WC Post

I am posting well after nearly a week after the finals, the reason is very simple. This world was one of the most boring world cups and the timing also did not suit all. Staying up so late to watch dull one sided cricket was not at all worth watching. It’s time the ICC does something about it. Well I suggest stop one day cricket once and for all and embrace 20-20. Looking at all the one day matches played, the greatest of games could be counted by hand while each season of EPL produces more brilliant matches than this. Congratulations to Australia for dominating the world cup like no other team before and they were not once troubled by anyone. The only positive thing about the world cup is the performance of Bangladesh and Ireland. Bangladesh reminds me of the Zimbabwe team of the 1990s where with a few world class players they could give trouble to any one side on their day. Ireland’s performance shows that talent exists in the non-test playing nations and its time ICC do something to encourage the sport there. Cricket will die in its current state if one country dominates the sport and the hand full of others wants to preserve the sport. This will be my world cup XI, well a majority of them are Australians after all they won the championship with no one to trouble them.

The XI – Hayden, Gilchrist, Ponting (C), Jayawardene, Pietersen, Lara, Styris, Hogg, Tait, McGrath, Malinga. Kallis will be the 12th man.

Honourable Mention – Jayasuriya, Smith, Clarke, Bracken, Bond and Rankin.

Learn from the Irish

The problem with Indians as such is that we just cannot take a stand. I remember after the loss to Bangladesh and the subsequent exit from the World Cup, every other Indian including some former so called legends of the game complained that the problem was that of too many endorsements means that the players are highly distracted. Now the same group are complaining that the recent landmark decision of the BCCI is hurting a player’s right to living. Yes the constitution has this provision but I don’t think that a guy’s earning reducing from 30 crores to 10 crores is going to make a big different. It does for him but hell playing for a country is a great honour and given a chance I would do it free of cost. For all those who may not be convinced about this very particular statement, well I rowed for the Tamil Nadu state and rowing as a sport is not funded much. We guys during most cases spend money from our pockets. Why do we do it? It’s because we are passionate about what we do and we don’t care about the money. This one incident has proved that these people prefer making money rather than giving it all out for the country. The Irish team is made up of mostly amateurs except for 2 or 3 who have contracts with county teams. These guys here are not for the money, they are here for the game and they are proud in representing their nation. For those who are not well aware of the historical fact, the Irish team is made up of two nations (Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland). With all the history between them, they still play as one single unit with no bickering. It’s time that these so-called super powers of cricket learn the true sense of sportsmanship from the Irish team.

Tigers Crush Sprinkboks

Bangladesh proved that they really deserve a place in the Super 8s after a crushing win over the number one side in the world. South Africa never looked they were in the hunt and I guess this has opened the Super 8s with nearly 7 teams still having a realistic chance of reaching the semi-finals. Australians remain the clear favorites with possibly New Zealand and England as 2 teams capable of beating them. The Lankans have become the dark horse but their batting is yet to fire. As far as South Africa goes, well I hate any side which was selected by a quota system rather than merit. So they deserve this loss. It’s a pity that a lot of talented white cricketers are not in this squad and Kemp is no Lance Klusener. Even now Zulu in his mid 30s should have been in the squad. But nothing can be done now. Today the old rivals will meet, Michael Vaughan’s ODI career could be ended if England losses today.

Made in South Africa

Not only do we have South Africans playing for South Africa (Dah….Obviously), we also have these chaps representing a lot of other teams.

England - Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Strauss
Netherlands - Ryan ten Doeschate, Eric Szwarczynski and Billy Stelling
Scotland - Dewald Nel
Ireland - Andre Botha

Thank You Bob

It was a sad day for cricket after the demise of Bob Woolmer. He was 58. Woolmer first coached Warwickshire to unprecedented successes in the English domestic circuit and later on went to coach South Africa during its most successful period ever. He then became a high performance manager coach for the ICC coaching out the associate nations. He became Pakistan’s first foreign coach and his death was great loss. He was known for his innovative coaching style and is one of the first coaches to use the modern techniques. We will miss you Bob.

So it begins!

Today is the start of the 9th Cricket World Cup in the West Indies. The first match will be between the host and the Pakistanis. I am sure this will decide who will top the group but both teams should not take Ireland lightly and Zimbabwe is there to make up numbers. WI batted first and has made 241/9 with good knocks from Samuels (63), Sarwan (49), Lara (37) and a brilliant cameo from Smith (32 of 15 balls). For the Pak, Iftikhar Anjum (3 Wickets) and Gul (2 Wickets) did the damage.

Rated C

With less than a week to go for the World Cup, I would like to come out with the list of the most over rated and the most under rated performers for the top 8 countries. As for the others, I really don’t see the point in doing this exercise.

The most over rated:

Australia - Shaun Tait, Mitchell Johnson and Shane Watson
South Africa - Andre Nel, Ashwell Prince and Justin Kemp
India - Sourav Ganguly, Harbhajan Singh, Sreesanth and Robin Uthappa
Sri Lanka - Lasith Malinga and Malinga Bandara
England - Sajid Mahmood and Ed Joyce
New Zealand - Ross Taylor and Peter Fulton
Pakistan - Kamran Akmal, Shahid Afridi and Younis Khan
West Indies - Marlon Samuels and Kieron Pollard

Now these guys are the most under rated cricketers:

Australia - Nathan Bracken and Brad Hodge
South Africa - Andrew Hall and Charl Langeveldt
India - Dinesh Karthik and Anil Kumble
Sri Lanka - Dilhara Fernando and Farveez Maharoof
England - Liam Plunkett, Jon Lewis, Ian Bell, Paul Nixon and Jamie Dalrymple
New Zealand - Brendon McCullum, Mark Gillespie and Lou Vincent
Pakistan - Azhar Mahmood and Danish Kaneria
West Indies - Ian Bradshaw, Corey Collymore and Devon Smith

The Passengers

Every World Cup in recent times has seen the passenger class of cricketers on the rise and this time around I would like to name all the passengers from all the teams. Yes everyone has one including the defending champions.

Australia - Brad Hogg

South Africa - Loots Bosman, Roger Telemachus and Robin Peterson

India - Virender Sehwag, Irfan Pathan and Sreesanth

Sri Lanka - Nuwan Kulasekara and Russel Arnold

England - Michael Vaughan and Ravi Bopara

New Zealand - Daryl Tuffey

Pakistan - Azhar Mahmood, Iftikhar Anjum, Imran Nazir, Yasir Arafat and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan

West Indies - Lendl Simmons, Kieron Pollard and Daren Powell

For the other team, I would like to name only the non-passengers:

Bangladesh - Shahriar Nafees, Habibul Bashar, Mohammad Rafique and Mashrafe Mortaza

Zimbabwe - Anthony Ireland

Netherlands - Ryan ten Doeschate, Bas Zuiderent and Daan van Bunge

Scotland - Gavin Hamilton, Dougie Brown and Ryan Watson

Bermuda – No one, their fitness level is pathetic for international sports

Canada - John Davison

Kenya - Steve Tikolo and Thomas Odoyo

Ireland - Eoin Morgan and William Porterfield

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)

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.