A sport that is seemingly growing in popularity around the world, even in the United States, cricket is a game played over five days in its original form. Especially popular in former British colonies, it’s almost the unofficial sport of the Commonwealth, the number of countries now playing has greatly increased in recent years.

Part of this is down to a newer limited version of the game called Twenty-20. This game limits the number of ball deliveries (bowls) to 120 for each side (Twenty ‘overs’ of six bowls; hence the name), and is usually over in about three hours. Being  much closer in length to many other sports, and thus more broadcast-friendly, Twenty-20 has piled on the fans who would otherwise not consider following a match that lasted a full day, or even five, and in concentrating the action, the games dynamics have livened up.

It is back to the longer One-Day International format that we go for the four-yearly Cricket World Cup, this year being held in Australia and New Zealand, two highly regarded cricketing nations, for the first time since 1992. The 49 matches will be played in 14 venues between 14 February and 29 March 2015, with the final being held at Melbourne Cricket Ground.

With Australia and New Zealand both issuing many precious metal commemorative coins, it doesn’t take Einstein to work out the two would merge to produce offspring and that’s already been the case with the Royal Australian Mint (RAM) having launched an excellent domed coin just a few months ago.

Now the New Zealand Post has got in on the act and released it’s own. In a first for the country, and coincidentally a match for the Aussies, the NZP has also released a curved coin. Despite the fact that the RAM does strike coins for the NZ Post, the latter went to Germany for this one. Very similar in specification, with some cool packaging and a mintage only 40% as high, it’ll have plenty of takers, but in our view, the design, especially of the obverse, is certainly behind the earlier release.

MINTS DESCRIPTION

This special commemorative coin is a must have for any cricket fan. The striking 1oz silver proof coin features the ICC Cricket World Cup logo in gold plating and incorporates a curved design to replicate a real cricket ball.

The coin comes housed in a specially designed case, which resembles a test match cricket ball, making it the ultimate collectable for any cricket fan. With a limited mintage of just 2,015 coins available worldwide, this coin is sure to be popular.

First New Zealand legal tender coin to incorporate a curved design.

Up for pre-order now at $149.00 NZD, the coin ships from the end of February.