mahmood and Nathan Sowter. This is their first year without Sunil Narine, who had previously been a top-bracket signing; Adam Zampa has thrived in his place, and is the Hundred's joint-highest wicket-taker with 17.
"It was a difficult call," Moody says. "Sunny's a sensational player, but we had to juggle the salary cap and make everything work. What really made us think hard about it was that Sunny had committed to MLC, and we'd seen the contribution Zamps made when he played. He's so underrated in white-ball cricket… he can walk into any team I have a hand in selecting, because he's world-class."
Curran has been the star: he is level with Zampa as the tournament's top wicket-taker , and only Nicholas Pooran has hit more sixes . "Sam - like all good players - likes responsibility," Moody says. "He has welcomed that with the bat in his hand… I think he's much better suited to that middle-order position in white-ball cricket [than] that No. 6 or 7 role."
It begs the question: has he been batting out of position for England in their T20I set-up? "He's done the talking for himself through his performances," Moody says. "I think he's demonstrated his value in that role - but it's not up to me to be telling England how to structure their white-ball set-up."
It is not impossible that it could be soon: Moody has not ruled himself out of contention to succeed Matthew Mott as England's white-ball coach, though is unlikely to apply for the job unless approached. He would be a compelling candidate if he applied - and a second successive Hundred title on Sunday would further his case.
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