ICC Cricket World 2011.
Discussion
Starts on Saturday.
Yet again the format is ridiculous. They've tweaked it a little from last time (to prevent any of the big teams go out at the first stage) so we'll have 4 weeks of meaningless matches before the top 8 go into the quarter finals.
Essentially anyone who can find form at the right time and win 3 consecutive matches at the right time will win the cup.
India are the favourites because they are guaranteed to play their quarter final on home turf and should they won their semi will be in India too. With the final taking place in Mumbai.
Sri Lanka, South Africa and Australia are joint second favourites with Pakistan and England in the group behind.
India: Have an incredible batting line up and at home any of their top 7 are capable of scoring big big hundreds. Have two good bowlers in Harbhajan and Khan however the rest of their bowling is fairly average.
Sri Lanka: Their top three batsman are class but they lack the middle/lower order hitters imo. Bowling wise they still have Murali and of course Malinga. But not much else.
South Africa: Brilliant top and middle order but lack the lower order power hitters (like the Kluseners, Pollocks or Bouchers of the past). In Steyn and Morkel they have the quickest opening bowlers but their spinners are still untested.
Australia - Mr Cricket, Mike Hussey is out injured. This is a huge loss for them. Ponting's form (and fitness) is still debatable and they have no quality spinners at all. I think they'll struggle.
England - Tournament coming at the wrong time for England imo. And Morgan missing out is a big blow. Can't see England winning with the aquad they've picked. Too many 'bits and pieces' players (Yardy, Wright etc).
Pakistan - Would take a brave man to predict anything about Pakistani cricket. They'll get to the quarters and then who knows, they may well be the dark horses.
New Zealand - Their one day form is dire. Beaten 5-0 by Bangladesh then hammered by Pakistan at home. Don't give them much hope. Without Bond, their bowling sucks.
Bangladesh - lot of people's dark horses but I can't see them getting out of the group stages.
Windies - Well their bowling is probably the weakest out of all the test playing sides (especially in Asian conditions) - don't think they'll do well.
I predict a India-South Africa final with the Indians bottling it under the immense pressure of playing at home and South Africa finally winning their first WC.
Yet again the format is ridiculous. They've tweaked it a little from last time (to prevent any of the big teams go out at the first stage) so we'll have 4 weeks of meaningless matches before the top 8 go into the quarter finals.
Essentially anyone who can find form at the right time and win 3 consecutive matches at the right time will win the cup.
India are the favourites because they are guaranteed to play their quarter final on home turf and should they won their semi will be in India too. With the final taking place in Mumbai.
Sri Lanka, South Africa and Australia are joint second favourites with Pakistan and England in the group behind.
India: Have an incredible batting line up and at home any of their top 7 are capable of scoring big big hundreds. Have two good bowlers in Harbhajan and Khan however the rest of their bowling is fairly average.
Sri Lanka: Their top three batsman are class but they lack the middle/lower order hitters imo. Bowling wise they still have Murali and of course Malinga. But not much else.
South Africa: Brilliant top and middle order but lack the lower order power hitters (like the Kluseners, Pollocks or Bouchers of the past). In Steyn and Morkel they have the quickest opening bowlers but their spinners are still untested.
Australia - Mr Cricket, Mike Hussey is out injured. This is a huge loss for them. Ponting's form (and fitness) is still debatable and they have no quality spinners at all. I think they'll struggle.
England - Tournament coming at the wrong time for England imo. And Morgan missing out is a big blow. Can't see England winning with the aquad they've picked. Too many 'bits and pieces' players (Yardy, Wright etc).
Pakistan - Would take a brave man to predict anything about Pakistani cricket. They'll get to the quarters and then who knows, they may well be the dark horses.
New Zealand - Their one day form is dire. Beaten 5-0 by Bangladesh then hammered by Pakistan at home. Don't give them much hope. Without Bond, their bowling sucks.
Bangladesh - lot of people's dark horses but I can't see them getting out of the group stages.
Windies - Well their bowling is probably the weakest out of all the test playing sides (especially in Asian conditions) - don't think they'll do well.
I predict a India-South Africa final with the Indians bottling it under the immense pressure of playing at home and South Africa finally winning their first WC.
Looking forward to this one.
Will be interesting, i think England are going to struggle, they have had a very busy schedule so far, the Ashes, the one dayers and now the world cup.
Pakistan - Well to be honest it all depends on the day, when they are determined they can be a real world class team and perform brilliantly, but they seem to lack motivation, at the moment Pakistani cricket needs them to perform and give a really good result. They have had a lot of bad publicity recently.
When you look at the teams and the schedule, you have to say that India are favourites.
Will be interesting, i think England are going to struggle, they have had a very busy schedule so far, the Ashes, the one dayers and now the world cup.
Pakistan - Well to be honest it all depends on the day, when they are determined they can be a real world class team and perform brilliantly, but they seem to lack motivation, at the moment Pakistani cricket needs them to perform and give a really good result. They have had a lot of bad publicity recently.
When you look at the teams and the schedule, you have to say that India are favourites.
but the main event is about to begin.I'm also struggling to give a stuff about this WC - we've only just had the (glorious) Ashes and a crappy/pointlessly long ODI series against the crims. There will be too many games, many of them almost foregone conclusions, up until the knock-out stage when it may get vaguely interesting for a short period of time.
I'd much rather England beat India and Sri Lanka in the summer tests and move further towards being ranked no.1 in test cricket, rather than win the World Cup.
I'd much rather England beat India and Sri Lanka in the summer tests and move further towards being ranked no.1 in test cricket, rather than win the World Cup.
DJC said:
A whole bag of "meh" for me on this. The BBC is barely mentioning it on the website.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/9398975.stmBBC website said:
Stuart Broad spared England's blushes as they scraped a 16-run win over lowly Canada in a World Cup warm-up.
Matt Prior hit 78 as England were all out for 243, but Rizwan Cheema (93 from 71 balls) took Canada to within sight.
However in his first game since early December, Broad (5-37) removed Cheema before taking the last wicket with the first ball of his final over.
James Anderson missed the match with a stiff back while Kevin Pietersen hit 24 as he surprisingly opened the batting.
Canada, 2,000-1 rank outsiders at the 14-team tournament in India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh which begins on Saturday, embarrassed England at times.
When Luke Wright fell for a duck, England captain Andrew Strauss saw his men slump to 158-7 having elected to bat first in Fatullah, Bangladesh.
Prior - batting at number six, where he again looked much happier than at the top of the order - hauled England past 200.
When Broad teamed up with Ajmal Shahzad to wreck the Canada top order, the associate nation were soon struggling at 28-5.
There was a dramatic change, however, when Cheema - recognised as a big hitter but with an indifferent record against some of Canada's more regular opponents like Ireland and Scotland - stepped to the wicket.
He cracked 10 fours and five sixes as the absence of Anderson, Tim Bresnan and Graeme Swann was keenly felt.
Anderson's back problem is expected to clear up by Friday, when England play their final warm-up against Pakistan. But Bresnan has not recovered from a calf problem and Swann spent the match in a Nottingham court-room to learn that he had been found not guilty of drink-driving.
It meant England only had 12 fit and available players for the match, with Ravi Bopara the man left out. The International Cricket Council rejected an application for Chris Tremlett, a travelling reserve, to help out with the bowling.
Of England's top eight batsmen, only Prior, the in-form Jonathan Trott (57) and Pietersen (24) reached double figures as medium-pacer Khurram Chohan wreaked havoc.
He had Andrew Strass and Ian Bell caught behind either side of seeing Pietersen drag a delivery onto his stumps.
Paul Collingwood failed the patience test on the sort of stodgy wicket that will accompany them throughout their World Cup travels. The hopelessly out-of-form Durham man was stumped on the charge after missing a leg-break from Balaji Rao.
Security guards at the match in Fatullah
Heavy security is set to be a big feature of the World Cup
Trott, the only England batsman to emerge with credit from the one-dayers in Australia, was suited to awkward circumstances and responded with a typically hard-working innings, adding 54 for the fifth wicket with Prior.
Prior and Broad also featured in an important stand of 51 following the dismissals of Trott, Michael Yardy and Luke Wright.
Having banked 22 runs, Broad - absent with an abdominal muscle tear since the Adelaide Test - soon showed what England had been missing with the ball after Shahzad, himself back from a hamstring injury, had removed veteran opener John Davison in the first over of the Canada chase.
Broad bowled Nitish Kumar and soon added the wicket of Ashish Bagai, the Canada captain backing away to try to carve off-side runs and looking astonished when he merely presented Pietersen with a routine catch in the gully.
One more wicket apiece for Broad and Shahzad left England's opponents in a sticky spot at 28-5, but the dashing Cheema soon began to eat away at England's confidence.
Cheema escaped a half-chance on 68 to a tumbling Yardy off Collingwood at short third-man - and greeted the return of Broad with two huge leg-side sixes.
Another attempted big hit at Broad saw him caught at last at long-off to end a stand of 60 for the seventh wicket with Chohan in only nine overs.
Yet still England's superiority was in serious doubt as Chohan shepherded the tail - until he was last out, lbw to the returning Broad with almost four overs still remaining.
Matt Prior hit 78 as England were all out for 243, but Rizwan Cheema (93 from 71 balls) took Canada to within sight.
However in his first game since early December, Broad (5-37) removed Cheema before taking the last wicket with the first ball of his final over.
James Anderson missed the match with a stiff back while Kevin Pietersen hit 24 as he surprisingly opened the batting.
Canada, 2,000-1 rank outsiders at the 14-team tournament in India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh which begins on Saturday, embarrassed England at times.
When Luke Wright fell for a duck, England captain Andrew Strauss saw his men slump to 158-7 having elected to bat first in Fatullah, Bangladesh.
Prior - batting at number six, where he again looked much happier than at the top of the order - hauled England past 200.
When Broad teamed up with Ajmal Shahzad to wreck the Canada top order, the associate nation were soon struggling at 28-5.
There was a dramatic change, however, when Cheema - recognised as a big hitter but with an indifferent record against some of Canada's more regular opponents like Ireland and Scotland - stepped to the wicket.
He cracked 10 fours and five sixes as the absence of Anderson, Tim Bresnan and Graeme Swann was keenly felt.
Anderson's back problem is expected to clear up by Friday, when England play their final warm-up against Pakistan. But Bresnan has not recovered from a calf problem and Swann spent the match in a Nottingham court-room to learn that he had been found not guilty of drink-driving.
It meant England only had 12 fit and available players for the match, with Ravi Bopara the man left out. The International Cricket Council rejected an application for Chris Tremlett, a travelling reserve, to help out with the bowling.
Of England's top eight batsmen, only Prior, the in-form Jonathan Trott (57) and Pietersen (24) reached double figures as medium-pacer Khurram Chohan wreaked havoc.
He had Andrew Strass and Ian Bell caught behind either side of seeing Pietersen drag a delivery onto his stumps.
Paul Collingwood failed the patience test on the sort of stodgy wicket that will accompany them throughout their World Cup travels. The hopelessly out-of-form Durham man was stumped on the charge after missing a leg-break from Balaji Rao.
Security guards at the match in Fatullah
Heavy security is set to be a big feature of the World Cup
Trott, the only England batsman to emerge with credit from the one-dayers in Australia, was suited to awkward circumstances and responded with a typically hard-working innings, adding 54 for the fifth wicket with Prior.
Prior and Broad also featured in an important stand of 51 following the dismissals of Trott, Michael Yardy and Luke Wright.
Having banked 22 runs, Broad - absent with an abdominal muscle tear since the Adelaide Test - soon showed what England had been missing with the ball after Shahzad, himself back from a hamstring injury, had removed veteran opener John Davison in the first over of the Canada chase.
Broad bowled Nitish Kumar and soon added the wicket of Ashish Bagai, the Canada captain backing away to try to carve off-side runs and looking astonished when he merely presented Pietersen with a routine catch in the gully.
One more wicket apiece for Broad and Shahzad left England's opponents in a sticky spot at 28-5, but the dashing Cheema soon began to eat away at England's confidence.
Cheema escaped a half-chance on 68 to a tumbling Yardy off Collingwood at short third-man - and greeted the return of Broad with two huge leg-side sixes.
Another attempted big hit at Broad saw him caught at last at long-off to end a stand of 60 for the seventh wicket with Chohan in only nine overs.
Yet still England's superiority was in serious doubt as Chohan shepherded the tail - until he was last out, lbw to the returning Broad with almost four overs still remaining.
KP to open the innings throughout the world cup - he's never previously opened in an international match.
Great idea but for f
k sake why didn't they try it out during the numerous odis in Australia?
Looking at the warm up matches it appears spin will be the order of the day (although I guess it would not have taken a genius to work that out before) and batting first is a big bonus.
Thought the opening ceremony was quite good - low key but at least it wasn't ostentatious. Liked the rickshaws
Great idea but for f
k sake why didn't they try it out during the numerous odis in Australia?Looking at the warm up matches it appears spin will be the order of the day (although I guess it would not have taken a genius to work that out before) and batting first is a big bonus.
Thought the opening ceremony was quite good - low key but at least it wasn't ostentatious. Liked the rickshaws
Gargamel said:
England will probably win this tournament quite comfortably. Can't see India or Lanka beating us, they know nothing about ODI formats. Whereas brilliantly we have just played about eleventy hundred in the last month.
Was this some sort of joke that I've totally not got??Dav_s said:
Flying out in two weeks to catch a couple of games. Still fuming that Eden Gardens isn't going to be ready for the India-England match. Shambles.
Can never rule out the Aussies, but my money is on either India or SA.
Which games will you be watching?Can never rule out the Aussies, but my money is on either India or SA.
Yes it's a shame that the idiots running things in Calcutta f
ked things up so badly. They had years to sort it out and even at the end they blamed the ICC for being too harsh on them when it came to time limits. One of the most iconic grounds in the world, 90,000 cricket mad fans and two of the form teams in world cticket....ahh would could have been. Think they'll still be hosting a few of the later group matches though.Gassing Station | Sports | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff