Cricket World Cup 2007

[intedomine]

I really do wonder what on earth happened to cricket being "the gentlemen's game". Then again, I suppose that's been an illusion at best since Bodyline, and, well, calling any Australian team of the last thirty years "gentlemen" is a bit of a laugh.

But, to get back to current action, Sri Lanka have just been sent in to bat by India in the crucial Group B match. I'm so tempted to pull an all-nighter. Sri Lanka have the edge on most statistics, except for the rather notable one that in the last nine meetings these teams have had, the team that's batted first has lost eight times. But stats can mean nothing on the day of the game. I'm hoping the Sri Lankans will win this, as I think it'd be awesome if Sri Lanka and Bangladesh were the two to go through.

And also, I'm thoroughly delighted with the performance of the Black Caps so far. 3 wins from 3. Maybe this is our year to ... uh ... get to the semis again? I was having a daydream earlier that we'd actually won, but I suspect that will forever be a daydream and nothing more.

New Zealand have as good a chance as anyone in winning the whole thing.

It is one day cricket after all, not exactly a Test of a team's ability to outwit their opponent over the course of up to 5 days. And with talented one-day players such as Oram, McCullum and the brilliant Shane Bond, if they can all step up on any given day, the Kiwis will seriously threaten for the title.

The only teams I would rule out (besides those who have already been eliminated) is Bangaldesh, and probably England, Kenya and Ireland.

 

[Axver]

Aaaaand INDIA ARE OUT! Unless Bermuda somehow upset Bangladesh, the Indians are gone!

Wow. Bob Woolmer's death aside, this may be the best Cup ever, simply due to the fact that the minnows have really stepped up. A Super Eight without India or Pakistan would have been unthinkable just two weeks ago.

New Zealand have as good a chance as anyone in winning the whole thing.

It is one day cricket after all, not exactly a Test of a team's ability to outwit their opponent over the course of up to 5 days. And with talented one-day players such as Oram, McCullum and the brilliant Shane Bond, if they can all step up on any given day, the Kiwis will seriously threaten for the title.

The only teams I would rule out (besides those who have already been eliminated) is Bangaldesh, and probably England, Kenya and Ireland.

The problem with the Black Caps is that although we probably have our best team ever (or at least best in a long time), we have an amazing talent to snatch defeat from the jaws of certain victory when the pressure's on. Just look at what happened in the triangular series with Australia and England earlier this year! In contrast, a team like Australia always seems to rise to big occasions like this. I think the upcoming Australia vs South Africa match will be a preview of the final.

Personally, I think it's pretty safe to rule out Bangladesh and Ireland from claiming the title. The upcoming England vs Kenya game to decide Group C's second qualifier will probably be good: England should win, but Kenya can pull off surprises on their day. If Kenya pulls off a stunner, I don't think they'd get to the title, but if England go through, I say not to write them off - we all saw what happened earlier this year in Australia.

 

[intedomine]

The main thing going against NZ is the non-presence of the legendary ever-aging, eternal-chromedome, Chris Zinzan Harris.

What a class act he was, with his unique but effective bowling style. A master of the "doorknob".

 

[U2 Beginner]

C'mon Bangladesh!! Get through to the next round and you'll each be £1,000 richer!!!!

 

[yertle-the-turtle]

Damn Australia-South Africa matches are always exciting and this is no exception.

 

[Babydoll]

South Africa look like they can make it though.... 171/1. Wow...

 

[Axver]

Wow, Australia really upped the intensity and South Africa lost by 83 runs!

And the English managed to ease past the Kenyans, setting up an Ireland vs England clash in the Super Eight.

 

[cobl04]

Originally posted by Axver
I really do wonder what on earth happened to cricket being "the gentlemen's game". Then again, I suppose that's been an illusion at best since Bodyline, and, well, calling any Australian team of the last thirty years "gentlemen" is a bit of a laugh.

Excuse you. Anyone who can't hit a rolling ball to the boundary is weak in my eyes.

























So Bangladesh are basically through, unless Bermuda can do the unthinkable. I hope Kenya get through. England have been an embarrasing blight on this World Cup so far. They barely even beat Canada.

 

[Axver]

Well, we have our Super Eight now:

Australia
South Africa
Sri Lanka
Bangladesh
New Zealand
England
West Indies
Ireland

Two great surprises there; I'm eagerly awaiting what should be a fiery England vs Ireland clash!

And DAMN, Lou Vincent broke his wrist in training and is going home. There's a blow the Black Caps didn't need. Hamish Marshall is his replacement - the wannabe answer to Andrew Symonds that failed. Ugh. At least Mark Gillespie has been passed as fit, Shane Bond is managing to keep his fragile health together so far, and I'm not disappointed that Daryl Tuffey's going home because Chris Martin's probably a better bowler than him.

 

[U2 Beginner]

Go Bangladesh!

Now, the super 8 round will be good lessons for Bangladesh. As the team is mainly kids, they can take away something from the experience of playing against the big teams, so this will help their future.

Sorry for sounding biased if I do!

 

[Drea]

As a Canadian who (a)is somewhat ignorant about the sport and (b)knows her country never stands a chance in cricket anyway (unless and until they start playing it on ice ), I say GO IRELAND!!


As seriously as Cdns take hockey, it's never resulted in murder That poor coach and his family Has there been news of any progress in the investigation?

 

[Axver]

Well, the latest news on cricinfo is that the Pakistani team themselves have been cleared of all suspicion in Woolmer's murder.

The Super Eight starts tonight with Australia vs the Windies. My picks for the eventual semi-finalists, in alphabetical order:

- Australia
- New Zealand
- South Africa
- West Indies

Sri Lanka could easily take the place of one of those four, I think most likely the Windies or the Black Caps if our injuries make life difficult.

Ireland and Bangladesh won't progress unless there's a miracle, and well, I wouldn't be putting money on England either. That said, maybe they'll stun us all like they did earlier this year in the triangular series.

 

[cobl04]

Crap! England won! You s!

Final Four: Australia, Sri Lanka, South Africa and New Zealand or the West Indies (Depends on two things:- 1. If Shane Bond can remain injury free and perform at a very high level and Jacob Oram continues his lower order destroyation and 2. the Windies bowlers can back up their batsmen by bowling well)

Last Two: Australia and Sri Lanka. SL/SA game will be very intersteing. Aus/SL is on Nine tonight!

 

[Axver]

Aus/SL is on Nine tonight!

No it's not. It's Australia vs the Windies.

About fucking time we got some cricket on free-to-air. I'm not looking forward to pulling an all-nighter though.

 

[Auhiz]

What a spell by Lasith Malinga - four wickets in as many balls (across two overs)! So very close to bringing SA unstuck when they looked to be cruising to a modest total.

As for SA's performance against Aus the other day, I'd have to agree with those who singled out Kallis for his slow scoring - he's a rock-solid batsman, and his focus and tenacity have won them many games, but under the circumstances of chasing down a 350+ total it's not enough to have a Mr Steady As She Goes facing that many balls. Reminiscent of Stephen Fleming's recent knock against England in the tri-nations decider for who would go on to smash Australia. Starting with a reasonably comfortable chase for NZ, Fleming batted too conservatively for his century as if trying to grind his way back into some form - and you'd have to say that he did - but it cost NZ the match in the process by leaving the rest of the team with too much to do.

Am very keen to see the interesting match-ups of Windies vs NZ tomorrow, and then SA vs NZ later in the tournament. Hopefully Ross Taylor will have fully recovered by the SA match as I think his talented, aggressive batting is crucial for NZ's success especially with the loss of Vincent. Although the way Shane Bond is pounding his own batsmen in the nets and the injuries are mounting, anything could happen. Ironic if Bond's good run without injury is the biggest setback for the team? Or to put it another way, if match fixing investigations become more serious and the attention should ever turn to NZ (no I can't imagine it either), look no further than Shane Bond?

On the possibility of match fixing, and hoping that this won't offend any hypersensitive types (lighten up), could coach Bob Woolmer's last pep talk to Inzy have sounded something along the lines of this ? (Work warning for language)

 

[TheQuiet1]

Go Bangladesh!

Can't believe Bangladesh beat South Africa!

 

[cobl04]

*rools: at the impending NZ/Aus game*

 

[U2 Beginner]

Habibul Bashar

It took England 40+ overs to reach the 144 target! Surely if Bangladesh bowled first, they would've beaten them, if that was the case!

Btw, Monty Panesar is my brother's friend's brother. Just thought I'd share that. He's a Luton lad! But at him for getting some wickets today!

 

[GibsonGirl]

Now that I'm off from university for four months, I can actually pay attention to the World Cup. Looking forward to SA/NZ today! I have to make do with live scorecards though...fuck Canadian satellite and their ridiculous subscription prices for the WC.

Ugh, Smith's already out...well done.

 

[TheQuiet1]

Btw, Monty Panesar is my brother's friend's brother. Just thought I'd share that. He's a Luton lad! But at him for getting some wickets today!

I know that you can't see it but I'm making a very impressed face at the screen.

 

[cobl04]

10 overs in... South Africa were about 2/7.

What a joke.

 

[Axver]

The South Africans were 2/3 at one point, and 2/12 after 10 overs. Absolutely pathetic. The Kiwi bowlers just shut down the batting entirely and Fleming's captaincy was impeccable. His introduction of McMillan to the bowling attack was pure genius.

So, now Australia and New Zealand have both qualified, and this has also guaranteed Sri Lanka's qualification. The fourth spot can be claimed by South Africa, England, West Indies, and Bangladesh, but only the first two have realistic possibilities of doing it. Stephanie's going to shoot me, but despite my prior predictions of South Africa making the semis, I now think they could pull their traditional choking act and Graeme Smith's naive attitude towards net run rates will allow England a back door entry to the semis at the Proteas' expense.

Also, while the Black Caps could still finish first, it looks like we'll be in the 2nd vs 3rd semi, against Sri Lanka. I think that actually won't be so bad. When we lost - narrowly - to them, it was on a pitch that favoured the team bowling first. That likely won't transpire in the semis, and we'll want some revenge. Plus, it will maintain our 1 for 1 ratio we've had with Sri Lanka this year; over the New Year's period, we tied a test series 1-1 with them, followed by an ODI series 2-2! Now can we make it 1-1 in the World Cup and go on to our first final?

... I still don't believe it could happen.

 

[Axver]

Aaand the Irish just beat Bangladesh by almost 100 runs! Good on them! I was really hoping they would pick up another win. That's two victories against test class opposition for the Irish.

I now just hope the ICC actually does something useful and encourages the Irish team with games against good quality opposition so that they can hone their skills and perform more consistently at this level. They especially need more experience against fast bowling, as the game against Australia vividly demonstrated.

 

[GibsonGirl]

Stephanie's going to shoot me, but despite my prior predictions of South Africa making the semis, I now think they could pull their traditional choking act and Graeme Smith's naive attitude towards net run rates will allow England a back door entry to the semis at the Proteas' expense.

I won't shoot you, because I'm agreeing with you at this point. When you're two for bloody three, you don't deserve to advance. I don't know what has happened to South African sport, I really don't. We'll see how it goes tomorrow. I'm not overly optimistic.

 

[intedomine]

I now just hope the ICC actually does something useful and encourages the Irish team with games against good quality opposition so that they can hone their skills and perform more consistently at this level. They especially need more experience against fast bowling, as the game against Australia vividly demonstrated.

Not a good idea. Cricketing records have already been made completely farcical by the attempts to integrate Kenya, Bangers and Zimby into the Elite 8. Zimbabwe's lack of progress unfortunately, has come down to politics rather than a lack of talent. For the past couple of years they've been fielding their 5th string team.

What Ireland needs, along with Bangers and the other "minnows" out there, is for the ICC set up a hyper-competitive B Division in world cricket, featuring: Bangers, Zimby, Ireland, Canada, Holland, Scotland, Kenya and one of USA/Namibia/UAE.

They play "tests" and one-dayers against each other as regularly as the Elite 8 do, and the prize at the end of a 5-year-cycle: Promotion to the Elite 8, at the expense of the most under-performing Elite side in both forms of cricket during that cycle.

Even set up a C division possibly......

The best way for the sport to maximise it's international appeal

 

[Axver]

Not a good idea. Cricketing records have already been made completely farcical by the attempts to integrate Kenya, Bangers and Zimby into the Elite 8. Zimbabwe's lack of progress unfortunately, has come down to politics rather than a lack of talent. For the past couple of years they've been fielding their 5th string team.

What Ireland needs, along with Bangers and the other "minnows" out there, is for the ICC set up a hyper-competitive B Division in world cricket, featuring: Bangers, Zimby, Ireland, Canada, Holland, Scotland, Kenya and one of USA/Namibia/UAE.

I completely disagree. That kind of tournament would be thoroughly worthless as they would only be playing teams of equal calibre and never experience any higher competition, thus their skills won't improve much. They already play plenty of games amongst themselves and it's just not doing enough good.

Zimbabwe was almost in the eight at 2000. They would be there now if it weren't for Mugabe. I'm sure we all remember the game in Perth in the 2000-01 season where Zimbabwe would have beaten Australia if it hadn't been for an inspired move of Andrew Symonds' fielding position that cut two crucial attemps at two runs down to one run each.

Kenya too imploded due to politics, I think this time it was a pay dispute and trouble within their hierarchy.

And Bangladesh? How can you say they're struggling just as they find their feet! They're downing India and South Africa and just need a bit of time for their young team to find consistency. They're really just like some of Australia's new bowlers like Tait (shit one day, great the next), except on the level of an entire team. When they all fire on the same day, they can beat just about anyone.

So I think the minnows that prove themselves need to more regularly meet the top eight. Ireland could annually play England, that would do them wonders. An African competition featuring South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Kenya would probably be a good idea - we all saw what heightened southeast Asian competition has done for Sri Lanka and now is doing for Bangladesh. I'm not saying to throw them in at the deep end, but at least an annual series against decent opposition. Access to the domestic competitions in top flight countries like England and Australia is pretty crucial too, so that the minnows' players can gain more match practice.

 

[Babydoll]

South Africa beat England.

 

[jimmmm]

Its official, England are total SHITE at all MAJOR team sports!

 

[cobl04]

I'm piiiiiissed at Sri Lanka. Resting Murali and Vaas was a farce and underlines why this world cup has just been almost a complete joke.

My God Englad SUCK....

Man I hope Australia New Zealand is close... I so sick of 100 run victories by the Aussies every game.

And a big and definitive to the officials. No food, no drink, no musical instruments and increased ticket prices (especially in the Caribbean) was a very poor move and has given the World Cup an unnecessary air of snobbery.

 

[cobl04]

As for the whole minnow situation, I agree with intedomine. I'm sorry but what good is getting Ireland to play heavyweights like Australia, Sri Lanka, etc all the time. They are going to get thoroghly SMASHED 95% of the time, that will do very very little for their development, both skill-wise and psychologically.