Cricket World Cup 2007

[stevie_gerrard]

Well, the World Cup is not that far away now, and the tournamnet has never been more open. With the recent slump in Australias form, Other cricketing teams are being lured into the trap of believing they could win it, and that includes England :p :

So who you got your money on, and who is gonna surprise us this time around?

There are a few warm up games, most notably tomorrow where England play Bermuda :p :

As for the tournament, im gonna be brave and say SA will win it, but i expect england to put up a decent fight to try and do well, and expect the likes of India, Australia and West Indies to challenge for the title.

As For Surprises, all i can say is come on Ireland and Scotland!! :D :p : Calling all Irish and Scottish Cricket Fans, Give us your views........ :laugh:

[stevie_gerrard]

Update for those following the Warm Up Games:

England 286-8 beat Bermuda 45 by 241 runs :D (Despite England being 132-5 at one point)

South Africa 192 ALL OUT vs Ireland 107-4 ( :eek: My word, what a start for the proteas) L

Sri Lanka 294-7 vs Scotland 95-6 (No surprise seeing Scotland doing badly :p : ) L

Still waiting for the final two results, but interesting to see the collapse by SA, a sign of things to come maybe?

[futuretiger9]

I'd go for South Africa too. They're reasonably strong in all departments, and have some top-class all-rounders. They bat a long way down, and are always a great fielding side.

Australia can never be discounted, despite their recent difficulties. West Indies should be a force on home territory, although they will rely heavily on Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo and Brian Lara.

England? Too many unknowns regarding the form and fitness of some players, but if they all hit form at the same time, you never know....

[millencolin]

Australia... remember last world cup all the crap we had to go through, yet we still came out and won the thing

never rule us out

but is i was a betting man... New Zealand for the win....

[stevie_gerrard]

2nd day of Warm Up Games, here are the scores:

Australia 290-7 beat Zimbabwe 184-7 by 106 runs, comfortable for the Aussies, Shane Watson hitting 81, and Clarke scoring 82

India 300-9 beat Netherlands 118 all out by 182 runs, easy for India but like the look of Ten Doeschate for holland, took 5-57

Pakistan 273-8 beat Canada 196 by 77 runs, not so easy for pakistan, but a wins a win :p :

and wait for it.................

Bangladesh 225-8 BEAT New Zealand 224 by two wickets, my word we've seen some resurgence from the minnows already, can they keep it up for the main thing to make this a thrilling tournament?? :)

[futuretiger9]

Some of the smaller nations may cause the odd shock, but the format of the competition should ensure that the big teams reach the latter stages.

[millencolin]

Bangladesh i will never underestimate anymore after they beat australian back in 2005. I remember that night, me and my mate were out clubbing, drinkin etc etc, it was getting late so we hailed a cab where a Bangladeshi man was driving. and he had the cricket on the radio.... and then they won he was so happy while myself and my mate were sitting there stunned...


point of that story, never underestimate the minnows... Canada did well also...

[harsha]

you just can't underestimate a test playing nation.....

[futuretiger9]

Canada, Scotland and even Ireland could have their day in the sun during this tournament. All are well coached, and have some experienced and solid players in their ranks.

[Jaws]

Canada, Scotland and even Ireland could have their day in the sun during this tournament. All are well coached, and have some experienced and solid players in their ranks.

I can tell you that Trent Johnston playing for Ireland is no slouch with the ball. Up until recently, he was playing Sydney Grade Cricket and is a very good bowler :blackeye: Ouch!@!

[stevie_gerrard]

Proved it again today too, here are day 3 of Warm up Games Round-up:

Ireland 116-3 BEAT Canada 115 by 7 wickets, a fantastic bowling performance yet again, thats gonna be the thing to get them far in this competition, they do look brilliant.

Bangladesh 156-3 Beat Scotland 152-9 by 7 wickets, same cant be said for Scotland :p :

Zimbabwe 137-4 Beat Bermuda 136 by 6 wickets, im still impressed by the podgy policeman Leverock, hes very good :D :p :

Kenya 274-8 vs Holland 169-3 (35 Overs) Looks like a victory for Kenya, getting some good batting practice in.

Big Game Tomorrow:

England vs Australia, oh for one more win over the aussies..... :p : ;)

[stevie_gerrard]

Day 4 Warm Up Games:

Australia 200-5 beat England 197, Good performance for the Aussies, after first wicket partnership there was no doubt of the result. England slowly improved bowling wise, but still have the same problems by giving away so many extras cheaply. Australias bowling good, Tait had a good game, could be good chocie for group games

India 86-1 beat West Indies 85, this was a real shock, despite the fact you expect India to win, but The Windies were so poor, may have some real problems come their first group game.

South Africa 199 vs Pakistan 122-2 (32 Overs) Really bouncy pitch there, saw some of the action, the ball was flying all over the place.

New Zealand 285-8 vs Sri Lanka (LUNCH), very good batting performance by the kiwis, getting over their blip on tuesday. This could make things very interesting when England play them next Friday.

World Cup just 4 days away!! :D

[futuretiger9]

England's batting still lacks come consistency, and they still have a tendency to collapse once a key wicket goes down. Vaughan is looking better with every game, and I'm still hopeful that the team will do itself justice.

[Mark in Oshawa]

England and OZ in the final, but then again, what do I know? I am a Canadian, we are just starting to understand cricket over here, and we had to import a lot of West Indians, Pakistanis and Indians to re-discover the sport.

I am just proud our guys are going down there and putting a multi-cultural mix of players on the pitch who are able to at least not get embarassed. They are in tough in their group, but I think if they can win a game, at least we can say we made very solid progress.

I like England over OZ for one reason. They have something to prove after losing the Ashes again...so I root for the underdog. That said, the Aussies rarely lose when the chips are down....

[millencolin]

Finally... we beat england... been a couple of games since we did that

HOnestly, i dont think South Africa will win... something is telling me that they will choke

[futuretiger9]

The tournament will be a long and gruelling one, and the teams which succeed will be those which have the stamina to last, and also those which peak at exactly the right time. South Africa may just have peaked too early. We shall see.

[stevie_gerrard]

yeh cause South Africa clearly knew that they were going to beat Ireland despite only making 192 :p :

To be honest, we need to see all the teams have their first game before we can make judgement. Jonothan Agnew made a very good point in his blog today on BBC Sport that the teams that start with the right momentum will progress the furthest.

Bring on the World Cup, First game up is a thriller as well:

West Indies v Pakistan :up:

[Camelopard]

England and OZ in the final, but then again, what do I know? I am a Canadian, we are just starting to understand cricket over here, and we had to import a lot of West Indians, Pakistanis and Indians to re-discover the sport.

You could add South Africans to that list and say it was England...... :D

By the way the Captain of Canada is an Australian who was born in Canada when his parents were working over there. John Davidson still holds the record for the fastest ton in one day World Cup cricket. I fully expect this to be beaten this year given the seemingly huge advancements in bats recently, maybe it's time to give the bowlers a fair go and to shorten the pitch to say 20 yards? Or make the bats lighter, or go to 2 piece balls rather than the 4 piece ones and get lots more swing, not hard to tell I was a better bowler than batsman........... batsmen get all the breaks!!!!!!!

[futuretiger9]

If West Indies can win the opening game against Pakistan they will have real momentum, and could be a force to be reckoned with in the tournament. They will have the advantages of passionate home support and familiarity with the conditions.

[harsha]

Windies Vs Pakistan is a very good Opening match,both the teams have had their share of problems,more the case with Pakistan..

i'll be rooting for the Windies who seem to have this ability to come back strongly after a defeat... :p :

[555-04Q2]

By the way the Captain of Canada is an Australian who was born in Canada when his parents were working over there.

Then he is a Canadian who happens to have Australian parents. Your citizenship is determined by Geography, not your blood line.

[stevie_gerrard]

So first game up, and its been a bit of a good game :up:

West Indies 241-9 vs Pakistan 86-3 (26 overs) It seems that the pitch is a difficult one to play, both innings have really struggled to get started, despite pakistan being 10-1 after the first over. A good innings by Samuels and Smith (32 off 15 balls :eek: ) But really enjoyable, it looks like we're in for a tight finish.

[futuretiger9]

Pakistan 129-6. It's looking good for the West Indies.

[Camelopard]

Then he is a Canadian who happens to have Australian parents. Your citizenship is determined by Geography, not your blood line.

Sorry I disagree, I'm sure where you are born would count to your getting citizenship of a particular country if you meet all the required criteria, however I doubt very much that I would automatically become a us citizen if I was born in the usa to Australian parents (for example).

Some info on Australian citizenship here:
http://www.citizenship.gov.au/becoming-a-citizen/other-ways/by-descent.htm

I was born overseas to an Australian parent. Am I an Australian citizen?

You are eligible to apply to become an Australian citizen by descent if you meet the following three requirements:
one of your natural parents was an Australian citizen at the time of your birth[/*:m:26piqi5k]
you are under 25 years of age OR were born between 26 January 1949 and 15 January 1974[/*:m:26piqi5k]
you are of good character if you are over 18[/*:m:26piqi5k]Please note: If your parent became an Australian citizen by descent, he or she must have been present in Australia for periods totalling two years at some time in their life for you to apply for Australian citizenship.

[akv89]

Sorry I disagree, I'm sure where you are born would count to your getting citizenship of a particular country if you meet all the required criteria, however I doubt very much that I would automatically become a us citizen if I was born in the usa to Australian parents (for example).

Some info on Australian citizenship here:
http://www.citizenship.gov.au/becoming-a-citizen/other-ways/by-descent.htm

I was born overseas to an Australian parent. Am I an Australian citizen?

You are eligible to apply to become an Australian citizen by descent if you meet the following three requirements:
one of your natural parents was an Australian citizen at the time of your birth[/*:m:aagdjldc]
you are under 25 years of age OR were born between 26 January 1949 and 15 January 1974[/*:m:aagdjldc]
you are of good character if you are over 18[/*:m:aagdjldc]Please note: If your parent became an Australian citizen by descent, he or she must have been present in Australia for periods totalling two years at some time in their life for you to apply for Australian citizenship.

Eligibility is different. I'm quite sure that the default citizenship of a person is the country of their birth. Some countries, like Australia it seems, allow those who were born outside the country to be eligible to APPLY for citizenship. But when you are born, you would be a citizen of the country of your birth.

[harsha]

Windies win by 49 runs :cheese:

[Viv]

Good job by the Windies :up:

[oily oaf]

Good job by the Windies :up:

It's an honour to have you in the forum Mr Richards

[555-04Q2]

Sorry I disagree, I'm sure where you are born would count to your getting citizenship of a particular country if you meet all the required criteria, however I doubt very much that I would automatically become a us citizen if I was born in the usa to

Trust me, where you are born is who you are, not who your parents happen to be. Again, Geography and not Family Heritage determines your citizenship. If not, then I'm an Irish Scotsman who happens to live in South Africa :s hock:

Now,back to the cricket mate...

[555-04Q2]

Well done to the West Indies :up:

Will have to up their game though if they want to win this World Cup.

[futuretiger9]

Australia have beaten Scotland comfortably. Kenya have defeated Canada. Kenya could be dangerous opponents in this tournament.

[Viv]

It's an honour to have you in the forum Mr Richards
Thank You..Thank You very much :)
:p :

[fly_ac]

Australia have beaten Scotland comfortably. Kenya have defeated Canada. Kenya could be dangerous opponents in this tournament.

Australia however did not impress. Kenia on the other hand did well against Canada.

[stevie_gerrard]

Australia did alrite for the first few overs, but got caught up in the middle of the innings, still, cant complain at another Ponting Century :up: and Hoggs 40 from 15 balls :up:

Kenya are good, but i dont see them getting through with NZ and England there. To be fair, it was only Canada :p :

Bermuda have already lost :p : to Sri Lanka, Ireland vs Zimbabwe interesting, Bray hit 115* in Irelands innings, a fantastic performance from him, as Ireland hit 221-9 from their 50 overs. After 15, Zimbabwe are 69-1, quite comfortable, but i wouldnt count the Irish out at the moment. :D

[futuretiger9]

Zimbabwe are currently 107-3. Ireland are very much in with a chance.

[akv89]

Ireland 221/9
Zimbabwe 221/10

It's been a while since I've followed cricket...so I'm a bit hazy with the rules. Would the match go to Ireland since they lost fewer wickets? or is it still a tie?

[Viv]

No it's still a tie.
Sad to see Zimbabwe in this state though. At this time in the last World Cup they were a good side. I'm not taking anything away from Ireland though...good game :up:

[555-04Q2]

Great game between Zimbabwe and Ireland :up: Zimbabwe threw it away though :(

[harsha]

i missed the game as i was travelling,sounds like a great game though

Bermuda were funny,one guy was huge!!!!!!!,more lard than arjuna ranatunga :p

sorry the guy's mom :p :

[futuretiger9]

Todays games:- South Africa v Netherlands and England v New Zealand.

As things stand at the moment, South Africa and New Zealand are favourites to win. South Africa's Herschelle Gibbs hit six sixes in one over!

[stevie_gerrard]

The man you speak of is Dwayne Leverock ;)

So South Africa absolutely flying, 353-3 from 40 overs :eek: Kallis hit 36 off an over, and won $1 million for charity :up: Never quite seen a game like it

England 209-7, considering they were 138-7, Nixon and Plunkett did a fine job, i knew Plunkett could bat but that was brilliant support for Nixon :up: NZ currently 131-4, despite being 19-3 at one point. Looks like the game is in the bag for NZ though...... :(

[akv89]

OMG, South Africa 353-3 in 40.0 overs. Imagine what kind of total they could have amassed if they played the entire 50 overs.

[fly_ac]

Kallis hit 36 off an over, and won $1 million for charity :up: Never quite seen a game like it

3 World Cup Records in this match. :D
Herchele Gibbs got the 36 (First person to hit 6 sixes in a over in the WC),
Mark Boucher fastest 50 in the WC,
South Africa , most sixes in a WC match.

[stevie_gerrard]

Well the first major shock of the tournament!!

no, im not talking about Bangladesh beating India, although that is pretty shocking, but it was irelands day and St Patrick was smiling on them as Ireland not only BEAT Pakistan but put them out of the World Cup!! :eek:

India 191 lost to Bangladesh 192-5 :eek:

Pakistan 132 lost to Ireland 133-7 :eek: :D

[BrentJackson]

So South Africa absolutely flying, 353-3 from 40 overs :eek:

353-3 from 40 overs? Holy ****. :eek: Man, if they can keep that up nobody's gonna be able to touch them.

[akv89]

The reactions to Pakistan's shock first-round elimination from the World Cup has, understandably, enraged passionate fans back home and drawn plenty of criticism. In a nation stunned by Pakistan's three-wicket defeat to Ireland in Jamaica, there have been angry protests, calls for arrest and even Nasim Ashraf, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief, hasn't been spared.

"We will ask for his [Ashraf's] resignation in the meeting which is due to take place before March 28," Senator Mohammad Enver Baig, a member of the senate standing committee on culture, sports, youth affairs and tourism told AFP. "You lost miserably to a country like Ireland. There is nothing to compensate and the chairman must resign and go back to the United States.

"The way the team has lost is the most disgraceful performance since the World Cup started. The entire nation is shocked."

Baig said Ashraf had no experience to head the PCB and that his "one-man show" management had resulted in the "shameful defeat." "He is a crony of [President] Pervez Musharraf and the way he [Musharraf] is running the country, the cricket board is also being run in same manner. It is a one-man rule everywhere."

In Multan, Inzamam-ul-Haq's home town, incensed youth held a protest rally, chanted slogans against Pakistan and demanded that police arrest the World Cup squad. The mob was heard chanting, "Death to Bob Woolmer , death to Inzamam, death to Nasim Ashraf - police should arrest them".

Sarfraz Nawaz, the former Pakistan fast bowler, said the shock was "unbearable". "I am speaking with deep pain and this shock is becoming unbearable for me," he said, demanding that those responsible be fired. "The captain, coach and the entire team should be held accountable. It seemed that the umpires also wanted that Pakistan should win, but the body language of the team reflected that they wanted to lose."

The defeat was Pakistan's second after the 54-run loss to West Indies in the tournament opener. Ireland are provisionally at the top of Group D, with three points - one more than West Indies and two ahead of Zimbabwe - leaving Pakistan at the bottom of the table with no points.

http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/wc2007/content/current/story/285874.html

Woolmer found unconscious in hotel room

Cricinfo staff

March 18, 2007

Bob Woolmer, the Pakistan coach, has been taken to University Hospital in Kingston, Jamaica, after being found unconscious in his hotel room earlier this morning.

Woolmer, 58, was discovered lying on the floor of his room, with vomit around him, at 10.45am and was taken by ambulance to hospital at 11.50am. Police also attended his room. "We have taken Bob Woolmer to the hospital and he is in the emergency ward," Pakistan team media manager Pervez Mir told AFP.

Pakistan team manager Talat Ali, their trainer Murray Stevenson and assistant manager Asad Mustafa went with Woolmer to the hospital where he was given medical attention. "We have contacted Bob Woolmer's wife in South Africa and have told her about the situation," added Mir.

Woolmer was last seen in public when he addressed the post-match media conference after his team's defeat to Ireland at Sabina Park.

At 14.30 local time, Woolmer was still unconscious.

http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/wc2007/content/current/story/285940.html

I don't know if this is true, but the link to the latter story said that Woolmer is now deceased.
I also don't know if the two stories are related but it really makes you wonder if Woolmer was going through any deppression with all the pressure on his back.

[Daniel]

It has been confirmed Woolmer has died :(

[GridGirl]

Very sad to hear that Bob has passed away.

As a Warwickshire fan I'll never forget the things he did for the club, especially the amazing season of 1994. Bob and the mighy Bears won their last trophy in 2002 but I always asumed he'd return once again and we'd be back to our winning ways.

[Montrose]

I've just read the sad news. I couldn't believe it.

Condolences to his family.
R.I.P. Bob.

Thanks for everything you did for SA Cricket and Cricket in general.

[stevie_gerrard]

Very Very Sad News :( a cricketing legend where the pressure was unbearable in the end. :( RIP Bob

I know they seem irrelevant considering whats happened, but here are the scores today:

England 279-6 beat Canada 228-7
Australia 358-5 beat Netherlands 129

Flintoff lost his place in the squad, his job as Vice-Captain, and any respect he had. He may be a brilliant cricketer, but his drinking habits do put a shadow over his game.

[BrentJackson]

Pakistanis want the team arrested after getting whupped, and then the coach turns up dead in a Jamaican hotel room. Anybody else smell anything fishy here?

Anyway, my team's out. Crap. Oh well, at least they went down fighting against the English. :) We'll be back next time, and hopefully better than this year.

[stevie_gerrard]

I have to say, the canadians did bat well towards the end of the innings, really showed they are a good batting side :up:

Todays games have just finished:

India 413-5 beat Bermuda 159: India posted the biggest One Day total in World Cup History, i know it was Bermuda, but a lot of players looked in good shape, which is important with such a vital game coming up against Sri Lanka. Bermuda were slightly better when batting, Hemp made a good 76 knock.

West Indies 204-4 beat Zimbabe 202-5: West Indies through to the super 8, Lara taking them there with a fine 44, alongside Bravos 36. the windies just look like potential contenders all of a sudden.

[Storm]

Yeah 413 made and plenty of records broken...I saw the slog overs and Yuvraj and Tendulkar really took the bowlers apart. But hey it was Bermuda :s

I don't think we can progress to the super 8s

As for Woolmer...that was shocking to say the least :o :(

[millencolin]

Pakistanis want the team arrested after getting whupped, and then the coach turns up dead in a Jamaican hotel room. Anybody else smell anything fishy here?

thats the first thing i thought of... its a tradegy to bob, and his family. but everyone knows the pakistani cricket fans are the most.... whats a more politically correct term for the word 'mental'?



Anyway, my team's out. Crap. Oh well, at least they went down fighting against the English. :) We'll be back next time, and hopefully better than this year.

Hey canada did well... they can come back in 4 years and 'do an ireland'

im just annoyed, st patricks day, i was in an irish pub, and all they were showing was old irish rugby games... ergh! now this would of got the pub PUMPIN!!!

[oily oaf]

Can I just express my disgust and outrage at the maritime hi jinks of England talisman and erstwhile fat bloke Freddie Flintoff.

If the impetuous young bounder had just taken a few minutes to check the Shipping Forecast he'd have quickly realised that conditions were totally unsuitable for a seaborne pedalo and retired instead to his hotel room for a relaxing evening gawping and leering at the porn channels.

[BDunnell]

If the impetuous young bounder had just taken a few minutes to check the Shipping Forecast he'd have quickly realised that conditions were totally unsuitable for a seaborne pedalo...

In the words of Jeremy Hardy:

"Those pedalos disgust me. I think they should be put on a register so we know where they are."

[555-04Q2]

RIP Bob. You were a scholar and a gentleman. You will be missed :(

[futuretiger9]

RIP Bob. You were a scholar and a gentleman. You will be missed :(


Indeed. A man whose love for cricket and life in general shone through.

[jim mcglinchey]

Foul play is now suspected in the death of Mr Woolmer. Is it connected to Pakistans defeat by Ireland ( who? )

[Daniel]

Yeah. Tbh when they didn't name a cause of death I thought it a bit strange...... usually you hear "it was most likely a heart attack" and so on. With this ..... nothing.

[harsha]

they are saying there's a strong murder angle in the news

[stevie_gerrard]

They are talking about suicide, we should find out in the next 24 hours what they think. It is really sad, and i hope its not prolonged much longer :(

todays scores:

Pakistan 349 beat Zimbabwe 99: A game bob would have been proud of, his team really performing, Nazir made 160, Inzy 36 and off to a standing ovation in his final ODI, Zimbabwe were never in it. Congrats to Ireland too, officially through due to that result :up:

Sri Lanka 318-4 beat Bangladesh 113: Sri Lanka looking in fine shape, India will have a big fight on their hands in the final group game.

[Daniel]

I heard on the radio that here were apparently marks on his neck. BUt of course nothing has been confirmed yet. Still smells of fish to me though....

[Montrose]

It now looks like he choked to death. If the story's true it's so sad that someone has to pay with their life.


Cricket coach Bob Woolmer was strangled to silence him after he discovered a betting scandal involving his Pakistani team at the World Cup, it has been claimed.

The astonishing allegation from former Pakistan Test bowler Sarfraz Nawaz follows news that police in the West Indies are treating the 58-year-old Briton's death as suspicious.

The Daily Mail can reveal that police believe the cause of death was choking. The focus of their investigation is now on what made Mr Woolmer choke and whether foul play, including strangulation, was involved.

Authoritative sources confirmed that a heart attack had been ruled out as the cause of death.

Mr Woolmer's widow, Gill, said officers told her they "think it possible there could be foul play".

Mark Shields, the deputy police commissioner of Jamaica and a former Met chief, said nothing was being ruled out.

Mr Woolmer died in his hotel room on the island on Sunday a few hours after his highly-fancied team had lost to World Cup minnows Ireland in one of the sport's biggest ever upsets.

Pakistan's players and management are reported to have been asked to account for their movements in the hours before the body was found.

One earlier theory was that Mr Woolmer, a former England allrounder and one of cricket's most respected coaches, was poisoned. Blood was found in the room and experts are seeking to establish whose it was.

A ten-man forensic team spent Wednesday in Mr Woolmer's 12th floor room at Kingston's Pegasus Hotel where the Pakistan team is based.

Tests were also being carried out to discover whether anyone other than Mr Woolmer had handled three drinks glasses found in the room.

Sarfraz, who has frequently spoken out against match fixing, said: "I feel that he was bumped off. It was the betting mafia."

He claimed bookmakers were manipulating results and that five members of the Pakistan World Cup party were involved. "Bob must have seen how the Pakistan team went about its business," he said. "You could sense it from their body language that something was amiss. I believe Bob was writing a book and he would have come out with sensational disclosures."

Asked if she had any reason to believe someone might have wished to harm her husband, Mrs Woolmer said: "No, no reason at all."

At the family home in Cape Town, she said the loss to Ireland had depressed her husband but would not have made him kill himself.

Pakistan had been 20-1 on to win their St Patrick's Day clash with Ireland 8-1 outsiders. Defeat saw them exit the tournament.

There is said to have been no sign of unusually high betting on the Irish, although much of the gambling on cricket that has been linked in the past to match fixing is conducted in the underworld in the Far East and India. Cricket has been tainted by matchfixing scandals with leading players taking bribes from bookies to 'throw' games.

Mr Woolmer, who had two grown-up sons, was coach to South Africa when their captain Hansie Cronje admitted accepting four bribes in 2000. The previous year, three Pakistani players were banned over allegations they were involved in helping to fix matches.

It has also emerged that Mr Woolmer's South African side was offered £125,000 to throw a match in India in 1996.

Former Met commissioner Lord Condon, who led an investigation into match-fixing, concluded corruption is endemic throughout cricket. His report also referred to allegations of murder and kidnapping involving bookmakers.

Mr Woolmer, who sometimes slept with a mask to help with breathing problems, had been working on two books, including one that was expected to shed new light on match-fixing allegations.

Reports in Pakistan claimed five bookmakers flew to the West Indies prior to the World Cup in an attempt to fix games in Pakistan's group. They were supposedly targeting the Irish game and the earlier match against the host side, which Pakistan also lost.

Sarfraz's call for an investigation into an alleged betting scandal was backed by former Pakistan captain Abdul Qadir.

Mr Shields said: "It is the old adage that we have to keep an open mind and that is exactly what we are doing."

Mr Woolmer had recently been told he was diabetic and one theory is that he had suffered a massive heart attack or stroke after taking pills and drinking alcohol.

The blood and scratches on his neck, eye and cheek would have been caused when he collapsed, it was suggested. A post-mortem examination was inconclusive.

[Daniel]

Montrose :) I wouldn't trust what the Daily Mail writes :mark:

[Montrose]

Montrose :) I wouldn't trust what the Daily Mail writes :mark:

It's ok, sometimes I don't trust what I write either.

[Daniel]

It's ok, sometimes I don't trust what I write either.
On the BBC they are now reporting that he had some broken neck and facial bones :mark:

[stevie_gerrard]

Todays Scores:

Scotland 136 lost to Netherlands 140-2: You have to feel sorry for Scotland a little :p :

New Zealand 363-5 beat Canada 249-9: There was a brief moment when Canada were in to win this :up: i was very impressed by them yet again, but NZ got the job done.

[kkwf]

From Sydney Morning Herald

http://www.smh.com.au/news/cricket/woolmer-was-murdered-police/2007/03/23/1174597837143.html

Woolmer was murdered: police
March 23, 2007 - 12:05PM


Bob Woolmer ... strangled.
Pakistan's cricket coach Bob Woolmer was murdered in his hotel room after the team's shock World Cup loss to Ireland, Jamaican police said today.

"The official report from the pathologist states that Mr Woolmer's death was due to asphyxia as a result of manual strangulation,'' Police Commissioner Lucius Thomas said in a statement read out by a police spokesman at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, where Woolmer died on Sunday.

"In these circumstances, the matter of Mr Woolmer's death is now being treated by the Jamaican police as murder.''

Pakistan's World Cup players gave statements to Jamaican police and were fingerprinted before leaving for the resort of Montego Bay where they were to stay for two days before returning home.

Assistant Police Commissioner Les Green, formerly of Scotland Yard, confirmed that members of the Pakistan cricket team were fingerprinted. Green is assisting with the inquiry.

"It's standard to take fingerprints to eliminate persons from fingerprints which would be found in the room,'' Green told AP.

"After a thorough investigation, fingerprints not belonging to Mr Woolmer were found in the room.''

Team members were furious that they were being cast in some sections of the media as prime suspects in the investigation.

"The impression is being given that the Pakistan team are suspects. This is not true,'' team manager Talat Ali told AFP.

"We are being interviewed first because we are leaving for Montego Bay later this afternoon, but other people will also be interviewed by police.''

Team spokesman Pervez Mir had earlier dismissed suggestions the death was linked to match-fixing as "totally baseless and premature''.

Former London Metropolitan Police commissioner Paul Condon, who has been involved with helping the ICC fight corruption within the sport, is standing by and willing to assist with the inquiry.

International Cricket Council chief executive Malcolm Speed said: "We face shock and outrage and great sadness for Bob's family. There has been speculation that as a result of all this, the World Cup will be discontinued.

"That will not be the case. Perhaps it will be a measure of the game and its resolve as to how we can complete this World Cup in view of this shock.''

Police added that security at the hotel was being reviewed as part of the investigation.

"There is an ongoing murder investigation into the death of Robert Woolmer and as a result the security arrangements at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel are a part of those investigations,'' Owen Ellington, assistant commissioner of police, said in a statement.

Police were calling for witnesses.

Jamaica's deputy police commissioner Mark Shields said he had not ruled out the possibility more than one person had been involved in Woolmer's murder.

"It would take some force, because Bob was a large man,'' he said.

"It would have taken some significant force to subdue him, but of course at this stage we do not know how many people were in the room at the time.

"It could be one or more people involved in this murder.''

Shields confirmed Woolmer had shown no signs of life when he was found in his hotel room and said there had been no signs of a struggle.

"In these particular circumstances we had to make sure because there were no visible external signs (of his murder),'' he said.

"Not until the report was concluded were we able to draw conclusions.''

He said police were ruling nothing out and had "lots of lines of inquiry''.

Agencies

[oily oaf]

Now look here I don't wish to be branded a knowitall rumour monger but the whisper is that word got back to Freddie Flintoff that Bob Woolmer was seen drilling holes in the pedalos on Sunday afternoon "for a bit of a laugh".

(winks knowingly and taps side of nose)

[Storm]

Yeah just saw this morning on ESPN's world cup show....sad.

[Ian McC]

This really is shocking, it casts a big shadow over the World Cup :(

[Daniel]

Now look here I don't wish to be branded a knowitall rumour monger but the whisper is that word got back to Freddie Flintoff that Bob Woolmer was seen drilling holes in the pedalos on Sunday afternoon "for a bit of a laugh".

(winks knowingly and taps side of nose)
I have to be honest Oily and say that's not particularly funny considering a man has been murdered :mark:

[oily oaf]

I have to be honest Oily and say that's not particularly funny considering a man has been murdered :mark:

Apologies Dan
Not one of my classier efforts and no mistake.
TBH I still cant get my head round this whole business. When it was initially mooted that Woolmer may have been a victim of foul play I laughed it off as the fanciful musings of a few conspiracy theory nutjobs but now that it's been officially confirmed as murder I must confess I'm nothing short of gobsmacked.
I watched Imran Khan on TV last night and he was equally dismissive of the murder theory.
Let's hope the Jamaican Old Bill bring the perpetrators to justice as soon as possible.

[555-04Q2]

This is really worrying. Wherever the Pakistan Team goes trouble and controversy never seem to be far away :(

[Storm]

under that shadow the Cup goes on though and tonight is a crunch game for our team.....vs SL , must win match.

[555-04Q2]

under that shadow the Cup goes on though and tonight is a crunch game for our team.....vs SL , must win match.

Its gonna be a cracker of a game I hope :)

[stevie_gerrard]

India on the verge of defeat, such a shame but Sri Lanka have done well today.

Ireland look like they are gonna get beat by the Windies, but at least they do have the Super 8 to look forward to.

[viper_man]

Ive been saying all week Woolmer was murdered, the old man didnt believe me. Apparently he was killed by a betting syndicate, people he knew who he let into his room. Apparently he was going to expose them. Big stuff.

Ireland have done really well though, really made up for them. It was a fantastic St Patricks weekend in my house I can tell you.

England are putting out the usual displays. On and off the field.

[Bebee]

It's so sad to see a bloke like Woolmer go like that. :(

I was also sad to see India perform that poorly! :( The batsmen need a good kick in the butt because quite a few of the bowlers have been doing well recently.

Anyway, the match of the tournament's on tonight! :D

[oily oaf]

Yes it looks like India are already on the plane unless Bermuda can lose Bangladesh in their triangle.
I had a feeling the writing was on the wall when Tendulkar was bowled off an inside edge.
Personally I'm dissappointed as I was looking forward to seeing "The Little Master" (sorry Sunil) take on the big boys in the Super Eights.
I hope the Indian cricketing public don't start getting on his case again as he is truly one of the all time greats and along with the mighty Sir Vivian "Master Blaster" Richards he is without doubt the greatest test batsman I have ever seen.

[harsha]

:( :( :( :(

[Daniel]

Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mushtaq Ahmed have been taken in for further questioning :mark:

[stevie_gerrard]

I wouldnt read too much into that, i honestly dont think for one second they could be involved in something so horrible, its probably routine.

Todays Results:

England 178-3 beat Kenya 177: Bowling looks in fine form :up: its the batting ive been worried about, a professional performance today, but they didnt score the runs quick enough for me, they have a big challenge on their hands for the super 8's, have to beat pretty much everyone i would have thought to get through to the semis, cant see them beating Oz or the Proteas at the moment :(

talking of them, Australia 377-6 beat South Africa 294, a thrilling game, World Cup fastest hundred from Hayden, 3rd highest total from the aussies, and yet still SA could have won it only if Smith hadnt unfortunately got cramp at the wrong time :p : a real classic :up:

I have to say, i know that the Bob Woolmer situation has really clouded this World Cup, but i dont think you can doubt just how good the cricket side of it has been, top notch stuff from all sides, really has shown the better side of the game, even if that cant be appreciated at this time :up:

[futuretiger9]

England really need to move up a couple of gears if they are to compete with Australia, South Africa, West Indies and even New Zealand.

[harsha]

well all the best to sri lanka,south africa,windies,england,newzealand and ireland and bangladesh....

kick some aussie butt :cheese:

[futuretiger9]

The only teams who could offer a challenge to Australia are South Africa (at their best), and the West Indies with a bit of hometown inspiration.

[stevie_gerrard]

i wouldnt completely rule sri lanka out of it, they are a good side in the end, and i expect them to make a serious challenge :up:

[Storm]

I hope the Indian cricketing public don't start getting on his case again as he is truly one of the all time greats and along with the mighty Sir Vivian "Master Blaster" Richards he is without doubt the greatest test batsman I have ever seen.

Looks he will be the new skipper now :\
Not that I liked Dravid as captain but going back to Sachin when all he has done is fail as a captain and fail in critical matches isn't exactly a step ahead.
But we will see what happens as India has some tough cricket in the next year away test tours to England (did I say tough? forget it :p : ) and Australia!

As for the exit from the Cup, it didn't come as a shock since we had already lost to Bangladesh...in a way I am happy though as its egg on face to the bloody TV media who hype up everything that our team does.

I can enjoy a few matches (hoping that Aus manage to lose ..) and did watch a bit of SA match when I thought they would pull it off again.

[Bebee]

:s hock:

Kya? Sachin totally sucked as a captain! I remember the whole team being egged when they got back from Australia!!

[futuretiger9]

i wouldnt completely rule sri lanka out of it, they are a good side in the end, and i expect them to make a serious challenge :up:


True. Sri Lanka's bowling attack, and their batsmen, are both ideally suited to the conditions in the Caribbean.

[harsha]

Sri Lanka has a good bowling attack with quality pacers and spinners,i don't think any other team has such variety that the lankans have

[stevie_gerrard]

First Super 8 Game.... and first game ended because of rain :p :

Australia made a wonderful 322-6, hayden with a classy knock of 153 :up: he is possibly the best player currently in one dayers, along with Pietersen (the new number 1 batsmen :D ) and Hussey (even though he lost his wicket again for a cheap score of only 5 :eek: )

West Indies have tomorrow to chase 323 to win, and if they dont get through 20 overs tomorrow, the game will be called as a non result and there will be 1 point awarded to each side.

[Valve Bounce]

:s hock:

Kya? Sachin totally sucked as a captain! I remember the whole team being egged when they got back from Australia!!

At least their coach didn't get garrotted. Thank God!!

[Camelopard]

Anyone one else notice the total lack of spectators at most the games so far? Highlights of the Australia v WI games showed that there were barely enough spactators to retrieve the ball after it was hit for 6 and that was on either of the 2 days.
A 7 (?) week tournament is way too long and now with 2 of the major sub continent teams gone, I can't help but wonder if the interest will still be there in India and Pakistan. How many more weeks of this?

[akv89]

Malinga :eek: four wickets in four balls, when they looked almost beaten. Too bad for Sri lanka that they lost in the end though and congratulations to South Africa for keeping it together in the last wicket. Best match yet.

[stevie_gerrard]

Was a thrilling game to watch, i happened to switch off after SA reached 69-1, but after watching the highlights tonight, i wish id kept it on, was thrilling stuff :up: For Malingas and Muralitharans Efforts, they deserved to win that game.

The lack of spectators is a total shambles :mad: when will the ICC learn that they just are charging too much for tickets?? :down:

[Camelopard]

Found a link giving some reasons as to why spectators are staying away:

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21464337-15084,00.html

Quote in part: "But local fans have become incensed at the rules of the tournament which do not allow food, drink or muscial instruments to be brought into the ground."

and ticket prices are $us25 to $us90...............

[harsha]

a WC getting such a low attendance is disappointing

[Bebee]

Anyone one else notice the total lack of spectators at most the games so far? Highlights of the Australia v WI games showed that there were barely enough spactators to retrieve the ball after it was hit for 6 and that was on either of the 2 days.
A 7 (?) week tournament is way too long and now with 2 of the major sub continent teams gone, I can't help but wonder if the interest will still be there in India and Pakistan. How many more weeks of this?

The commentators mentioned that the Aus v WI game was sold out... although it totally did not look that way!

With cricket in India, as far as I know.. they usually get coverage for every single international match played! The interest would have diminished but it would not be totally lost. Actually, they'd probably still have the highest number of viewers, anyway.

[555-04Q2]

Well after Sri Lankas poor effort yesterday and our best efforts to throw away what should have been an easy win, it looks like Australia are going to win a fourth World Cup. No one is close to them at the moment :(

[AndyRAC]

Found a link giving some reasons as to why spectators are staying away:

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21464337-15084,00.html

Quote in part: "But local fans have become incensed at the rules of the tournament which do not allow food, drink or muscial instruments to be brought into the ground."

and ticket prices are $us25 to $us90...............

Can you imagine that happening in Football or Rugby World Cups, i;e empty grounds. What kind of image does it give to the outside world, a World Cup with no one watching. What planet do the ICC live on, just money grabbers.
The World Cup should be a festival of cricket; packed grounds, music, noise great atmosphere; none of this is happening. The ICC have put too many restrictions in place, another example is Australia's shirt; made by adidas but not allowed to show the 3 stripes, how unbelievable are the ICC. Probably one of the worst governong bodies in world sport.

[Montrose]

Well after Sri Lankas poor effort yesterday and our best efforts to throw away what should have been an easy win, it looks like Australia are going to win a fourth World Cup. No one is close to them at the moment :(

I'm more optimistic than that. I think we played really well yesterday to restrict Sri Lanka to 210 and our run chase was always under control.

It was just extraordinary bowling by Malinga that undid the new guys coming in. Fortunately for us we were able to hang in and keep our World Cup alive.

I don't think it would have been any different if it was Australia facing those 4 deliveries.

[Camelopard]

Can you imagine that happening in Football or Rugby World Cups, i;e empty grounds. What kind of image does it give to the outside world, a World Cup with no one watching. What planet do the ICC live on, just money grabbers.
The World Cup should be a festival of cricket; packed grounds, music, noise great atmosphere; none of this is happening. The ICC have put too many restrictions in place, another example is Australia's shirt; made by adidas but not allowed to show the 3 stripes, how unbelievable are the ICC. Probably one of the worst governing bodies in world sport.

I guess that we can only hope that the crowds will improve towards the end of the series. I can't help that feel that the administrators of cricket at the moment are as out of touch with the game as were rugby union administrators were when union was a supposidly amateur game.

Maybe its a bit like the beginning of world series cricket in the late seventies when crowds were very thin on the ground at the games, however Kerry Packer did not care as long as the television ratings were good (which they were), anyone else remember the empty stands at the Waverly AFL ground in Melbourne?

[stevie_gerrard]

Well after Sri Lankas poor effort yesterday and our best efforts to throw away what should have been an easy win, it looks like Australia are going to win a fourth World Cup. No one is close to them at the moment :(

Dont be so down my friend, theres always Englands chances to win the World Cup!

:p :

[555-04Q2]

Dont be so down my friend, theres always Englands chances to win the World Cup!

:p :

:laugh: Maybe next time for you guys ;)

[stevie_gerrard]

Just keeping the topic up to date :p :

Australia beat Bangladesh by 10 wickets (D/L) Pretty easy for the Aussies in the end.

Sri Lanka have made 303-5 against the Windies, i have a horrible feeling its all over for them now with the score currently 57-3 :( That wont help the crowds at all.

[stevie_gerrard]

New Zealand Beat Bangladesh by 9 Wickets, a good 100 for Fleming, which will do his confidence the world of good :up: possibly a good bet to win the world cup, they are the on form side.

Ireland vs South Africa today, the warm up game was a classic between these two, hope this important game can match those standards we saw earlier in the warm up game :up:

[Storm]

dull stuff.. Super 8 format is boring!
As Ian Chapell was saying last night on tv, it should have been 10 teams and in a round robin with top 4 going to the semis (like the 91/2 cup in Oz)
I am probably only going to watch the semis (or maybe not) only if its NZ vs Aus as I think only they can beat them and stop this 2002/4 Ferrari-esque cup.

[stevie_gerrard]

i tend to agree, there havent been any big match ups really so far, so its going to drag on for a bit longer.

Ireland lost to South Africa by 7 wickets (D/L): This game was probably better than the few we've had recently, i thought Ireland were a bit unlucky not to have made this game a closer result.

England vs Sri Lanka today, maybe we will finally see some entertainment from the english (or maybe not) :p :

[harsha]

After the interview in which Sachin Tendulkar accused Greg Chappell of demoralising players,pitting players against each other,Chappell has submitted his resignation as the coach of the Indian Cricket Team,

i don't know whether Greg's record with other teams he has coached was good or not or is it just a case of Great Players don't make Great Coaches...We have seen that with a lot of player turned coaches...

Dav Whatmore has expressed his desire to coach the Indian Team recently

[555-04Q2]

Dav Whatmore has expressed his desire to coach the Indian Team recently

So would I. Its the top job in world cricket coaching.

[harsha]

it's a thankless job to coach a bunch of mediocre,overhyped players :cheese:

[555-04Q2]

Any coaching job is. Its a calling, coaching is ;)

BTW, great game last night between Sri Lanka and England.

[stevie_gerrard]

Was very tight, and brilliant stuff to watch :up: It is a real shame that England lost out in the end, but Sri Lanka probably just edged the game thanks to their bowling, they have a brilliant line-up that is gonna cause some damage to the aussies, cant wait for that game.

Bring on the aussies i say, one game to define englands hopes of getting into the semis. I still think we will have to beat the proteas as well, but the australia game is the main focus on sunday :up:

[Camelopard]

A good win by Bangladesh, the average of this side is just 23, so it will be interesting to see how they develop in the next few years. I can't see any reason why they can't be as good as the other sub continent countries in the future if they are given the right support from the ICC.

Was that story about a new one day series in India an April Fools Day joke?

[millencolin]

australia has set the tide back to normal... beating england after the pom's beat us back home this summer. we did it quite comfortably in the end

i still think NZ are going to win, but its hard to discourage the mighty Australians!

[Storm]

I don't know why I wasted my time watching that game....I thought England did really well to get from 25/2 to 160/2 in 30 overs but then later on they made a mess of it, scoring < 100 runs in 20 overs :\

Sending Vaughn, Bell and Strauss as your top 3 ? Some serious tactical blundering there....tell me any other international side which has 3 proper batsmen (not so free scoring) in their top order. Good that they got after McGrath and did not let him go coz of his so called reputation.
Pietersen and Bell did well but did he forget to score in the end overs?

Luckily I saw only 3 overs of the Aussie run fest, coz I had an inkling it would be boring so I went and slept :)

Dull world cup indeed...unless the Kiwis do something about it !

[Bebee]

Woo hoo... We're #1! :D (Actually, I'd be much happier if India were... but that's a long, long way away from becoming a reality).

I could not believe SA lost to Bangladesh. I must admit I was pleased at giving my cousins crap for it though. :p :

I hope it'd be a Aus v NZ final.... :D

[stevie_gerrard]

congrats to the aussies for their victory, i didnt see the game, was it as one-sided as people are suggesting? the game seemed pretty tight in the score.

Cannot belive SA lost, if Nz lose as well today, then england may well still get through :)

maybe not :p :

[Storm]

Stevie,
Australia 248-3 (47.2 overs) v England 247 (49.5 overs) win by 7 wickets

What part of that is tight ? :laugh:

NZ did win against Ireland so England will have to rely on themselves for a change to go through :p :

SA v Windies, SA are falling apart after I thought before the cup started that they would easily reach the finals! Windies well high time they entertained.

btw on a side note...Ravi Shastri has taken over as interim 'manager' for the tour of Bangladesh..looks like some senior players will be "rested" as well.
Shastri comes across as a very intelligent bloke and someone who gets respect from people for his commentary as well. Not that I will be watching a tour of Bangladesh (even though they beat us and the chokers...err SA :p : )

Tour of England coming up later in the summer and a bigger tour of Australia in December of this year.
Venkatesh Prasad is the bowling coach and Robing Singh, the fielding coach

[futuretiger9]

The West Indies are making a brave effort at chasing South Africa's huge total, but it looks like they will fall short. It seems that the semi-finalists will be Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and South Africa.

[stevie_gerrard]

Hey, dont rule England out people :p :

Storm, to be fair, it took them 47.2 overs to get to that total. Australia are a very good one-day side after all. :p :

Bangladesh have been bowled out for 143 after beating SA the other day, so if we can beat Bangladesh, then we can beat SA. :D :p :

[Camelopard]

Well England made hard work of that, I believe that this was the first game on this new wicket, a lot more bounce and movement than the other games, good for the seamers, could be very interesting in the later games. Is this where the finals will be played?

[stevie_gerrard]

Indeed the final will be played at Barbados, has a few important games to come first though.

New Zealand 219-7 Styris with 111 has saved NZ, they were really on the back foot for a big part of the innings, it will be good to see what sri lanka can do now.

[stevie_gerrard]

wins for Sri Lanka and Australia, today is the big game, New Zealand vs South Africa, i really hope NZ can win, to give England a chance of making it to the semis. :)

[AndyRAC]

Hell, as much as I like cricket, this tournament is dragging on. Just give Australia the Cup and be done with it. The ICC really need to have a rethink about the format and the length of time of the tournament. Why not 4 groups of 4, top 2 go through to 1/4 finals, then semis and final. Was rally looking forward to it but it's never really got going, and to be blunt, you'd never know it was taking place, another mistake by the ICC. World Cups of the 3 major team sports shouldn't be away on satellite tv, the football and Rugby aren't. The ICC couldn't run a p155 up in a brewery!!!

[stevie_gerrard]

New Zealand beat South Africa comfortably in the end, and a brilliant win for Ireland against Bangladesh.

It is dragging on yes, but have faith people, i dont think australia are gonna win it, ive already put money on sri lanka.

[Jaws]

Well Stevie, with Murilli in the side, I'd have a few bob on Sri Lanka. The man is a genius and as long as he is out there, anything can happen

[millencolin]

come on Aussies... Haydos for a ton!

[stevie_gerrard]

comfortable for the aussies in the end, winning by 7 wickets, no surprise against a team, without malinga, murali and vaas. Very surprised that Sri Lanka rested them, and it ruined the chance of a great game here today.

If i ever wanted england to win only one more game in a major competition, it is now, we need a kick up the backside, and to beat South Africa would be a great acheivement for us. It would also be nice to see England in the Semi Finals of a World Cup for once :p :

[Jaws]

It should be a good game, my only problem with England at the moment is that they are a little over-reliant on Pietersen, they need their other batsman to step up.

Anyway, should be an exciting game.

[millencolin]

i still dont understand why Sri Lanka didnt play Vaas and Murli... i can understand resting them against... Ireland... but here's a chance to really see where your team is at compared to the worlds best! Perfect warm up game for the Semi's.... baffles me...

[Jaws]

I would say that Sri Lanka have observed that Australia have been playing pretty well and decided to keep a few Aces up their sleeve for the finals.

I have to say, I agree with the tactic. There is nothing more a batsman likes than "having a look" at a bowler. Not knowiing how Murili and Vaas are going to play on the West Indian wickets is an advantage for Sri Lanka.

[stevie_gerrard]

Well one shall still be following the Cricket World Cup, but only as an onlooker after the shambles we call a match between England vs South Africa.

This takes me back to the days when Steve Harmison had bowled his first ball of the current ashes to second slip :p : And england struggled to cope in the heat of the australian outback, both in test form and One Day form only to provide some restbite by winning the CB Series.

But lets be honest, i was just too optimistic of this England side actually doing well :p : the fact they won the CB series doesnt cover up the fact that they still have a lot of problems in their one day side, and that was reflected today in a horrible piece of batting by the english.

The problems then: too reliant on pietersen, you got that right, out for 3 today, pretty much told us that this game was gonna be a bad one for the english. No decent opening batsmen at the top of the order: correct again, bell and vaughan struggled to get started, both out frustratingly, yet it was good to see strauss hit some form with top score of 46 today, yes just 46 was the top score for an england batsmen. We really missed a guy like tresco to drag us out the mire of these situations. With joyce not firing either, it was hard to put together the top 3 batsmen, just simply cause it wasnt guarenteed any of them would make past 10 runs. Next, the middle order collapses, we had a lot of them this world cup, and it was proven again today, 5 wickets went for a 10 run period, 4 wickets to andrew hall in 9 balls of his spell, and yet again the likes of flintoff not performing with the bat. Low order problems: i'd say we've got a pretty good side really to make the runs down to 8th man, but it just wasnt happening today, ravi bopara battled away for a fine 27 not out, but nobody could stay with him. Bopara has probably been the find of this World Cup, alongside Nixon, who did extraordinarily well for a 36 year old, yet he's another all rounder, when we have plenty of them in abundance. Where is liam plunkett when you need him, i picked him out at the start of the tournament saying he was a key bowler, and he could bat quite well as well. He proved that in early games, only to be replaced by Saj Mahmood, who hardly did anything with the bat, and was very erratic with the ball.

Which comes to the bowling, where there was a real problem, Flintoff was the best bowler, but was taking all his wickets at the death of an innings, though he got AB out today even though the game was already over. Mahmood has proven to be too expensive for me, even though hes taken his wickets, but thats not good enough when you are giving away enough extras to be a teams 4th or 5th highest contribution to an innings. At least plunkett did bowl line and length, he may not have been a very exciting bowler, but he did get the ball to move, and took wickets fairly reguarly. Monty has been a fine spinner of the ball, and it was unusual to see him perform so badly today with it, getting hit over the park with it. James Anderson has done a good job, but again has a similar problem to Mahmood, but i have to say id rather have Plunkett or Anderson in my team than Mahmood. I feel we may have missed the likes of Jon Lewis to come in and bowl as well, whereas Collingwoods quiet progress as an all rounder has been effective in some games.

Is this a problem with the way the team is coached, or are all these players simply off form? god knows, but something needs to change ahead of the 2020 world cup, where we are bound to get battered all over the pitch at this rate. Today, we were bowled out for 154 despite the brief efforts of Colly, Straussy and Ravi at the end, and it took SA less than 20 overs to reach their target of 155 (though i bet Smith is a little bit disappointed, he was on for the quickest ever hundred in world cup history, having hit 89 off 52 balls :p : )

Overall, this world cup has been a disaster for England, and has just proven just how far behind they are from the top 4 of Sri Lanka, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, and to be honest, South Africa have really struggled this World Cup despite the rankings before the tournament started. I hadnt expected too much off England really, cause the One Day performance of this side has always been in question, but i feel there are a lot of questions to be answered. to list but a few:

Was Micheal Vaughan really the best to Captain this side and open the batting, having averaged just 17 for this world cup?

Should the likes of Strauss and Bopara been selected earlier to help build confidence to perform better at this stage in a world cup?

Should Liam Plunkett have been given his chance to prove just how good a bowler and batter he is, after credible performances in the CB Series, and a good start to the World Cup?

Is Duncan Fletcher really the man to turn this England team into Champions?

I only have my opinions, but i feel something has to change in order for this England side to be more competitive in future world cups

Ok my rant is over now, you can all enjoy ur day again :p :

[Storm]

Vaughn is not good enough to be in the one-day team let alone as skipper.
Neither is Fletcher..both of them just exude a negative vibe (like Dravid :p : )

Is anybody still watching the cup then? Give it to Australia already.

Most teams lack the b*lls to really get at the Aussies rather than them being really that good in the talent stakes.

Hopefully NewZealand can do something about that...c'mon Shane Bond!

When are the semis then?
Champions League semi-finals next week...go Liverpool :p :

[stevie_gerrard]

i think the semi finals of the cricket world cup also happen to be next tuesday and wednesday as well :p : I still think that Sri Lanka will do the business if they get the opportunity in the final against Australia.

Sri Lanka comfortable 8 wicket victory over Ireland, Ireland have been a pleasure to watch in this World Cup, and ive made sure ive seen all their games, i really hope they can develop their team in the next few years, to become a good enough one day side to overtake England :p :

[stevie_gerrard]

West Indies on the verge of victory finally in the super 8's when its worthless :p : a victory nontheless ready for them against Bangladesh, after a slow start, West Indies really got into the game, and batted well with Sarwan and Lara. Bangladesh havent really been in it apart from early on when West Indies were 8 for 2.

[stevie_gerrard]

Ok, Maybe Australia are gonna win this world cup after all :p : Absolutely brilliant batting and bowling, no-one can stop them on this form, not even Sri Lanka.

[stevie_gerrard]

Well what a finish for Englands campaign, shame they couldnt do it when they mattered. :p :

[Hawkmoon]

Anybody want to bet against Australia after the New Zealand game? :)

[555-04Q2]

Anybody want to bet against Australia after the New Zealand game? :)

Yup. I have. +/- US$ 300 that SA beats OZ to go through to the finals.

[Storm]

I hope that happens 555, but I doubt it after how they have steam-rolled everybody till now....I will be keeping an eye on the cricket tonight but will switch when champions league football comes on :p :

[Camelopard]

Anyone watching the cricket? South Africa 5 for 35 off 10 overs!!! and Gibbs was given not out when he snicked Tait through to the keeper, it should have been 6 for 30 odd.... Hard to believe McGrath is in his late thirties!!!

[ozrevhead]

I am :D

Looks like McGrath is going out with a bang - GO U GOOD THING!

[555-04Q2]

South Africa - what a bunch of gutless, idiotic, useless w@nkers we have in our team :( 300 Bucks down the drain :down:

[stevie_gerrard]

i wouldnt say that about all the team, that andre nel is an alrite player :p :

it was quite a shocking performance to be fair, possibly one of the worst semi finals in the world cup history, even england could have done better than that :p :

[Jaws]

South Africa - what a bunch of gutless, idiotic, useless w@nkers we have in our team :( 300 Bucks down the drain :down:

Commiserations 555. I thought they'd put up a good fight, they are a pretty good side really, but lost a couple of early ones and couldn't recover. It happens sometimes, it's just bad luck for you it happened in the semis.

[millencolin]

one word... chokers!

[Jaws]

one word... chokers!

Nah, a bit harsh mate. Choking is when die in the arse after leading or you are the favourite for the match, they were just outplayed after a bad start.

[Storm]

South Africa - what a bunch of gutless, idiotic, useless w@nkers we have in our team :( :down:


I agree :(
Not that our "team" is any different or for that matter any other team thesedays

I did not watch it...lucky for me...what a waste of a world cup..completely predictable and utterly boring.

[555-04Q2]

one word... chokers!

Yup. We deserve that title after so many chances with good sides we have taken to the World Cups. OZ are world beaters for a reason, they dont choke when the pressure is on. Well done to them and shame on our boys for once again proving to be inept, overpaid and overrated mommys boys.

[millencolin]

Yup. We deserve that title after so many chances with good sides we have taken to the World Cups. OZ are world beaters for a reason, they dont choke when the pressure is on. Well done to them and shame on our boys for once again proving to be inept, overpaid and overrated mommys boys.

go to the airport when the team returns and kick them all in the arse! they robbed me of a good game... they gave you false hope... their crapness made this world cup boring

bring on Sri Lanka

[millencolin]

I did not watch it...lucky for me...what a waste of a world cup..completely predictable and utterly boring.


i wouldnt label Pakistan being beaten by Ireland as predictable.... :p :

remember that game? thats how long this bloody world cup has been. they need to make it shorter

[555-04Q2]

go to the airport when the team returns and kick them all in the arse!

I would love to, but I dont pick on losers ;) :laugh:

Trust me, our media will lay into them and judging by the phone calls to our two main radio stations this morning, there will be enough p!ssed off people at the airport to kick their sorry butts for you :s hock:

[AndyRAC]

They couldn't win could they, tried to dominate the Aussie bowlers and it didn't work, if they'd played normal cricket they'd have been slaughtered for slow play. 8 times out of 10 they might 've got a decent score, just wasn't their day. Remember in the group game they had the Aussies on the run chasing a big score, then a freak run out by Watson gets de Villiers out, and the Aussies luck in.
How long can they contine to keep riding their luck? They're due a bad performance, all teams have them during a tournament.
Speaking of the tournament, the ICC chief has admitted it is far too long, he wants to reduce by 7-10 days, Get real, 4 weeks is the most it should last. Get rid of the Super 8s, Football and Rugby don't have them, have either a knock out second phase or 2 groups of 4, followed by semis. It's just dragged on and on.....

[Camelopard]

Well what a fiasco, probably the most memorable World Cup ever, for all the wrong reasons!!!! The game still isn't over according to the umpires, although everyone else seems to think that it is over........, bad light was accepted by the batsmen, but 3 more overs need to be bowled and they come back tomorrow if necessary. What a joke.

[stevie_gerrard]

indeed, that is the world cup finally over. it was far too long so everybody forgot about it :p : congrats to australia, but the weather conditions ruined the spectacle, and therefore ruined the game. Farcical in the end, just like the whole tournamnet really. It will only be remembered for irelands and bangladeshs heroics.

[Jaws]

The ICC are idiots, they need more player input.

I will remember the World Cup for the following:

Thanks for the memories Brian Lara :up: you're a legend
Laughing at the fact that Sth Africa started the tournament ranked number 1 :confused:
Watching McGraths last ball
Aussies winning 3 in a row
Gilly's innings in Final
Malingas 4 wickets

and of course R.I.P. Bob Woolmer

[Valve Bounce]

First of all, wasn't the tournament referee a former captain of the Kiwis? Couldn't fly straight. :p :

Secondly, it just came out on our news that toxichology reports show Woolmer was drugged before he was murdered. Very interesting - I wonder who had been paying the original coroner off?

[Storm]

Pathetic stuff.

Well done to Australia but thats redundant..I could well have said that before the cup started...No team has the guts/skill/determination to fight against them (atleast in one-dayers...not that England can do it in Tests either).

Yeah its boring as hell but can't blame the Aussies...

I watched the final til 4 am in the morning...and for what? I dislike the SL team but I hoped someone would try and defeat Oz and yes they did try!
But stupid umpiring, bad light, rain......what a farce.

[stevie_gerrard]

i thought i would bring this thread back up, because there is another cricket world cup taking place in South Africa, although apparently we can't call it a world cup, just a World Tournament, the World Cup is apparently in England in 2009.

So it's the Twenty20 World tournament 2007 in South Africa, and it's been an interesting tournament up to date. I'm amazed no-one has brought it up really, but i thought you were all expecting Australia to win.

First game was a win for the hosts against the Windies. Windies could well have won this game, but dropped too many chances, especially off Gibbs, who ended up winning the game, despite a wonderful innings of 117 for Chris Gayle, the first Twenty20 ton and therefore the highest Twenty20 international score.

Today, New Zealand started off at a Canter, dismissing Kenya for 73, the lowest Twenty20 International score in it's brief history. Scotland put up a brave effort in the field against Pakistan, but lost out with their batting, which is a bit of a shame, otherwise we could have had an upset there.

So it's been a bit of a record breaking Tournament for this games brief history, but the best has been saved for last, cause something did go in the record books, and was the biggest upset of them all

AUSTRALIA LOST A GAME!! :eek:

Zimbabwe beat the aussies, and maybe this tournament isn't so one sided after all ;)

England beat Aussies on Friday, and the 50 over champions and pre-tournament favourites are out :D one can hope can't they? :p :

[555-04Q2]

AUSTRALIA LOST A GAME!! :eek:

Zimbabwe beat the aussies, and maybe this tournament isn't so one sided after all ;)

World Chumps...I mean World Champs are a bit rusty. Look out their next opponents, England :s cary:

[Storm]

Twenty20 :z :

[millencolin]

im not surprised that we lost. we have bugger all experience in this form of the game. england should beat us, if they dont then thats appauling for them

[oily oaf]

Twenty20 :z :

Quite.
I was going to watch some of the "action" yesterday but decided to yank all the hairs from my testicles with electrified pliers instead.
I did of course blub shamelessly.

[stevie_gerrard]

i don't think it's that dull a contest really, it's nice to see a quicker version of the game, with all the thrills and spills, and to expose the players who can play and cannot play cricket under pressure of the high run rates.

England won today which was important, Australia need a huge win in order to beat us to the knockout stages. Good win for Bangladesh as well, which proved that the Windies are in freefall at the moment in their cricketing history, such a shame for what was a great side at either forms of the game.

And before people ask why i bother with this little tournament, i got money on England making the final :p :

[Storm]

You need 11 players who can bat (or swing the bat around wildly) and who are great fielders.....there isn't a place for any bowling talent.

Even one day cricket is so much in favour of batsmen but atleast you get to see some good bowler do well due to his talent or when conditions favour him.

I doubt that is the case with this 20over fast-food cricket.
So I do not rate it at all, neither have I seen much of it. Test Cricket :up:

[stevie_gerrard]

Well for anyone who is following, it's at the Super8 stages and SA, Australia and New Zealand all got easy wins today. England look familiar in the fact they really cant perform in any tournament :p :

I agree with you Storm, Test Cricket is a lot better than the shorter games, but i do enjoy a bit of panic and slogging and thrills and spills when it comes to tournaments like these.

[millencolin]

and who said twento20 isnt a bowlers game

Brett Lee scored a Hat Trick!!

[Storm]

I did....yes you can get a hat-trick even in a 1-over match you know :p :
But did you get what I was saying about it not being a bowlers game?

[millencolin]

I did....yes you can get a hat-trick even in a 1-over match you know :p :
But did you get what I was saying about it not being a bowlers game?

yeah i do get it and totally understand it... i was just throwing that in for a bit of sarcastic humour


i have to learn that sarcasm isnt a great thing to use when you are only using text...

[Storm]

well I do get it most of times :p :

[harsha]

India Vs Pakistan at the finals :D

woohoo! :D

[Schultz]

Two teams who defeated Australia. As much of a lottery 20/20 has been made out to be, I think the two best teams have made the final. Should be a blast!

[Storm]

India - T20 World Champs :s hock:

Who would have thought? They had only ever played 1 official Twenty20 game before this...and it was almost a B team, maybe thats the reason, we never needed the superstars anyway....

[harsha]

india,india,india....chak de india and all that

woohoo!!!!!!!!! :D

[Bebee]

Woo hoo! :D

And who was named 'Man of the Match'? ;)

[Daniel]

Woo hoo! :D

And who was named 'Man of the Match'? ;)
That ugly pathan guy I'm guessing? :mark:

[Storm]

Yeah...and now he even has a brother in the team....Pathan will be back to his 'best' from next week....getting handed his a$$ by the Aussies in the one-day series :p :

[Daniel]

Yeah...and now he even has a brother in the team....Pathan will be back to his 'best' from next week....getting handed his a$$ by the Aussies in the one-day series :p :
Beb seems to be a fan of useless ugly dudes. JPM and Pathan for example :p

[Storm]

dont talk smack about JPM!! Pathan is a fair target :p :