Tony McWatt

The 10th edition of the International Cricket Council’s Quadrennial 50 Over’s World Cup will begin on February 19th of this year with India playing co-hosts along with Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. For Sri Lanka and the West Indies, two of the less favored teams in the competition, the weeks prior will offer an ideal opportunity to fine tune their final preparations, as they face each other in a three match Series, hosted by the former.

The Sri Lankan-West Indies One Day International (ODI) Series, featuring matches in Colombo on January 31, February 3 and 6, will offer the West Indies in particular, the perfect platform to launch their latest attempt to recapture former World Cup glory. Winners of the first two ICC World Cups in 1975 and 1979 and losing finalists to India in the third (1983), the West Indies have not since come anywhere close to their previous triumphs. Their best performance since 1983 was a semi-final loss to eventual winners Australia in the 1995-1996 Competition. Their supporters will be hoping that this time around they can go as far as emerging as champions when the Tournament concludes in Mumbai, India on April 2nd. Grouped with Bangladesh, England, India, Ireland, the Netherlands and South Africa in the Preliminary Round they should at least qualify as one of the top four teams to emerge from their Group.
As the former West Indies captain and batting legend Brian Lara said recently, how far the West Indies can progress in the Tournament may very much depend upon the performances of their senior players namely, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Chris Gayle and the returning Ramnaresh Sarwan. As three of the most talented and experienced ODI players in the world, Chanderpaul, Gayle and Sarwan will be expected to provide the West Indies batting with the strength and solidity required for success in the Competition.
Together, they will form the backbone of a batting lineup that will also include three young, emerging and exciting players in Adrian Barath, Darren Bravo and Keiron Pollard. If ably supported by the bowling allrounders Dwayne Bravo and skipper Darren Sammy, as well as their wicketkeeper-batsman Carlton Baugh, the Windies could well post totals that may prove challenging to other teams and just successfully chase those set by their opponents.
On paper at least, the West Indies batting lineup offers a good mixture of aggression, solidity and depth that could prove to be one of the surprises of the Tournament. Furthermore, as two of the fiercest, cleanest strikers of cricket ball to be found anywhere in contemporary cricket, Gayle and Pollard both have the ability to savagely plunder opposition attacks.
Their aggression will be well complemented by the solidity of Chanderpaul and Sarwan, both of whom are players with the experience and ability to measure their strokeplay according to the demands of an innings at any point of a match. Whether it be aggression or consolidation that’s required, Chanderpaul and Sarwan both have the tools and technique necessary to play any part demanded.
In Adrian Barath and Darren Bravo, the West Indies also possess two of the most exciting young and emerging players in World cricket. The fact that as Trinidadians they are both naturally gifted players of spin should serve them well in the Sub-Continent, during a World Cup that is expected to be dominated by bowlers of the slower variety. Again the Guyanese-born Chanderpaul and Sarwan are also gifted players of spin. So if as everyone expects, it does turn out to be a spinner’s World Cup, the West Indies should be well served by their batters.
The West Indies apparent batting strengths, at least on paper, are not in any way matched by their selected bowling attack. As the sole out and out pacer, Kemar Roach will be expected to perform the role of the main strike bowler and key wicket-taker. The expectation of Roach will be that his superior pace and ever improving control will allow him to take wickets at will, whenever circumstances require him to do so.
The question marks around the West Indies bowling will center around the as yet unproven ability of the support cast to complete their allotted overs, in as economical and efficient a manner as possible. No one among the fast medium to medium pacers - skipper Darren Sammy, Dwayne Bravo, Ravi Rampaul and Keron Pollard - is ever likely to strike much fear in the hearts of opposing batsmen. Especially when those batters include some of the best players around today.
Certainly one wouldn’t expect that Sachin Tendulkar, Jacques Kallis nor Kevin Peterson would be losing much sleep at the prospect of facing any of the West Indian seamers, Roach apart. How well the West Indies attack fares in its attempt to limit opponents to reachable totals, or alternatively, to scores less than which their own batters have posted, will therefore depend upon how disciplined they can be in carrying out their duties. The preponderance of no balls and wides that have so often plagued West Indies’ ODI bowling performances in the past, will for a start have to be significantly reduced, if not completely eliminated.
To complement the pacers the West Indies have selected Suleiman Benn and Nikita Miller, both left-arm spinners, as their slow bowlers. In combination with Chris Gayle’s off-spin, they will provide the required variety to the attack. Both Benn and Miller will be playing in their first World Cup, again on Sub-Continental pitches that are expected to be even slower than any they would have ever encountered anywhere back home in the Caribbean.
Benn’s bowling statistics, in the 18 ODI Matches he has played thus far, are an unflattering 13 wickets at an average of 49.84 with an economy rate of 4.32 runs per over and a wicket-taking strike rate of 69.2. Miller’s overall figures are a trifle more encouraging: 30 wickets at an average of 36.26 with a 4.54 economy rate and a 47.8 strike rate. Again neither of these two is likely to strike any fears amongst those against whom they will be matching their wares.
With a bowling attack that is somewhat, if not highly questionable the West Indies’ World Cup chances will therefore rest upon strong batting and fielding that will be required to be outstanding. The extent to which they can take all catches that are offered and convert the run-out opportunities that are presented may well determine how far they progress in the competition. The other factor that could very well play a role will be the extent to which they believe in themselves as a team and how that is reflected in their state of play.
Wonderful or woeful, since the 1983 Final, WI World Cup performances have too often been one or the other. The cricket world waits to see this time around which one it will be.

 

Former Indian cricket captain Kapil Dev has praised the International Cricket Council (ICC) for selecting batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar as its brand ambassador for the 2011 World Cup.
"I am thankful to ICC for naming Tendulkar as the brand ambassador of the World Cup. I am happy they did not pick any film star, singer or a politician to be their brand ambassador. It is a very great feeling to see your colleague as the brand ambassador for a game which is so fantastic," the Gulf News quoted Kapil Dev, as saying.
He added: "I genuinely feel that the game should be promoted by the cricketers who played the game. I am deeply touched by the gesture and I am sure we could not have got a better person than Tendulkar as the ambassador."
"Everyone has to be proud of this man not because of his performance, but by the way he has played the game for over 20 years. He is truly the greatest sportsman of the era," Dev said.

 

A promo of the upcoming World Cup by the host broadcasters shows players from the 14 participating nations walking a tightrope high in the air to achieve their goal.
With reigning champions Australia shedding their prowess and evenly-matched teams facing a treacherous knock-out format, copywriters have already forseen an unpredictable, wide-open tournament from Februaty 19-April 2.
Australia have dominated the World Cup stage in spectacular fashion, winning the last three editions in 1999, 2003 and 2007 to add to their first success under Allan Border in 1987.
But rivals this time will fancy their chances against the new-look Aussies following the retirement of key stars like Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist and Andrew Symonds.
Australia will still remain strong contenders to pick up a fifth title, but India and Sri Lanka - who co-host the World Cup with Bangladesh - and South Africa and England are regarded the frontrunners.
With the unpredictable, but hugely talented, Pakistanis also in the mix alongside two-time champions West Indies and New Zealand, the race for the title is wide open.
"This could be anyone's tournament," Kapil Dev, India's World Cup-winning captain in 1983, said.
"The conditions will favour teams from the sub-continent, but don't write off other sides. They have all played enough in this part of the world to know what awaits them."
Adding to the excitement is the new format where teams face sudden-death after the preliminary league.
Unlike the last three editions, where there were two league stages before the semifinalists were determined, the upcoming tournament will see the knock-outs begin after the first round itself.
The 14 teams have been divided into two groups for the initial round-robin league, with the top four from each half advancing to the quarterfinals.
The quarterfinal format, first used in 1996 before being discarded, was revived to ensure a team plays a minimum of six matches even if they don't make the next round.
In the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean, crowd pullers India and Pakistan went out of the reckoning after just three matches as they failed to enter the second round.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni admitted the new 'banana skin' format was a double-edged sword.
"Teams will get to play more matches, but once through to the second round, you just can't afford to have an off-day," said Dhoni. "One bad move and you could be out of it."
Reigning champions Australia have been drawn with Sri Lanka, Pakistan, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Canada and Kenya in Group A.
India and Bangladesh, who play the tournament opener in Dhaka on February 19, will be joined by England, South Africa, West Indies, Ireland and the Netherlands in a relatively tougher Group B.
The World Cup will be held in the sub-continent, the nerve-centre and financial powerhouse of cricket, for the third time after India and Pakistan held it in 1987 and were joined by Sri Lanka in 1996.
Pakistan were also due to co-host the 2011 party, but were stripped of their rights due to security concerns in the volatile nation in the aftermath of the terror attack on the Sri Lankan team in 2009.
India are using eight Test venues for their 29 matches, but they have already hit problems in a worrying echo of the troubles which dogged the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.
The Wankhede stadium in Mumbai, the site of the April 2 final, has been reconstructed.
But refurbishment work on the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata was so far behind schedule that the venue's first game of four - the February 27 clash between India and England - has had to be moved to Bangalore.
Sri Lanka's 12 matches will be held at three venues, including two brand new 25,000-seater stadia in Pallekele near the hill resort of Kandy and Hambantota in the deep south.
The eight games allotted to Bangladesh will be played at the Sher-e-Bangla cricket stadium in Mirpur on the outskirts of Dhaka and the Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury stadium in Chittagong.
The World Cup contenders are set for a financial bonanza with a record prize purse of $8 million on offer, a rise of three million from the previous edition.
The winners receive $3.25 million -- Australia took home $2.2 million in 2007 -- while the losing finalists get $1.5 million.
With an additional $30,000 kept aside for the winners of each first round match, the champions stand to gain another $180,000 if they win all their six preliminary games.
The two losing semifinalists take home $500,000 each, while teams that are knocked out in the quarterfinal stage will get $250,000 each.
The prize money does not include the share of the profits the International Cricket Council dishes out to all the 14 participating teams from its joint revenue pool.

 

By Kersi Meher-Homji
As the tenth World Cup (WC) approaches, let us select an imaginary all-time great World Cup XI based mainly on statistics.
We need five to six specialist batsmen, an all-rounder or two, a wicket-keeper who can bat, two fast to fast medium bowlers and a spinner.
Top batsmen based on runs scored, average and strike rate (SR) in WC:
Sachin Tendulkar (India) has scored most runs (1796 at 57.93 in 36 matches, SR 88.21) followed by Ricky Ponting (Australia) 1537 at 48.03 in 39, SR 81.06; Brian Lara (West Indies) 1225 at 42.24 in 34, SR 86.26); Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka) 1165 at 34.26 in 38, SR 90.66; Adam Gilchrist (Aus) 1085 at 36.16, SR 98.01 in 31; Javed Miandad (Pakistan) 1083 at 43.32 in 33, SR 68.02 and Vivian Richards (WI) 1013 at 63.31 in 23, SR 85.05.
Having made 52 dismissals (45 catches and seven stumpings in 31 matches), Gilchrist is way ahead of other wicket-keepers. The next best is Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara, 32 (26 plus six) in 21.
We have four candidates for all-rounders:
India’s Kapil Dev: 669 runs at 37.16, SR 115.14 and 28 wickets at 31.85 in 26 matches.
Pakistan’s Imran Khan: 666 runs at 35.05, SR 65.68 and 34 wickets at 19.26 in 28.
England’s Ian Botham: 297 runs at 18.56, SR 62.39 and 30 wickets at 25.40 in 22.
Australia’s Steve Waugh: 978 runs at 48.90, SR 81.02 and 27 wickets at 30.14 in 33.
Two opening bowlers have outstanding figures:
Australia’s Glenn McGrath: 71 wickets (a WC record) at 18.19 in 39 matches.
Pakistan’s Wasim Akram coming next with 55 wickets at 23.83 besides 426 runs at 19.36, SR 101.18 in 38.
Now to the spinner position: off-spinner and doosra specialist Muttiah Muralitharan from Sri Lanka or Australian leg-spin legend Shane Warne?
Murali has taken more scalps; 53 at 19.69 in 31 matches compared to Warney’s 32 at 19.50 in 17.
Now to the hard part, selection of the WC XI on stats.
Who will open the innings? Tendulkar is a certainty, having scored most runs in WC history. His opening partner would be Jayasuriya, Hayden or Gilchrist.
I take the easy way out and go for Gilchrist as in one-day internationals (including WC) he has shone out as an opener. Who can forget his scintillating 149 against SL in the 2007 WC final at Bridgetown?
Ponting walks in at no.3 with fine credentials as batsman, fielder and captain. Under him Australia has won not only the last two World Cups in 2003 and 2007 but also all the matches. Only Tendulkar has scored more runs.
The Master Blaster Richards is a must at no.4. He will prompt the opposition captain to place most of his fielders on the boundary line.
The no.5 spot provides a predicament: Pakistan’s controversial Javed Miandad or the West Indian demolition expert Brian Lara? Lara is my man for his explosive batting.
Cool-cat captain Steve Waugh will take strike at no. 6 and bowl miserly overs at the death.
Imran and Kapil Dev will bat at nos.7 and 8 and do reverse-swing after Akram and McGrath share the new ball.
Only one spot remains for a spinner and we have outstanding candidates in Muralitharan and Warne. Murali wins the spot – just.
Based on the above statistics, here is my all-time great World Cup XI in batting order:
Tendulkar, Gilchrist (WK), Ponting, Richards, Lara, Steve Waugh (captain), Imran (vice-captain), Kapil, Akram, Muralitharan and McGrath.
12th man: Hayden. Reserves: Warne, Miandad and Jayasuriya.
My WC XI includes four from Australia, two each from West Indies, India and Pakistan and one from Sri Lanka.
Significantly (or is it coincidentally?), only these four nations have won the World Cup – Australia four times, West Indies twice, and India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka once each.

 

Australia wrapped up a morale-boosting one-day series victory over England with two games to spare after a 51-run win in the fifth match at the Gabba on Sunday.
Michael Clarke’s team took an unassailable 4-1 lead in the seven-match series after hitting 249 in 49.3 overs and then bowling out the visitors for 198.
Pace pair Brett Lee and Doug Bollinger reduced England to 22 for three before Kevin Pietersen (40) and Ian Bell (36) combined for a 73-run partnership.
England, however, self destructed when they still had plenty of overs remaining and two well-established players batting.
Pietersen again succumbed to a rush of blood to the head when he misread a slower John Hastings delivery and spooned the ball to Lee at mid-on to leave his team 95 for four.
Eoin Morgan (two) also threw away his wicket when he smashed Steve Smith straight to Mitchell Johnson at long off while Bell chopped Hastings on to his stumps to leave England 103 for six.
Shane Watson then dismissed Paul Collingwood (18) and Chris Woakes (8) in his first over, the 33rd of the innings, to all but end the run chase despite some final-wicket defiance from James Anderson (22 n.o.) and Steve Finn (35).
Earlier, Clarke ended his poor run of scores with a half century while the tail provided a late flurry to help the home side post a good total despite man of the match Woakes claiming six for 45.
Clarke, who had been under pressure, combined for a 65-run partnership with David Hussey (34) for the fifth wicket.
He then needlessly charged Woakes in the 41st over and top edged a simple catch to opposing skipper Andrew Strauss on 54.
Clarke’s dismissal left Australia 190 for six but Smith (24 not out), Johnson (16) and Hastings (13) combined well in the latter stages to set up a victory charge that will give them confidence heading into next month’s World Cup.
The match was also used to help raise money following recent flooding.
The floods have swamped the eastern seaboard of Australia, killing 35 people, crippling coal mines, ruining crops, damaging infrastructure, destroying homes and causing an estimated A$5 billion (US$4.98 billion) in damage in Queensland alone.
More than A$6 million (US$5.96 million) was raised from the game, with the final figure to be matched by the Australian federal government.
“It makes you really very proud to see the way Australians have got out and responded, from a local barbie (BBQ) … to some of our biggest companies in the country,” Prime Minister Julia Gillard told Australia’s Channel Nine.
Scoreboard:
Australia won the toss and chose to bat
Australia made 249 runs in 49.3 overs
England replied with 198 runs in 45.3 overs
Australia won by 51 runs
Previous results:
January 16 – Australia won by six wickets
January 21 – Australia won by 46 runs
January 23 – Australia won by four wickets
January 26 – England won by 21 runs

 

Yusuf Pathan launched the sort of assault that has made him a rich man to ensure it wasn't all one-way traffic in Centurion but it wasn't enough to prevent South Africa from snatching the series with a 33-run victory. After a tough tour over the past month-and-a-half, the last day of the series seemed set to be an anti-climactic non-scrap courtesy yet another Hashim Amla century and a slew of reckless strokes from the Indians.
Yusuf, though, blasted a century of utter violence when all looked lost at 119 for 8, and after an hour of Yusuf, the South African bowling was looking clueless and India were 49 short, dreaming of a miraculous win. Yusuf clubbed a 68-ball century but holed out soon after, much to the relief of the Sunday crowd at Supersport Park.
The tour had begun with South Africa's crushing Test victory in Centurion and ends with another defeat for the visitors at the same venue. One reason India's bowlers will be thrilled to be heading back home will be that there will be less sparring with Amla, who has plundered more than 1100 runs in the past 11 months against India in Tests and one-dayers. He collected another 116 last week Sunday to push South Africa to a tall total in a rain-hit match.
MS Dhoni had chosen to bowl on winning the toss, perhaps swayed by Supersport Park's reputation of being a ground where it is easy to chase in day games. No matter what the past record, it is unlikely any team can win when its top order combusts so spectacularly and heedlessly as India's did. Barring Virat Kohli, the rest of the top six were dismissed not by unplayable deliveries but by attempts at extravagant strokes.
Tour Results - South Africa vs India
Jan 23 at Centurion - South Africa won by 33 runs (D/L method)
Jan 21 at Port Elizabeth - South Africa won by 48 runs (D/L method)
Jan 18 at Cape Town - India won by 2 wickets (with 10 balls remaining)
Jan 15 at Johannesburg - India won by 1 run
Jan 12 at Durban - S/Africa won by 135 runs

 

Pakistan’s captain for ICC Cricket World Cup would be named on February 4, a day before the final match of the team’s ongoing ODI series in New Zealand, Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman (PCB) Ijaz Butt said on Monday.
Talking to Pakistani media in Napier on the eve of the fourth ODI between Pakistan and New Zealand, Butt refused to divulge any names, adding to the sense of uncertainty that has hovered over the Pakistan dressing room during their tour.
Former Pakistan cricketers and experts have slammed the decision to withhold the decision of naming the captain and have said that the move has created two factions in the team; one that supports Shahid Afridi and one that backs Misbah-ul-Haq.
How much of that is true is anyone’s guess but the PCB chief remains adamant that the name of the captain will be revealed on the said date.
“We will announce the captain on February 4, that is decided now,” he told PTI.
Butt also claimed that India were willing to play a short series against Pakistan in England sometime this year.
“We have made good progress in talks with the Indian board to resume bilateral cricket ties and they have indicated they are willing to resume ties,” he added.
But the PCB chief made it clear that any final decision on resumption of bilateral cricket ties with India would rest completely with decisions taken at the government level.

 

Misbah-ul-Haq's well paced innings and Sohail Tanvir's nerveless hitting took Pakistan to a tense win in Napier on Tuesday that puts them 2-1 up.
Summary Result:
Pakistan 264 for 8 (Misbah 93*, Styris 3-40) beat New Zealand 262 for 7 (Franklin 62, N McCullum 53*, Riaz 3-51) by two wickets.
The 5th ODI will be played on February 3 at Hamilton.