Dan’s Cricket Show. I'm Dan Jukes and this is my cricket blog and written just days before the opening game in Bangladesh, i'll be taking a look at exactly what we can expect from the 2011 edition of the world cup, including the usual insights as to who will be the top performers and much, much more. At the end of each teams review I will also be giving my opinion if they will or won’t win the world cup. This year has been no different in terms of build-up. The ceremony was spectacular costing £18,000,000, and the warm up matches came up with a few surprises. I for one think this world cup could be the most important in years – as it has to go right. And to be honest, I’m sure it will as there is no higher prize in cricket than winning the world cup for your country.
We’ll start by looking at the last world cup. As we all know it was won by Australia in what turned out to an embarrassment of a world cup final in the West Indies, but also where Adam Gilchrist shone through with 149 (with 21 boundaries at a strike rate of 143) – the biggest knock in a world cup final match. The final result was Australia won by 53 runs on the D/L method. But a lot has changed since then. Only 6 remain in the current Australian 15 man squad as they did in the 15 man squad 4 years ago, and the losses include Gilchrist, McGrath, Hayden and Hussey – all in all over 850 total matches of experience lost. However you can’t ever rule out the Australians and it’s no different this time. They’ve recently thrashed England in the ODI series after the ashes (really bursting England’s bubble) – and I’m tipping them to reach the final…Australia could win the world cup.
And now for England’s chances of world cup glory. Before the recent ODI series against Australia I would have tipped England for big things at this world cup, but they simply looked demoralised and exhausted in the recent 6-1 drubbing. One of the hardest things to find when looking down the batting order is where the big score is going to come from – the Australians have Watson, the Indians have Tendulkar, the Indians Sehwag - but England have…John Trott? And (the inconsistent) Kevin Pietersen? The bowling looks in a better shape as I find Broad (AVE-25) Anderson (AVE-30) and Swanny (AVE-24) world clas
s bowlers capable of beating any batting line up. Colly, Bresnan and Shazzad can all have their day too. The only selection that I question is Treadwell; we simply haven’t seen enough of him. Not a big spinner of the ball, and with all respect I expect to see him crushed by the world’s best batsmen when in full flow. I would much rather have seen Samit Patel at this year’s world cup, fit or unfit, the conditions would have suited him and let’s not forget he was 5th in the MVP ranking this year. All in all, if England plays their best every game, they will win the world cup. But that simply won’t happen…England will not win the World Cup.
Next up – India. One thing that we all know about India is their explosive firepower. And believe me, it’s scary. With so many match winners with the bat like MS Dhoni(AVE-48), Sehwag(SR-103), Pathan(SR-115), Gambhir(AVE-40), Yuvraj(7700 runs) and of course the one and only Sachin Tendulkar(46 centuries), every team will have their work cut out to stop them. The players I have just mentioned have the ability to take the game away from the opposition quick and selectors may have a struggle fitting so many good players in one team! On the bowling front these boys have Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan and Sreesanth but surprisingly I think that England’s bowling attack is slightly better and they are slightly thin on the ground. However India’s squad looks like a good tight unit and I’m really looking forward to seeing how far they get in this year’s tournament. These cricketers are in with a shout and I think they could win the world cup for only the 2nd time in their history.
The likes of Sri Lanka will be hoping for world cup success. They have done it before and can certainly do it again. Not unlike many other teams, they have a settled and experienced leader in the form of captain Sangakkara. Their big match players include Dilshan (I won’t try and spell his first name), Jayawardene, Mendis, Murali, Mathews, Malinga... Okay the list goes on, but these are a very good bunch of cricketers, with a good mix of experience and youth. Their bowling and batting are equally balanced, and they looked good in the opener against New Zealand. Their obvious bonus is Muttiah Muralitharan – how many players in the world have taken 519 ODI wickets? The answer, by the way, is none. His economy is under four runs per over, too. My opinion is Sri Lanka has the ability - but they won’t win the world cup this time round as the other teams are just too strong.
We all know that Pakistan have been involved in the mix of controversy recently over the match fixing allegations involving
Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir. All 3 players have received bans for their actions and they will not be appearing in this year’s world cup so that’s enough on that subject. You never know what to expect from Pakistan, because they possess some of the world’s greatest ever players – Shahid Afridi, Younis Khan and Shoaib Akhtar to name but a few. I don’t think that anyone should write this team off because they have the necessary players at their disposal to beat any other team playing at this year’s world cup and I fully expect them to at least qualify for super 8’s – especially with the all-round capabilities of Abdul Razzak and Afridi.
Last but not at all least, a team with a whole squad of match winners is South Africa, who is captained by Graeme Smith. In his last world cup and his last games as captain for South Africa, he will be more hungry for runs (and success) than ever. His squad includes the likes of Amla, de Villiers, Jacques Kallis, JP Duminy, Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel. This is possibly the Saffers best chance yet of world cup glory. Their most important player in my view is Kallis, who averages 51 in world cup matches with over 920 runs and has the experience of playing in four world cups. However he has a struggle to be fit after recovery from a cracked rib and may struggle to make the group stages. He has 17 ODI centuries to his name, has scored over 11000 ODI runs and has taken 259 ODI wickets. Kallis is a top player. However he is not the only player skilful enough to put in the winning performances and I believe with the left/right handed opening partnership of Amla/Smith making a neat foundation for the likes of AB de Villiers and Co. to build on, I tip South Africa to win the world cup.
I’m sure you will disagree with my tips for this year’s world cup. I am likely to be wrong. The reason that I have not included West Indies, New Zealand, Bangladesh, or any of the associate teams is I do not believe that they have the ability nor experience to qualify from the super 8’s, although the world cup will guarantee us one upset or another. So all that can be said for now is sit back and relax as you watch the world’s biggest stars in cricket entertain you to the max. Thank you for reading the latest edition of Dan’s Cricket Show. Please feel free to follow us on Facebook my typing Dan’s Cricket Show into your search bar.
