Surprising to see no thread dedicated to the 2007 Cricket World Cup, supposedly the third largest global sporting event (after the Olympics and Soccer World Cup), which commenced yesterday (13th Mar 2007). Let’s keep this thread for anything and everything related to the tournament.
CricInfo portal
List of broadcasters worldwide
And for all you uncivilized ignoramuses, some links on the gameplay -
Descriptions of the game for spectators.
Explaining Cricket to Americans
I’m glad that West Indies won against Pakistan in the opening match. A poor home team performance lowers the overall excitement.
I’m betting that West Indies and India definitely make it to the semis. Among Australia, South Africa and New Zealand come the other two.
I’m holding thumbs - we are the Number One team at the moment, after all (yet ranked second for the Cup - that makes no sense). I hope Polly goes out with a bang.
Well, for a while there it looked like rain might save Australia as they tottered on 241-3, but play has resumed and they’re back on the ropes now at 260-4 for 44 overs. Against a swashbuckling side like Scotland, anything less than 400 could spell disaster.
In the real world, Australia are something like 1000/1 on and anyone who wanted some free money would have been well advised to make that bet.
Australia beat Scotland by 203 runs.
Wagers, please, on whether this margin will be beat in this tourney.
South Africa vs. Scotland, South Africa vs. Netherlands, Australia vs. Netherlands are candidates.
I’d go for Bermuda vs. Sri Lanka and/or India
…I think the cup’s gonna be a lottery this year: there is no clear favourite that I can see. Obviously I’m backing the Kiwi’s: but I’m not too confident in our bowling at the moment…Patel and Vettori have the potential to be a great spin partnership, and Bond on form can always be dangerous, but picking Tuffey was a gamble that doesn’t look like its going to pay off, Franklin adds variety but not control, Gillespie is a decent but unspectacular tradesman, and Oram hasn’t hit the spot since he came back from injury.
Our batting could be our saving grace though. Fleming is due to come into form, and if he does, watch out. Lou Vincent has finally learned restraint: and his batting is all the better for it. I’ve long been a “non-fan” of Craig McMillan, but I’m glad he’s in the team, hopefully the potential he has been promising over the last ten years will hava chance to shine. Styris looks out of shape, but can still give the ball a big thump. McCullum is the best “finisher” in world cricket at the moment, and Oram is in exciting form and is really clobbering the ball.
The player for you guys to watch out for is Ross Taylor…he’s a fellow Samoan with fast hands and and a fantastic eye. I think he is a couple of years away from real greatness, but I expect him to make at least a few great scores on tour.
The Australian C Team may have been whipped three zip to the Kiwi’s a few weeks ago, and they may have slipped to number two in the world rankings, but you would be a foolish man to think the Aussies don’t have a chance. Their weakness, like the Kiwi’s, appears to be the bowling. The recent losses to New Zealand and England have also “dented” the unbeatable aura that has surrounded the Aussies the last few decades!
Was going to go on, but I need to sleep…if I was a betting man, I would put my money on one of the “dark horses.” Don’t be surprised to see maybe the West Indies at home, or Sri Lanka taking out the big prize. The pitch will play a big part in the close games, and there will a couple of big upsets. I’ve been looking forward to the cup for a while, may the best team win!
Can’t get this one to work.
Go home now. Australia will crush them all!! 
I am from the U.S., and until 10 days ago the only thing I knew about cricket was that the players wore white. And even that I found out was wrong except for certain games.
But I have just returned from vacation in Barbados. I went there to attend the Barbados Gold Cup, the Caribbean’s biggest horse racing event, and my husband played golf. I had never even heard of the Cricket World Cup, so you can imagine my surprise to find myself in the center of the cricket world. I decided to use the chance learn something new, and found the whole thing very interesting. And since I have been home I have even been following the games over the internet, something I would not have ever imagined doing.
I attended the warm up match of Scotland and Sri Lanka. ( I am going to try to use the correct terms, I keep having to replace game with match, but I am still very new to this so feel free to correct me if I get them wrong). We were invited to attend the match when I met some people from England, New Zealand and Scotland the evening of the Gold Cup. I was quite excited because I had met some cricket players earlier that day at the race, and joked that when they won the World Cup, the picture I had taken with the three players, including the team’s captain, would be worth a fortune considering how crazy everyone there was about all things cricket.
You never heard a group of grown men laugh so hard. They laughed and laughed, would stop and take a breath and laugh some more. They repeated my story up and down the bar, eventually everyone had heard it and was also laughing.
When their hysterics died down, they finally explained to me what was so funny. I had met some of the players from Scotland’s team. Not being a follower of cricket, I had no idea they had no chance to win. So I got a crash course about minnows and how the nice young lads I had met actually had other jobs and were basically amatuers, going against the world’s professionals.
And then on Monday I attended the first warm up match, and continued my education. Just learning all the new terms was a task, but in time I somewhat understood the scoring, and had the very basics down. I learned our group was just hoping to hold the Sri Lanka team to under 300. When that happened our group was pleased. They explained that their best hope was that Scotland didn’t get slaughtered in their matches and set new records for losing margins. And they prayed they might have a shot at beating the Netherlands. One win against the Netherlands and they would feel quite good about the whole thing. But a complete shut out would not suprise them.
I can say my uneducated cricket eye was very impressed with Sri Lanka’s Murally’s (Muttiah Muralitharan) bowling. He most definately stood out among the others. It was really something to see.
And it was funny, not only had I been expecting the teams to be wearing white, I also had the idea that all the players played the entire game in the pads, gloves, etc. that the batsmen wear. I guess I got that idea from pictures, but it is funny to imagine that now.
So from my limited experience on the island, I am hoping to see the West Indies team do well. The Bajans were quietly optimitic about their team. Not really feeling they had the level of players at this time some of the other teams had, but they felt the home support would be a plus and they might surprise some of the other teams.
I also will be rooting for Sri Lanka. I wish I was able to see how more competive teams handle Murally’s bowling, and how their batsmen do against others.
And of course I will be hoping that some other teams now get beat by more than Australia’s pounding of Scotland. And a Scotland win over the Netherlands would also make my day.
I am glad you started a thread on this. A you can imagine, no one here has any interest in talking about cricket, so I am glad I have a place to see what others are thinking about the matches.
Good luck to all!
And Tapioca Dextrin with the early lead…
Grits and Hard Toast, glad you enjoyed the experience. All the good, competitive matches start from 27th March, with just a few beforehand.
http://www.cricketworldcup.com should work (official site).
In the older parlance, they would’ve been described as gentlemen, while the guys you describe as professionals would’ve been termed players.
Well, it’s the lunch break, and South Africa are doing fairly well against the Netherlands in their reduced-overs match.
Fairly well is an understatement. Man, that was some great batting - sixes were coming thick and fast. Gibbs with 6 in one over. 17 overall. We rule!
6 sixes in one over! Wow! Has that been done since Sobers?
I don’t think so. It’s certainly the first time it’s ever happened in a one-day match.
…cool, the Kiwi’s beat the brits. Oram showed that he is not just a slogger, and Styris looks a lot fitter than the last time we saw him. Workmanlike win: nothing too flashy, it was a good, solid opening game.
I think there’s something wrong with my internet, because it says here that Ireland beat Pakistan. On St. Patrick’s Day. I assume this is some kind of joke.
…as I predicted: one of many upsets… India were toppled by Bangladesh as well, showing that Bangladesh’s victory over New Zealand was no fluke…
I hope Styris is looking fitter in the field. When we were playing Australia and England in the CB series he was very sluggish. Lots of standing watching the ball roll past.