World Cup 2019: Viewership records break as cricket fever grips the world

According to the International Cricket Council, television figures in India amassed a viewership of 342m during the first fortnight of the tournament

It was back to the ancient at the Home of Cricket. England confronting Australia, the oldest rivals in what to connoisseurs is not merely a game, but a way of life!

The magnificent rusty brick pavilion and multi-tier galleries around it were packed across the spectrum with white faces, with a smattering of Australian yellow and green jersies. The crowd was un-raucous, their applause polite and sporting. There were no sounds of subcontinental instruments, no dhoti and kurta, no frenzied nationalism, not a flag in sight, other than incongruously two Indian tricolours fluttering on the patio of an overlooking penthouse