ljkeane Posted June 1, 2019 Share Posted June 1, 2019 This is a bit of disaster with the bat for Sri Lanka too. This isn’t how I was expecting this World Cup to go so far. All the talk beforehand was how many 400 plus scores we were going to get, I suppose there’s still time. ETA: The World Cup guitarist with his cricket bat guitar may be the most naff thing I’ve ever seen. ETA2: Afghanistan choosing to bat first is a bit of a surprise. I suppose it makes sense if they can put a score on the board but that's a big question. Australia have gone with Khawaja over Marsh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted June 1, 2019 Share Posted June 1, 2019 New Zealand could end up being a bit of a sleeper side. They've historically always done well at World Cups, and they have a solid team. Typically good fielders, Boult is as incisive an opening bowler as any, and a reasonably strong and experienced batting lineup with Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor. The fact they haven't had much Test cricket also means the national side will be pretty geared towards the ODI game too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted June 1, 2019 Author Share Posted June 1, 2019 12 hours ago, Jeor said: New Zealand could end up being a bit of a sleeper side. They've historically always done well at World Cups, and they have a solid team. Typically good fielders, Boult is as incisive an opening bowler as any, and a reasonably strong and experienced batting lineup with Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor. The fact they haven't had much Test cricket also means the national side will be pretty geared towards the ODI game too. Their new fast bowler (Ferguson) looks a great find. I agree with LJ that it’s been a surprise to see ball dominate bat so much in the early fixtures. And we are still waiting for a truly close game to spark some real interest... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted June 1, 2019 Share Posted June 1, 2019 8 hours ago, Jeor said: New Zealand could end up being a bit of a sleeper side. They've historically always done well at World Cups, and they have a solid team. Typically good fielders, Boult is as incisive an opening bowler as any, and a reasonably strong and experienced batting lineup with Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor. The fact they haven't had much Test cricket also means the national side will be pretty geared towards the ODI game too. I think it's always a mistake to underestimate New Zealand in a tournament. 37 minutes ago, Paxter said: I agree with LJ that it’s been a surprise to see call dominate bat so much in the early fixtures. And we are still waiting for a truly close game to spark some real interest... Looking at the fixtures over the next week Sri Lanka/Afghanistan could be close, Australia/Windies could be one-sided but definitely has potential. India/Australia on the 9th looks like the first real clash of the favourites for the final stages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted June 2, 2019 Author Share Posted June 2, 2019 3 hours ago, williamjm said: I think it's always a mistake to underestimate New Zealand in a tournament. Looking at the fixtures over the next week Sri Lanka/Afghanistan could be close, Australia/Windies could be one-sided but definitely has potential. India/Australia on the 9th looks like the first real clash of the favourites for the final stages. Yeah true. I do think though now that having poorer-than-usual sides from South Africa, Sri Lanka and Pakistan is going to make the qualifying stages a little dull. Happy to be proven wrong! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted June 2, 2019 Share Posted June 2, 2019 Today's game looks like it has the potential to be a close one. Bangladesh batted pretty well to get to 330 but given the platform they'd built in the first 35 overs or so I think they were little lacking in aggression for most of the last 15 overs. I'd expect the likes of England, India or the West Indies to rack up a 350 plus score from that sort of position. That leaves a tough chase for South Africa but a realistically achievable one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted June 2, 2019 Share Posted June 2, 2019 9 hours ago, ljkeane said: Today's game looks like it has the potential to be a close one. Bangladesh batted pretty well to get to 330 but given the platform they'd built in the first 35 overs or so I think they were little lacking in aggression for most of the last 15 overs. I'd expect the likes of England, India or the West Indies to rack up a 350 plus score from that sort of position. That leaves a tough chase for South Africa but a realistically achievable one. It was the first really competitive game. I agree it was an achievable chase for South Africa, but they lost wickets too regularly. Bangladesh look to have a good team with plenty of experience, they might still struggle to get into the top 4 but I don't think the other teams are going to be taking them lightly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 7 hours ago, williamjm said: It was the first really competitive game. I agree it was an achievable chase for South Africa, but they lost wickets too regularly. Bangladesh look to have a good team with plenty of experience, they might still struggle to get into the top 4 but I don't think the other teams are going to be taking them lightly. I doubt Bangladesh will make it into the semis, but their bowling attack poses an unusual threat with a phalanx of spinners and some decent left/right pace options. It's good to see them playing well though - at least in ODI terms they are a minnow no longer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular John Umber Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 As a team, the Proteas have been in trouble for a good few years; they've just been managing to paper over the issues, but the bell is tolling now. I expect huge changes to happen after we finish in the bottom three. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Consigliere Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 Worst Proteas team to ever go into a world cup. SA cricket is in a bit of trouble. We have no good all rounders in the country anymore and that used to be a strength in years gone past - Morris and Duminy are probably our best options but both are massive downgrades on what we used to have. As a result we have quite a long tail and can't really pick an extra batsman as that would mean a part time bowler has to bowl 10 overs. The other issue is top order batting - Smith, Kallis and De Villiers have all retired, Amla and Du Plessis are in their mid 30's and looking at our domestic league, there aren't any obvious replacements for those players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 So, er, this performance from England was a bit of a concern. They weren't great with the ball or in the field but, more to the point, Root and Buttler getting hundreds and England still not coming particularly close to chasing a score down at Trent Bridge is a fairly big worry. That's pretty much the point of how this England team have been set up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 4 hours ago, ljkeane said: So, er, this performance from England was a bit of a concern. They weren't great with the ball or in the field but, more to the point, Root and Buttler getting hundreds and England still not coming particularly close to chasing a score down at Trent Bridge is a fairly big worry. That's pretty much the point of how this England team have been set up. It did almost feel like they underestimated Pakistan a bit, which can always be a potentially dangerous thing to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 12 hours ago, Consigliere said: Worst Proteas team to ever go into a world cup. SA cricket is in a bit of trouble. We have no good all rounders in the country anymore and that used to be a strength in years gone past - Morris and Duminy are probably our best options but both are massive downgrades on what we used to have. As a result we have quite a long tail and can't really pick an extra batsman as that would mean a part time bowler has to bowl 10 overs. The other issue is top order batting - Smith, Kallis and De Villiers have all retired, Amla and Du Plessis are in their mid 30's and looking at our domestic league, there aren't any obvious replacements for those players. Markram is the only real up and coming batsman they have, and he strikes me as more of a Test player. Their bowling stocks look good though, so there's a chance that South Africa might end up becoming the "new" Pakistan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted June 4, 2019 Author Share Posted June 4, 2019 What a performance from Pakistan. I was on an overnight flight and thought there must be some mistake when I saw they had scored nearly 350 against England! There are some real concerns for England in the bowling department. That's two consecutive games now where they've conceded large totals against mediocre batting sides. I don't think the batsmen can be blamed too much - 334 and 311 are pretty good scores to kick-off a World Cup. RE: South Africa, I agree that the top order is a big problem. With Amla's star fading and no AB, Smith or Kallis in the side they are too reliant on Faf and de Kock. There are some similarities with Australia who have really struggled to replace their ODI batting stars of yesteryear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raja Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 Pakistan/ England was the first game I was able to catch, I hope the rest of my picks can live up to this one. I'm afraid to watch India given that I'm basically a curse to the side. Also, the england kit isn't bad, it's actually real similar to an Indian one from the late 90s/ early 00s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted June 4, 2019 Author Share Posted June 4, 2019 1 minute ago, Raja said: Pakistan/ England was the first game I was able to catch, I hope the rest of my picks can live up to this one. I'm afraid to watch India given that I'm basically a curse to the side. It's a little odd that three teams have already played twice and India is still yet to play at all. Do we know if there was any particular reason for that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raja Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 Just now, Paxter said: It's a little odd that three teams have already played twice and India is still yet to play at all. Do we know if there was any particular reason for that? Yeah, I have no idea. They had the table up at the end of the Pakistan/ England game and it was pretty odd to see that everyone had played one or two games whereas India had played none. I imagine it's logistics, and perhaps wanting to have the India games on weekends? I think two of our first four games are on a Sunday. I've been really out of touch with the cricket since moving over to the states so there's probably more to it than that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raja Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 I've been so out of the loop that I wasn't even entirely sure of the format till a few days ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted June 4, 2019 Author Share Posted June 4, 2019 26 minutes ago, Raja said: I've been so out of the loop that I wasn't even entirely sure of the format till a few days ago. I've just moved to Canada so I'm a little worried about suffering the same fate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raja Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 Are y'all listening to any decent review podcasts for the WC? I know the Guardian have a 'The spin podcast', but any others? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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