intedomine
Rock n' Roll Doggie FOB
Axver said: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.