The Cricket World Cup starts in South Africa on Sunday. It looks like it could be one of hte most controversial and shambolic as as ever. Already New Zealand’s refusing to play in Kenya, citing security fears, Australia and England are looking doubtful to play in Zimbabwe for political reasons and there’s the old India-Pakistan thing.
But despite all the rigmarole I can’t wait for the games to start…
Who do the dopers think will win? Can anyone beat the Aussies? Which individuals will stand out? Will any of the minnows (Canada, Namibia, Kenya, Holland) cause any upsets?
As a rabid New Zealand fan I reckon Tuffey and Bond will shine with the ball and Astle with the bat, leading to NZ making the semis. Aussie and South Africa making the final with a home team victory. Namibia will provide the upset of the tournament when they beat England on Wednesday 19th.
I don’t have a clue who will win this thing but I do have a question for you. When does this end? I’ll be in South Africa in late March. Will it still be going on?
I arrive in Cape Town during the middle of the Super Six Series, whatever that is and will be there through the finals. That’ll probably be a fun time to be there. Thanks for the links.
The Super Six is the second round, where the top three teams from the two pools play each other to find the semi-finalists. There should be some pretty good games and you might be able to get tickets to games not involving the hosts.
Tony Barber
A double Aussie triumph could be on the cards. I’m not aware of the odds (I don’t gamble on sport, am too emotionally involved as is) but I’d imagine that you could get sopme odds on this from your bookie/TAB.
The cricinfo site has an ad for a e-bookie with Aussie favourites at 6/4. NZ’s at 12/1 ahead of Sri Lanka at 16/1 which seems bizarre to me, surely SL must have a better shot as they’ve won before and are playing in Kenya. Canada’s paying 5000/1…
The New Zealand team is something of a bomb magnet, with three bombs going off in the last five years or so, two in Sri Lanka and one last year in Pakistan. Here’s a link about it
The recent incidients in Kenya have made them concerned enough to refuse to play. The only other team set to play in Kenya is Sri Lanka, who aren’t worried about it at all.
Don’t be silly - Namibia beating England can’t be considered an upset.
I’m actually hoping to see some of the non-cricket-playing nations’ (Canada, Namibia, Netherlands, England) games televised. I know they’re on (Pay TV, at least) and the Cup is the reason I haven’t got rid of Foxtel recently, but I’m not sure about getting up at 3:00 to watch only the opening hours of a match before heading to work.
Matches in World Cups have been forfeited previously due to security concerns - Australia and West Indies forfeited the points to Sri Lanka rather than play there in the middle of a civil war.
New Zealand is considering (or has - it’s hard to keep up with what’s going on) boycotting the Kenyan match due to security concerns.
The Australian and British governments have asked their boards to boycott Zimbabwe on political grounds, but have refused to legislate to prevent the teams going or to compensate them for financial losses caused. As a result, the boards won’t cancel the matches. After that the English players said that they wouldn’t play in Zimbabwe because of security concerns, but the ICC (world governing body and organise of the Cup) has refused to move the game so far.
It’s probably not going to actually be resolved until the games are due to be played and the teams do or don’t show up on the field.
As a South African I do hope SA win, however no team has ever won the World Cup on home soil… I think Oz will definitely be in the final, with either SA, England, Pakistan or Sri Lanka against them.
I will actually be at home in Cape Town for the final - and a big thank you to Craig for getting married on the 21st and giving me an excuse to travel - and I can’t wait!!! I truly hope that South Africa do well - anything less than the final will be a national tragedy. If any sport in South Africa deserves success, it is cricket - probably the one sport in the country that has actually embraced the concept of inclusivity and has managed to reach ALL segments of the population. This weekend’s Observer had a fantastic article on the developments in the sport since the transition to democracy. Well worth a read…
Just thought about that one. I’ve got this horrible image of Pieter van Zyl dressed as a waitress and calling himself ‘Suzie’ showing up at the team hotel with a big plate of prawns on the night before the final…
Always interested in finding ‘value’ from a punting pov but I just can’t see it in either event.
The whinging Aussies for the Cricket and the Rugby is too close to call – a three horse race, plus the ridiculously unpredictable Frenchie’s. Bloody hopeless trying to odds that…
I suppose it wouldn’t have the flavour of a Cricket World Cup without the shambles … I rather enjoy it all as reminds me that, despite everyone’s attempt to prove otherwise, it’s essentially an amateur sport. Or at the very least one still run by amateurs.
BTW, if anyone can lay their hands on 50 tickets for England games in the Rugby World Cup, we can both retire. And I’m barely exaggerating !
I agree South Africa can win, but not if they play Australia in the final. We have the wood on them something shocking.
I think Australia are favorites for good reason, but it’s pretty open. I think a lot depends on the pitches. The Sri Lankans went to Sth Africa and then to Australia as a warm up. This was smart. At the end of the tour here they were starting to fire in a major way. If the pitches bounce as much as the SA pitches normally do, India can’t win. They haven’t the seam-up bowling, and their batsmen are frail against pace. Sth Africa, Pakistan and New Zealand all have quality pace attacks and decent batting. I hear big Inzimam Ul Haq (the best timer in the game since Gower and a damn good slogger too) has lost 10 kilos for the tournament. Astle’s having an Indian summer.
But it is near the end of the season in SA and the pitches are said to be tired. If they are slow, I think NZ and SA will struggle and India with its class slow attack and deep batting are in with a fair shake. Australia - as long as McGrath and Warne are more than 80% on song - are good in any conditions.
The team no-one is mentioning is the West Indies. They have improved of late and in the right mood Brian Lara can do anything with the backing of a decent support cast.
I hope the cup’s not spoiled, because it’s a good prospect. Of the serious countries, only England can’t win.
