Rest of the world in sports and games

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Within sports and games played at the international competitive level, the Rest of the World refers to a team of players from many countries of origin that compete against a single individual or a team from a single group, such as a club or country.

Overview[]

As a Rest of the World team usually has little experience in playing together or working as a team, their ability is not usually considered indicative of their actual abilities, either individually or as members of their usual teams, and as such, games played against the rest of the world are not normally considered to show the true talent of either the rest of the world or the team competing against them. As a consequence, Rest of the World matches are usually played as one-off events either as friendly games or for a non-competitive special purpose, such as international aid or commemoration.

However, some such events can produce spectacular and intense games, such as the chess game between Garry Kasparov and the Rest of the World in 1999. The Russia (USSR) vs Rest of the World chess matches were also tightly contested.

Examples[]

In rugby league, the Other Nationalities team played from 1904 to 1975. In rugby union, the British and Irish Lions faced the Rest of the World XV in 1986.

In basketball, the NBA Rising Stars Challenge faces a Team USA versus a Team World since 2015.

Noted examples of Rest of the World teams in cricket included those organised to tour England in 1970 and Australia in 1971-2 in place of planned tour from South Africa abandoned because of political opposition due to the apartheid policy. Although the matches in 1970 were declared at the time to have official Test cricket status, this was subsequently withdrawn.[1] A World XI also played against Australia in the 2005 ICC Super Series. The first class match in that series retains Test match status, a move which is controversial with some cricket statisticians. However the status is unlikely to be withdrawn in part because of the effect on noted cricket records; for instance without the wickets taken in this match, Muthiah Muralidaran would fall slightly short of 800 career test wickets.[2] A world XI also competed in unofficial World Series Cricket in 1978-9.

An example of a Rest of the World team in soccer occurred on 8th August 1987 when such a side contested a match at Wembley stadium against a Football League XI to commemorate the centenary of the English football league. This comprised the last high-profile occasion on which Diego Maradona played on English soil. Although the game was sparsely attended the hostile reception of Maradona, just over a year after The Hand of God incident, was notable.[3]


Golf[]

Two events in golf, one currently active and the other defunct, involve teams officially labeled "International" that are effectively "rest of the world" teams. The Presidents Cup in men's golf, held in odd-numbered years, features competition between a United States team and an "International" team made up of non-European players (Europeans compete against the US in even-numbered years in the Ryder Cup). The now-defunct Lexus Cup in women's golf was an annual competition that matched an Asia team against an "International" team drawn from all other nationalities.

Non-sporting usage[]

Outside sports and games, Rest of World (RoW) is also a term used to distinguish an unspecified but inclusive group of nations from one or more dominant players in the comparative analysis of markets, economies, military capabilities, and so forth, especially in graphs or charts to show the numbers representing the other countries.

The Federation of American Scientists, for instance, provides a list of RoW weapons systems, meaning systems belonging to nations other than the United States.[4]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ 'The Empire Strikes Back', ESPNcricinfo, https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/the-empire-strikes-back-223308; 'The uncapped one cap wonder', ESPNcricinfo, https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/the-uncapped-one-test-wonder-259050
  2. ^ 'Muthiah Muralidaran', ESPNcricinfo, https://www.espncricinfo.com/player/muthiah-muralidaran-49636
  3. ^ ‘What on earth was the Mercantile Credit Football Festival’, Guardian, 10 June 2015, https://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jun/10/what-on-earth-was-the-mercantile-credit-football-festival; R. Fenton, ‘The Football League vs the rest of the world 1987’, The Football Archive, 6 Jan 2020, https://the-football-archive.com/2020/01/06/the-football-league-v-the-rest-of-the-world-1987/
  4. ^ "Rest-of-World Land Combat Systems". fas.org. Federation of American Scientists. Retrieved May 16, 2017.


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