2015 O.D.I World Cup

Australian 15 man squad

BAILEY
CLARKE
CUMMINS
DOHERTY
HADDIN
HAZELWOOD
FAULKNER
FINCH
JOHNSON
M MARSH
MAXWELL
SMITH
STARC
WARNER
WATSON

Good fast bowlers
Good all rounders
Good batsmen

The concerns
No world class spinners
Clarke , Cummins, Marsh, Watson are injure prone
Starc and Hazelwood might need to be cotton wooled in the Cup as well

The BIG question
Should Australia gamble playing Clarke ?
He is almost irreplaceable in the Test team
But he is arguably replaceable in the ODI team

My tip
Australia South Africa final

beware the underrated Kiwi's, Williamson is a gun batsman & we all know what McCullum can do & they will play most of their games at home

Williamson is currently injured with a shoulder problem
Likely to be ready by the WC
has an impressive Test and ODI record to date

ODI BATTING
2060 runs
42.91 average
145* best
80.56 strike rate

ODI BOWLING
23 wickets
32.26 average
4/22 best
5.43 economy

Good batsman , handy performer with the ball
Agree Bayman , Mccullum+ Williamson are impressive performers

I'm super pumped for the World Cup to start and I'm hoping that it leads to a bit of a resurgence in popularity of the 50 over format.

My earliest memories of watching cricket are from the 1992 World Cup in Australia, with Keppler Wessels captaining South Africa in their return to international cricket, and Wasim Akram bowling Pakistan to victory.

Hope this Cup serves up just as many classic moments.

Incidentally I just Googled the Cup to see if my memories were correct and it said that a game was played on the Berri Oval!

DAVID WARNER
He would have to be one of the most entertaining batters Ive seen at Test level
I thought he would have been a shoe in to be a superstar ODI batsman
But he has not dominated as I would have expected
His stats are almost unflattering for a player of his ability

ODI BATTING
1539 runs
31.40 average
163 best
2 tons
83.50 strike rate

Those stats are reasonable , but Im sure David would want to do better

SHANE WATSON
A much mal ligned Test cricketer
in this form of cricket he is the star all rounder

ODI BATTING
5422 runs
40.76 average
185* best
9 tons !
89.82 strike rate

Thats exceptional batting over a long period of time
Averages more and strikes quicker than Warner
Watto is a match winner in this format , something he has not grasped at Test level
And backs up as a very good bowler as well

ODI WORLD CUP WINNERS
1975 WI
1979 WI
1983 IN
1987 AU
1992 PA
1996 SL
1999 AU
2003 AU
2007 AU
2011 IN

Im sure England would be disappointed in not winning one
South Africa missed the first few , but should have at least won one

Unorthodox is a word in sports
It worked for Sri Lanka in the mid 90s in 50 over games
They used the tactic of very very attacking opening batsman in or about those times in the first 15 overs
Jayasuriya and keeper Kaluwitharana were sensational when the tactic worked
That sort of batting helped get SL in becoming a world force in ODI cricket
That impetus helped them towards and into a World Cup Final

ODI FINAL
1996
SL V AU

AU 7/241
Taylor 74[83] Exceptional strike rate for Tubby
Arivinda De Silva 3/42[9]

SL 3/245[46.2]
Arivinda De Silva 107* [124]
Arjuna Ranatunga 47*[37]

A great win by the Sri Lankans
Jayasuriya[9] + Kaluwitharana [6] didnt get the team off to a flier this time
De Silva also took 2 catches and was the obvious man of the match

De Silva and Ranatunga were superb and dominated Shane Warne 0/50[10]

What Jaya and Kalu did kind of revolutionised a way to bat in the first 15 overs
A tactic Australia was to use with great success when Adam GilCHRIST and Mark Waugh opened the batting

I remember lying in bed listening to that final on the radio and being devastated that Australia let it slip.

Tubby had no answers in the field to De Silva in particular.

Kaluwitharana was one of my favourite batsmen to watch at the time and as you say Scrappy, revolutionised one day tactics with his aggressive approach in the first 15 overs.

1999 was another absolutely classic World Cup. Who could forget the chaotic finish to the Semi Final between South Africa and Australia, with a run out deciding the game!

Correct me if I'm wrong Scrappy, but it was also around the time that Lehmann finally began to cement his place at international level after a long time waiting.

Gingernuts wrote:1999 was another absolutely classic World Cup. Who could forget the chaotic finish to the Semi Final between South Africa and Australia, with a run out deciding the game!

Correct me if I'm wrong Scrappy, but it was also around the time that Lehmann finally began to cement his place at international level after a long time waiting.

from memory ''BOOF'' hit the winning runs in the World Cup Final, Mark Waugh seemed disappointed it wasn't him at the non strikers end


as for the run out in the semi final wasn't that Alan Donalds' brain fade ?

Yep the semi final run out was due to Donald ball watching instead of just running at all costs.

a cracking match.

Gingernuts wrote:1999 was another absolutely classic World Cup. Who could forget the chaotic finish to the Semi Final between South Africa and Australia, with a run out deciding the game!

Correct me if I'm wrong Scrappy, but it was also around the time that Lehmann finally began to cement his place at international level after a long time waiting.

I remember this game quite well as I bet on Australia in this extraordinary match

AU 213 [49.2]
S WAUGH 56[76]
BEVAN 65 [101]
POLLOCK 5/36[9.2]
WHITE LIGHTNING 4/32 [10]

SA 213 [49.4]
KALLIS 53[92]
RHODES 43 [55]
WARNE 4/29 [10]

The game was a tie
I had made one of my cleverest punts
A punting buddy, Larry wanted me to back AU in this match, and we both did
I did give Larry a proviso , that if the odds were similar we should back AU to make the final rather than have a win bet on this match
We got the same odds to make the final as to win this match , so it was a no brainer bet on the make the final option
History shows it was a tie , and Australia advanced to the final , and we got the full winnings instead of half the ticket value !

The game was rivetting
A lot has been said ever since that SA choked
I disagree with that, I would say a brain fade run out was more to the point

The facts
AU in their innings were 6/207 with 13 balls left, and disappointingly didnt bat the overs out
AU had SA 4/61 but the Africans fought back
SA were 9/198 needing 16 runs with 6 balls left
Lance Zulu Klusener smashed  from that point

This was the last over
Damien Corridor Fleming with Zulu on strike
The non striker was Alan White Lightning DDdDdDdDdDDDonald
SA 9/205
49.1 :Zulu smashes a cover drive to the fence
49.2: Zulu smashes an off drive for another boundary
Scores level , Zulu 31 in 14 balls
49:3 Zulu mistimes a shot to mid on, ball fielded by Darren Boof Lehman , White Lightning was well out of his ground backing up toooooooo far , Boof throws and and and and and and misses, at the time I thought , Boof has cost us a world cup , and me $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
49.4: Zulu mistimes again the ball reaches Mark Junior Waugh , Zulu runs for the single, White Lightning did not [a legacy of the previous ball ?] Junior throws it to Flemo , Flemo lawn bowls it to Adam Gilchrist , Donald belatedly takes off and was run out

Tie but Australia wins[phewwww $$$$] as they beat SA in a previous WC match in the qualifiers
The right rule, I guess
Perhaps a super over could be bowled in these instances

The other significant from that match
Hansie Cronje played his last World Cup game C M Waugh B Warne 0 [2]
That was a big wicket, Cronje played Warnie as good as any batter world wide, in my opinion
Warnie got 4 wickets, but had Cronje mastered him once more, who knows with the result


BOOF DOI
3078 runs
38.96 average
4 tons
119 best
81.29 strike rate

Boof started ODIs in 1996 and finished in 2005
Good batting record
The bonus with Boof was his  left arm loopys
52 wickets @ 27.78 with a economy of 4.83

Makes him a genuine  allrounder , bat , ball and tummy !

Nice recap Scrappy! Love it. An absolute classic.

EOIN MORGAN
A gem of a batsman , now captaining England on the 2015 World Cup, after starting off with Ireland
His ODI batting reminds me so much of the way Michael Bevan used to bat.
Averages 36.5 at a very good strike rate of 85.77 , that makes him a very good middle order batsman

The Irish born , English cricketing representative , has also expanding his International exploits in his private life
His girlfriend of a few years Tara , is Adelaide born

Scrappy wrote:EOIN MORGAN
A gem of a batsman , now captaining England on the 2015 World Cup, after starting off with Ireland
His ODI batting reminds me so much of the way Michael Bevan used to bat.
Averages 36.5 at a very good strike rate of 85.77 , that makes him a very good middle order batsman

The Irish born , English cricketing representative , has also expanding his International exploits in his private life
His girlfriend of a few years Tara , is Adelaide born

got a ton today & batted very well (obviously)

I have to say, New Zealand's pre-tournament form has been fairly handy.

Could be a real chance.

Anyone on here heading to the quarter final at the Adelaide Oval? I'm thinking about it, plan to look at ticketing options with a mate tonight.

as mentioned earlier in the thread beware the Kiwi's, today playing Sri Lanka & batting first they were 5/93 & ended up 5/360 with Elliott 104 not out off 96 balls & West Aussie Luke Ronchi 170 not out off 99 balls which included 9 6's

New Zealand earlier today won its first match of the tournament beating Sri Lanka by 98 runs

at the moment Australia after being sent in are 5/258 after 43.1 overs, Finch dropped on 0 made 135 (versus England)

Good wins by the Aussies & India.

Looked like the atmosphere was pretty good at AO yesterday. Some amazing sunset photos from the ground as well.

1 billion odd people watching on TV would have got a very good impression of Adelaide!

well done to the Irish today v West Indies

the Irish seem to always get a 'big scalp' in the World Cup......who remembers O'briens' batting against England several years ago ?

Group A
AF
AU
EG
NZ
SL
BA
SC

Surely AU-EG-NZ-SL will qualify for the quarter finals

GROUP B
IN
IR
PA
SA
UE
WI
ZI

Despite The Irish winning it looks likely that IN-PA-SA-WI will qualify

Minnows deserve to play in the WC , I really enjoy watching them
The downside is the almost inevitable qualifiers for round 2

This might be right, 6 teams have chased down 300 + in WC cricket history
3 times by Ireland
that is quite an achievement for a minnow
2 of those wins were against EG and now WI
The other ?

Im tipping a AU V SA final

Most sides are reasonably predictable they way they play
the one team that is hot and cool is the West Indies
If they bat 2nd chasing, i think they will cause an upset

i still rate New Zealand, i think they are at least the equal of Australia & South Africa

I highly doubt the West Indies will make the Quarter Finals. While they'll beat the UAE, they'll be 50-50 at best against Zimbabwe and Pakistan and get trounced by India and South Africa.

Ireland should easily account for the UAE, would be a very good chance against Zimbabwe, would be a 50-50 chance against Pakistan (and they've beaten Pakistan in a World Cup previously), and would most likely lose to India and South Africa.

If Ireland go through the group stage 3-3, then that should be enough for 4th spot (and I reckon the race for 4th is likely to be between Ireland and Zimbabwe).

NZ has absolutely belted the English today. Can't wait to see NZ take on SA & Australia, they seem to be the form side, but haven't come up against any of the tournament favourites as yet.

Dale Steyn looking a lot like Errol Flynn at the moment