The World Cup....

[scoob]

What are the thoughts on the world cup now?

Have the recent losses exposed some Aussie weakness? Are they too dependent on Ponting, Symonds and Hussey? Have they got the balance in their side to bounce back and win it? (i hope so)

Have england thrown their hat in the ring and with the lads getting some confidence can they be a force, what will peiterson do on the small carribean grounds.

Will the usual suspects of South Africa and India take the next step? or will a roughie like west indies on their home decks with some good strikers in their side give us a sight....

I think the recent series loss to Australia has put a bit of life back into the WC.

[mal]

Ever since SYMONDS got injured my Cholesterol has gone up with all the stress.
As AH said at the time of injury we will find out how much we will miss him.
AU still favs but beatable.
I will make a bold prediction BANGLADESH cant win it.

[Sam_goUUUdogs]

Australia is still the best, no doubt, England have proven its no fluke beating them though, 3 wins from their last 3 attempts is a fair effort.

England to beat Australia in the WC Final.

[heater31]

I will make a bold prediction BANGLADESH cant win it.

what are the odds of Kenya making the semi finals again??


Ireland have no ******* hope beacuse they let their best batsman go to England

[Aerie]

This last week has taken Australia back down to earth. The World Cup is up for grabs. In 2003 we struggled through with Bichel and Bevan the heroes on several occasions. In 1999 we somehow got past South Africa twice thanks to Steve Waugh and Shane Warne. Our convincing wins in those 99 and 03 Finals may have put out the perception that we were heads and tails above the rest, but that wasn't really the case.

The thing with one day cricket is all it takes is a blinder of a performance from an individual (aka Paul Collingwood recently) and a bit of luck here and there and a win can be manufactured. Unlike a Test match where generally the better team will end up winning.

I think Australia still go in favourites with or without Symonds, but if any one of England, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka or the West Indies can gain some momentum through the tournament, they are a chance. I'm looking forward to it - just a pity about the time difference!

[am Bays]

Good assessment Aerie, basically in 99 after losing to NZ and Pakistan, we were in the last chance saloon for the rest of the tournament...

One day cricket can be so fickle that as you point out one brillant performance can carry a team to victory, test cricket though, its a different story....

Without a doubt the best team leading up to and in the 99 cup was South Africa - they only lost one game against us in the super sixes - but luck transpired against them....

This year we are the best team, but as the last three games show to Englands credit, we can be beaten if we ae not at the top of our game....

I mean this though, Iwon't be that upset if we lose the World Cup, at least we've got the ASHES....

[MightyEagles]

I will make a bold prediction BANGLADESH cant win it.

what are the odds of Kenya making the semi finals again??


Ireland have no ******* hope beacuse they let their best batsman go to England

And England stole Petierson from South Africa.

[blink]

Does anyone know what the go is with television coverage over here in Australia?? I saw that it is being shown on free-to-air on Channel 9. I guess this will be shown live, but how big is the time difference between here & there? I will be spewing if the matches all start at 3am in the morning!

[Aerie]

Does anyone know what the go is with television coverage over here in Australia?? I saw that it is being shown on free-to-air on Channel 9. I guess this will be shown live, but how big is the time difference between here & there? I will be spewing if the matches all start at 3am in the morning!

All matches start 9:30am local West Indies time which means they start at midnight here in Adelaide. Two months of the body clock being completely out of whack, again...

[Aerie]

http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/australia/content/story/280126.html

Looks like Gilchrist will be missing the first couple of games of the World Cup to attend the birth of his 3rd child. Hardly ideal planning Gilly!

[Dogwatcher]

Does anyone know what the go is with television coverage over here in Australia?? I saw that it is being shown on free-to-air on Channel 9. I guess this will be shown live, but how big is the time difference between here & there? I will be spewing if the matches all start at 3am in the morning!

I've just got a sample program for our network - which is a Nine affiliate - and it appears most games featuring Australia will be broadcast. Possible the matches in the Pool stage featuring Scotland and The Netherlands won't be.

Broadcast starts at 11.30pm EST and will run through to 7.30am EST.

It appears most matches in the Super Eights section will be screened.

Only one of the semi-finals will be broadcast - as they're played at the same time. I guess IF Australia plays in one - we'll get that one.

The best news is that the final, to be played in Barbados, is on a Saturday night! Woo hoo. Good viewing and good recovery time after we knock off which ever sucker plays us (I hope).

[BenchedEagle]

http://cricketworldcup.indya.com/event/schdules.htm

Intresting to see Bermuda play, always a laff watchin teams like scotland, canada etc trying to play. Great to see Jon Davison is captaining Canada this year? Was a highlight in '03

[mighty_tiger_79]

Australia favs, but they got the wake up call they needed and wanted, now its upto them to see how they use it.

Sth Africa have always been among the fav contenders since they got to the semi-final stage back in 92. they are travelling nicely at the moment and would be expected to make it to the semi-final stages, but once the pressure is on thats when they go missing.

New Zealand - wouldnt be too concerned with the one-dayers they have just played out here. Stephen Fleming captaincy always brings them into contention.

England - well maybe by winning the last few games, the confidence rising leading upto the world cup - just maybe they might be genuine contenders - unlikely for mine. they will need Flintoff, strauss, collingwood and Bell all firing.

[am Bays]

http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/australia/content/story/280126.html

Looks like Gilchrist will be missing the first couple of games of the World Cup to attend the birth of his 3rd child. Hardly ideal planning Gilly!

Hey one you knock back is one you never get.....

[Dogwatcher]

I'd watch Sri Lanka closely. Looking good for another tilt.

[blink]

I agree with you Dogwatcher - Sri Lanka are real smokies to take out this tournament, along with Pakistan. Each have some decent players that are capable of pulling them through a tight situation. I still reckon that the team most likely to beat Australia is South Africa though. A few squads have already been annouced today:

Sri Lanka

Mahela Jayawardene (capt), Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Sanath Jayasuriya, Upul Tharanga, Marvan Atapattu, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Russel Arnold, Chamara Silva, Chaminda Vaas, Farveez Maharoof, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, Nuwan Kulasekara, Muttiah Muralitharan, Malinga Bandara

India

Rahul Dravid (capt), Sourav Ganguly, Robin Uthappa, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik, Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan, Sreesanth, Munaf Patel.

New Zealand
Stephen Fleming (capt), Shane Bond, James Franklin, Peter Fulton, Mark Gillespie, Michael Mason, Brendon McCullum (wk), Craig McMillan, Jacob Oram, Jeetan Patel, Scott Styris, Ross Taylor, Daryl Tuffey, Daniel Vettori, Lou Vincent.

[Armytank]

Ever since SYMONDS got injured my Cholesterol has gone up with all the stress.
As AH said at the time of injury we will find out how much we will miss him.
AU still favs but beatable.
I will make a bold prediction BANGLADESH cant win it.

If Bangladesh take out the world cup I'd put money on South Adelaide and St Kilda to win flags this year. Man they would need to have some pretty nasty planets to align for that to happen!

[Aerie]

http://cricket.com.au/default.aspx?s=newsdisplay&id=38901

The squad is:

Ricky Ponting (c) TAS 32
Adam Gilchrist (vc) WA 35
Nathan Bracken NSW 29
Michael Clarke NSW 25
Brad Haddin NSW 29
Matthew Hayden QLD 35
Brad Hodge VIC 32
Brad Hogg WA 36
Michael Hussey WA 31
Mitchell Johnson QLD 25
Brett Lee NSW 30
Glenn McGrath NSW 37
Andrew Symonds QLD 31
Shaun Tait SA 23
Shane Watson QLD

[Aerie]

Cameron White is a little unlucky as is Stuart Clark. Great to see Shaun Tait named. No real surprises.

[Adelaide Hawk]

Cameron White is a little unlucky

Adam Gilchrist stuffed that up. I doubt Haddin would have been selected if Gilchrist was available for the first 3 weeks. I also think White will probably be Symonds' replacement.

Having said that, a few weeks ago on this forum some people tried to tell me White had cemented his place in the team, but I was attacked for suggesting he was teetering on the edge of selection. The only way White will become a regular player in this team is to bat in the top 3 or 4 for Victoria and make heaps of runs .... oh .... and throw that rubbish he tries to bowl in the bin.

I've got time for White potentially as a specialist batsman, it's time he started to become one.