A Lost Team

I just looked at the Zimbabwe XI and it just struck me that apart from Brendon Taylor who could have got in as a reserve keeper, none of the others could have even made it to the probable’s list if there was no mass exodus of Zimbabwe players. I guess the team for the 1999 World Cup could have been their best ever and they managed to reach the Super 6 stages. Imagine the current team with guys like the Flower brothers, Streak, Taibu, Ervine, Price and Blignaut. They could still give any team a run for their money. I guess this should be their all time greats ODI XI – Johnson, Campbell, Goodwin, A Flower (WK), G Flower, Houghton, Fletcher (C), Curran, Streak, P Strang and Olonga. I would add in Whittal as the 12th man. Also would have liked to add Hick, but since he never did play an official ODI for them I decided to ignore him.

Will the real Englishman please stand up!

Recently I came across news that Jacques Rudolph, the South African test player has decided to abandon his country and become a Kolpak player for Yorkshire while Saqlain Mushtaq the former Pakistani spinner has joined Sussex. The way things are going I would be surprised to see if England managed to field 5 pure Englishmen for the 2009 Ashes. Pure in a sense that people of Asian origin though are born in England, but I have excluded them for the sake of this post. The people who survived the last ashes and are expected to be included are Flintoff, Bell, Pietersen, Cook, Strauss and Panesar. May be Mahmood, Harmison, Anderson and even Hoggard. But again English fast bowers have a history of injury problems. Look at Simon Jones, no international cricket after the ashes of 2005. Among the lot who are expected to play 2 were born in South Africa (Pietersen and Strauss) and 2 of Asian origin (Panesar and Mahmood). When you look at the next generation of players, well you have guys like Broad, Davies, Jefferson and Onions, but again you have Compton, born in South Africa and Adil Rashid of Asian origin. Add guys like Joyce (Ireland), Amjad Khan (Denmark), Kervezee (Netherlands), Morgan (Ireland), plus you also have guys like Jacques Rudolph and Saqlain Mushtaq. Well this may be the Ashes XI for 2009 – Cook, Rudolph, Bell, Pietersen, Flintoff, Joyce, Davies, Panesar, Amjad Khan, Anderson and Broad. Well they have managed to have 6 pure Englishmen, great going guys; well 2020 will be a different scene all together.

Fast and Brittle!

It during the World Cup time, we get to see all the fast men together, but before that let me clarify on the explanation for the fast men, any guy who runs in and bowls in not part of the discussion. Anyone who can bowl over 90 miles is only considered. One of the fastest (Lee) is out of the tournament due to an injury while the other though not sure if he will play or not but can’t consider him due to the doping scandal! That leaves us with Bond, the fastest with the cleanest action and Tait, who is all set to become the fastest bowler in the world. It should be an interesting battle but I guess Tait will win this one hands down. Others who may hit that speed includes Johnson, Taylor, Malinga (Lankan chap), Nitini, Mahmood (maybe) and Agarkar (seriously not kiddin)

Do We Need Minnows?

Michael Holding recently made a statement that having minnows in the World Cup are a waste of time. Well I would disagree, if cricket ever wants to compete on a global level, it should expand further and the ICC is doing a great job by promoting cricket in countries like Scotland, Ireland, Netherlands, Canada and Bermuda. The problem is that all the major test playing nations for the last 30 years failed to develop cricket in their neighboring countries. England had it helped out countries like Scotland, Ireland, Holland and Denmark some 50 years back, now these countries would have become a powerful force and some may have become test nations. Look at Nepal, at Under 19 level they are able to beat South Africa, but a club side from SA could trash their national team. India could possibly help them by making their national side play in Ranji Trophy and other events. One of the main reasons why Zimbabwe was pretty impressive during their early years was that, they used to play in the South African Domestic Tournaments. Now due to various political reasons, their side has become a joke, but just brings back the Flowers, Streak, Goodwin, Johnson and Price; they once again have a side capable of competing against the best of nations. It’s time the test nations start helping other smaller countries to develop their cricket programme otherwise in another 20 years cricket may just be played by the same old 8 nations.

Lee out of World Cup

The chances for Australia to regain the World Cup just go down every other day. Now their most successful fast bowler Brett Lee is out of the tournament and Stuart Clark, who should have been there in the original squad in the first place replaces Lee. Clarke may have been the find for the Aussies as far as test cricket is confirmed but with an economical rate of 5.48, I guess chasing in excess of 300 against the Aussies will not be a problem during the event.

Does OZ need the Wizard!

It’s a bit strange when a guy with over 700 test wickets is getting ready to play county cricket but will not participate in the biggest tournament for the sport. That’s life for you. A team which fails to defend totals in excess of 330, not once, but 2 times in a row is in desperate need of some inspirational bowler. Look at the current bowling line-up for the world cup – McGrath (Too Old), Lee (Injured), Bracken (No Penetration), Johnson (Gives Too Many Runs), Tait (Too Raw), Watson (At Best 6th or 7th Bowler) and Hogg (Lack of International Match Practice). It will be nothing short of a miracle for the Aussies to win this World Cup with such a line up. I guess Warne can make an inspirational come back but that may never happen as I doubt if he would ever wants to take a chance as in sports a majority of comebacks after retirement have ended up as some of the biggest failures.

Predictions for Teams!

For the 1st time, 16 teams will be in this event making it the biggest World Cup ever. Though half the teams are there to fill in numbers so don’t expect a football World Cup sort of upsets. I have not listed the countries in any particular order, it’s just on random basis.

Australia – Was sure to win the title but the way they have performed in the later stages of the CB series and the 1st match against the Black Caps in the Hadlee-Chappell Series makes the once invincible team venerable. With injuries to Ponting, Clarke, Symonds and Lee, the Australians don’t look that strong and don’t be too surprised if South Africa destroys them in their league encounter. Also Gilchrist will miss the early part of the World Cup. So the Aussies have to play out of their skin even to reach the Semi-Finals.

South Africa – The perennial chokers in the World Cup, this time will be their best chance of World Cup glory. They have just peaked before the big event and after impressive wins over India and Pakistan, and with Shaun Pollock back in form, they have everything going for them. All they need is to believe in themselves and go for the kill.

West Indies – The host nation so far has been unpredictable and has a very good record against the Aussies in the last few years. Have enough fire power in the batting department to destroy any bowling line-up. This will be Lara’s swan song and he is sure to make it a very memorable one. This will be their best chance to regain the crown they lost in 1983.

England – At one stage a win against Kenya and Canada is all that was expected out of this team, but win a very impressive performance during the later part of the CB series, England is all set to be the dark horses of this World Cup and if Michael Vaughan could stay fit, he could have just earned a Knighthood for winning the World Cup.

New Zealand – A team which could beat any team on its day is a very strong one day outfit. With key players regaining form, the Black Caps should reach the Semi-Finals easily. Shane Bond and Lou Vincent could be the key to their success.

India – Fielding could have just cost the Indians the World Cup. They have too many players either out of form or not completely fit. The men in Blue will be happy if they could reach the Semi-Finals which seem to be a tall order for them now.

Sri Lanka – I don’t see these guys winning the Cup, at most they could spoil some other teams chances. All depends on Jayasuriya and Muralitharan, but don’t be too shocked if they make an early exit out of the World Cup.

Pakistan – The most unpredictable team in World Cricket would just be happy to reach the Super 8 stages. Their selections have been the weirdest of all teams. It’s shocking to see Asif and Akhtar in their ranks.

Bangladesh – Well they managed to beat the Aussies in 2005 but after that all they have done is beat Kenya and Zimbabwe. Should consider them lucky to reach the Super 8 but will have an inspired Bermuda team in their path.

Zimbabwe – Still shocked that they are allowed to play cricket. All their best players are playing for some county in England. Heard Campbell has been asked to help with the World Cup squad. He would have been playing for them if not for the crisis. Will be lucky to beat the Irishmen.

Kenya – I still would put them on par with Bangladesh and Zimbabwe but they need to play the top teams on a more regular basis. It would be a miracle if they managed to repeat their performance during the last World Cup.

Scotland – No chance of making it to the Super 8, but the clash against the Netherlands would be their World Cup finals. This should be a very interesting and could turn out to be the best match of the World Cup. Future English stars Ryan ten Doeschate and Alexei Kervezee will be on display.

Ireland – Would fancy their chances against Zimbabwe but they could just even knockout Pakistan out of the event and do a Kenya in this year’s World Cup. Have some impressive players like Eoin Morgan, William Porterfield and Niall O'Brien.

Netherlands – Like Scotland they are stuck in a powerful group. Their most important match will be against Scotland. Don’t be surprised if ex-South African Ryan ten Doeschate could do something like what Neil Johnson did last year.

Canada - John Davison led Canada is in a tough group, but if he could get going them may just beat Kenya and put up some decent show against England and New Zealand.

Bermuda – Don’t be shocked if Sri Lanka or India scores over 400 against them. Will just be happy to concede less than 300 runs in a match.

Introducing 6 n Out!

There is no shortage of information on Cricket out in the World Wide Web, but I decided to start this blog as the biggest tournament in the world is around the corner, though I may not have enough time to update on a very regular basis, but I shall try my best to keep it as fresh as possible. About the name, well I was too lazy to come up with something different, so took inspiration from Brett Lee’s rock band.