The Cricket World Cup :-D

Right...... thats enough bitching about the politics and who doesnt wanna play where, lets talk about the CRICKET!!!!

First of all I am gutted we are not playing in Kenya. I respect the decision but this is the WORLD CUP, and if it wasnt for the forfeited 4 points I think NZ would have a great show of winning this cup, if not at least making the final

1st game SA vs West Indies kicks off 1am Monday morning and then Monday night from 8.30 we play Sri Lanka. -A Tuesday sickie beckons-

NZ's second game against the West Indies is next Thursday from 8.30. We need to win both these games unless we plan on toppling the ya-ya's, so by then we'll have pretty good idea of how this cup will pan out for us

Heres hoping Vettori gets some good game time and Im predicting good performances in the cup from Bond, Oram, Fleming (yes...Fleming with the bat)and Scott Styris whose batting is really starting to impress me. My team for Sri Lanka would be

Astle
Fleming
Sinclair
Cairns
Styris
Vincent
Oram
Mills
Adams
Vettori
Bond

Mills for Harris big call I know but I think the Sri Lankans would struggle againgst Mill's into the pitch style. Theyre too cunning to be consistantly trumped by Harris, and Im willing to gamble the batting should be strong enough to not need a Harry Houdini

Vincent to take the gloves, quite simply if he gloves it well keep him, if not we play McCullum next game

whew......what a rant, I could go on too so bring on Monday

I HATE SRI LANKA!!!!!

Sorry, but u cant have flemming and sinclair in the same team for a odi!

they are both collective players, and the run rate would drop so much with both of them in at the same time

Fleming can be more than just collective though, he did just hit 128 off 122 and I have seen him bat in the 80-90% strike rate esp when on song driving down the ground

Your arguement Im assuming is to play McMillan who CAN play both roles, but Im slotting in Sinclair to nullify Muli. I dont mind if hes plays 60% strike rate so long as he sees him off

*I HATE MURALITHARAN!*

Id play McMillan against SA and Sinclair vs WI if he bats well is the 1st game

murali will spin the fuck out of it. fleming will get bowled round the legs. lol

hopefully astle breaks through with some confidence and we don't collapse like the last 10 games.

can't wait for the game.
go kiwi's

i just would never playthe useless prick sinclair, in any circumstance, ever.

nuff said.

unfortunately its rather hard to follow the tribulations of the kiwi cricket team from here in oz, but hopefully the default doesn't hurt our chances to win, i doubt it will.

i don't really hate sri lanka, i think they are still the nicest team in worldcricket, with sanath at the helm, and despite murali being a disgrace he is unbeleivably nice...

watch out for russel arnold to be sri lanka's saviour in the tournament, filling a bevan/harris type role in the middle of the order. the most underrated player in world cricket imo.

it will be very intersting to see the varying confidence levelsof the teams as they play against their bogey oppostions. SA & england always play terrible cricket against ozzie so that is good news for us. plus india are shit, and pakistan aren't half the team they used to be and i doubt whether they'll feature strongly in this cup. depends a lot on shoaib chucktar.

i think if our top order perform we will get to the final, and from there its pushing shit up hill against an australian team that has mental toughness the likes of which haven't been seen since the 80's windies.

either way Oz will win it, if they play us or the yarpies, its just that SA have such a terrible time against ozzie's...

wow what a rant sorry...

come on the black caps

www.nzcricket.co.nz will keep you updated, smf.

Maestro- What are your thoughts about the tracks they will be playing on?

Will they suit the bowlers or the batters?

I am asking this question after some of the shocking NZ tracks made the india series a bit of a joke!

depends on which batters you look at...

the world cup is stacked heavily in australia's favour on these tracks... hard, flat and bouncy anything short will be swiftly dealt with by the likes of hayden, gilchrist and ponting, and if one of those 3 doesn't make you pay then there is always that cunt bevan to pull them out of their unlikely hole. matthew hayden has a ridiculous one-day average of somewhere between 45-50, which is huge for an opener...

with the tracks being so bouncy, the sub continent teams (india, sri lanka & pakistan) will struggle, they're used to flat pitches, but their home pitches are much slower and the ball doesn't come on as quick, this was shown to be sri lanka's main downfall in the VB series, so the batters from those teams will struggle i think. however thereis the undeniable class of players like tendulkar, dravid, jayasuriya, anwar etc etc to try and overcome these pitfalls...

quickies will be a major assett, so NZ (bond), aussie (lee) and the pakis (chucktar) will have big weapons on the boucy pitches...

but the pitches will also be very dry, so the spinners will do some damage too, aussie have shane warne and a rising star brad hogg, who i think will be a dark horse in the cup with everyone concentrating on warne, he is alsocoming into his own with the bat...

of course NZ have vettori, but it would seem he hasn't really played at top level enough recently, with the indians not proving much of a challenge, and also being a finger spinner he won't have the variety of hogg, warne, muraly or saqlain mushtaq...

basically its going to be a fucken superb spectacle for a cricket lover, i'm predicting dominance with the bat as a general theme, but there are some absolutely outstanding bowlers around so batters will have to be weary (obviously)...

personally i think NZ will do well against spin, where as other teams may not so so well, macmillan has proven he canplay saqlain and muraly better than most, and cairns has always loved the slower bowling... but i think the fate of our world cup rests on our top order who has not exactly set the world on fire in recent times...

The Bloemfontein (sp) track where we play SL will be the lowest/slowest of the lot, the rest esp Joburg will be as SMF says, hard n fast with consistant bounce

250 will be run down, teams batting 1st will need 270-280+ to feel confident

I think most of the Aussie top order, Gilchrist, Ponting, Hayden, Bevan at least have averages in between 45-60

Which just goes to show what a bunch of wankers.....whoops....I mean, what good players they are

-So gutted about the Kenya forfeit-

Look...... the worst that can happen is the Aussies being the 2nd team ever to manage to defend the cup. At least if NZ goes out early we can yell at anyone playing Australia

But it wont happen, we will beat SL and WI (I hope)

Oh SMF the forfeit REALLY fucks our chances dude

Before we only had to win one out of SA, WI and SL (assuming we topple the lightweights)

Now we have to win two of those, AND wont be taking one point through to the Super Six stage if we achieve that

:'(

MY world cup team would be:

Payne
Pulford
Drumm (C)
Rolls
Tiffen
Lewis
McGlashan
Mason
King
Browne
Steele

Fleming would be my 12th woman.

With this world class team we may have a chance.

See Maestro there is room for Fleming in my team.

I would be surprised if we make it to the Super Six. Odds are against us big time :/

upsets abound

the Windies just smooked SA

Pleased sinclair is not in the team. Not too sure what you mean about him dealing with muralichucker, he is one of the worst players of spin ever to call himself a batter. Vincent over McCallum and tuffey over vettori are also good calls. I don't want to see Mills in this world cup as his action would cast a shadow over any win he played in.

heh heh *owns up*

I thought Id try to rattle a few cages with my team, I really did anticipate more flak about Harry than Sinclair though

good to see someone else knows a bit about the game

Damien - smoked SA - what utter bullshit - we lost by 3 runs - and we were down by an over (yes i know it was our fault) even so - give us the last over we would have taken it sheesh!!

yeap Windies have beaten the host country (SA) by 4 runs, came down to the SA needing 14 runs off the last 2 overs

NZ are playing Sri Lanka tonite (8pm), should be a good game

Thought you knew more about cricket than that maestro, hence me not calling you an idiot for your opinion which I would have done if I thought you were serious.

heh heh

whooo pixieflower, the bitterness, THE BITTERNESS

LOL

Go the kiwis!!!!

well - sa cocked up - so they pay the price - dont think they will do that again!! dumbasses!

na, they will do it again.

comes from years of inbreed stupidity.

they suck.

hehehehhe

Damien - guess u r just trying to piss me off!!

fuck man, i watched the windies rip into a pretty reasonable SA attack...

it just shows that without genuine pace or a world class spinner you're in a bit of trouble on these tracks...

how good is it to see lara back... i always rated him above tendulkar... he is my fav batsmen of the modern era, it was a magic last 25 overs where the windies scored at a soli 8 and over in putting on the last 212 runs...

up the yarpie cunts! it would be sweet to see them go down in their home country...

have a little faith maestro! the lads will overcome

oi SMF - wtf is with ripping them huh??

up the yarpie cunts! >> no need for that!!!

haha just coz the team themselves are a pack of fucken cocks, much like the ozzie team...

cricket is a gentleman's game, you can still be a great player without being an arsehole

something jaques kallis needs to learn... you don't get lippy when you're getting carted to all parts by the worlds premier batsman.

too much shit goes onto the cricket pitch these days... from the likes of brett lee etc...

nothing against south africans in general, its just their teams are a pack of wankers

u intimidated by the team SFM???

ooppss SMF - sorry

Nah I quite like the ya-yas, then again you like Sri Lanka and I hate them :/

Ditto with the Lara thing, WI used to be my 2nd fav team (when SA was in exile)

and Kallis IS probably the biggest tosser in the side, I so wish I was him but...wicked technique as a batsman

ty Maestro - i have not bad mouthed one team - i have no reason and they call us arrogant

intimidated? of course I am... how would i look facing allan donald or bowling to kallis

on a more serious note though, it has nothing to do with intimidation, they are wankers pure and simple... and i'm glad they lost.

well there u go - and no they r not!!!!!

*jabs SMF and pixieflower with a sharp stick*

ksss ksss c'mon!

*watches the points roll in*

;D

well there u go??? the intimidation thing was a joke...

if you want to talk about intimidation then lets talk about how the yarpies look like a bunch of schoolboys even worse than england whenever they front up against ozzie... now thats intimidation...

what the kiwi cricketers lack in consistency they at least make up for with balls

come on SMF - u r blinded by ur arrogantness - SA would so take NZ - u have to boost ur team by making others look bad - cause u know they have no chance!!

'arrogantness'

try lookin @ dictionary.com

i'm sure SA will be the team to look out for in the pool, i'm not boosting my team at all, i am well aware of the pitfalls of each and every team in this cup, as well as pretty much all the players...

hence my previous judgements...

"if you want to talk about intimidation then lets talk about how the yarpies look like a bunch of schoolboys even worse than england whenever they front up against ozzie... now thats intimidation..."

Ahem to that, SA piss me off with their
self-defeatest efforts against the Aussies

1 entry found for arrogantness.
arrogantness

\Ar"ro*gant*ness\, n. Arrogance. [R.]

shame SMF - i was right!!

aside from the obvious lack of eloquence, i'm pretty sure that entry is just a reference to the proper english word...

perhaps you should also look up 'dumbness'

anyway enough of the nastiness and back to cricket talk...

will be a huge game for the lads this evening, 2 obvious keys, jayasuriya and muraly... but also look out for russell arnold if the previously frail sri lankan top order collapse as they have done in recent times

yeah for sure - ugliness - sheesh!!

This thread is more entertaining than the actual cricket!!!

Maestro,

When (if) SA meet Aussie SA will be the happiest school boys around.

It has the making of a top match but I am confident SA will win it.

nice meer

Meer knows fuck all pixie

Fuk nz, sa, aussie, india, paki, eng



GO TEAM CANADA!

NZ aint looking too good at the moment.

Jayasaria (sp) should have been out at 18 :-/

Have faith harvey, if Cairns or Astle goes off were home

I just hope Aussie doesn't win the world cup. I wouldn't care who beat them either. Would be nice to see NZ string a few wins together too.

I personally don't think SA are a bunch of wankers either it's not their fault they keep beating NZ in one dayers.

were home?

Faith is a difficult concept demoralised at 5am :/

We shoudve batted and played Vettori, apart from that we played like goobers

The Astle run out was the most appallingly stupid act I have witnessed on the cricket for as long as I can remember

The body language of the batters except for Styris spelled defeat from the word go, Chris Harris hang your head

The one bad decision murdered us....but we didnt deserve to win

Gee....I bet the selecters are stoked they picked Lou Vincent to keep. He dropped Jayasuriya twice....I saw him spill a sharp chance earlier in the innings (can't remember who) and he rattles up 1 fucking run (which to me is no surprise).

The sooner this clown gets the chop the better. I have no faith in his ability in situations that matter. I'd arther have Alan Donald bat for my life Secondly....its too fucking important a position to have 2nd rate keepers.....how many runs did we lose as a result of this.

Scottie Styris though....big ups. A great battler who looks as though hes developing into the real deal. Amazing first test....tour of the Windies. Always dependable in the middle of the innings and has the ability to be a total matchwinner. We'll see a lot more of him in the future...his heads in the right place.

Take last night...stunning catch to dismiss opener. Should have had a wicket when Vincent dropped ?....and then a sneaky 144...next best 32. Speaks volumes.

So we won then???

Oh....

Scott Styris struck a sparkling century for the Black Caps but it wasn't enough as New Zealand lost to Sri Lanka by a comprehensive 47-runs in their opening World Cup Group B match.

http://xtramsn.co.nz/sport/0,,3757-2133161,00.html

OH MY - guess the outcome of last nights match will shut SMF up - lost by 47 (hahahahahah) SA only last by 3 - ouch!!!

Pixieflower...as with any sport...loss by 3 = loss by 250.

A loss is a loss.

Remember what happens pixie IF SA beat NZ

i know that the Dude - i am just pointing out that they lost aswell - after SA was ragged for losing too........

hahahaha - D-Man - thats just mean!!

hehe of course pixie. So not bragging then

LOL - gutted - so howcome u guys can?

NZ are losers aswell as chickens.............
a bunch of wankers pppppppppffffffftttttttttt!!

sri lanka won the world cup in 1996

west indies suck arse at one day cricket.

I think NZ had the harder game, seeing as SA
were playing at home too.

still, we lost.
I reckon they should go and play in kenya...fuck
the danger...that would be a fun part.

We did play badly, but getting jayasuriya out twice and then him scoring another 100 runs took any chance we had away. I don't mind losing, but when bad umpiring decisions cost us the game it pisses me off. SL are always a hard team to play. They score 300 odd more often than anyone but are as likely to only get 150 odd. Unfortunate that 2 bad decisions let them get a good total.

Fleming is a useless prick, they should of played Vettori rather than MacMillan. I dont even knw why they took MacMillan over, he is farkn useless and hasnt been on form all year.

The only good thing out of the game was that Styris cracked a solid 140, what a top innings

not once did i see the bowlers bowl round the wicket to the left handers, simple stuff

super six chances looking dim

This stuff about NZ needing to win all 3 of their games against top nations is not very accurate. Only if results go against NZ is that needed. If NZ win their next 2 matches they will go through if 1 side wins all 3 or loses all 3 against the other sides. Even if they win 1 they could go through if the team they beat loses all their games. Unfortunately that scenario would mean south africa has to lose all their games. It ain't looking good but we definitely are not out of it yet.

Pixie, because this is a NZ website. We can do what ever we want So be quiet

hahahaha D-Man - fair enough........ but dont be mean huh?

fitzy - i know at least harris bowled round the wicket to the lefties, but thats not the issue really, i have never been a fan of bowling round the wicket myself...

damien - how in goodness' name could you say we had the harder game??????? the windies had to play a team that is stronger in almost every regard than the sri lankan team, except maybe lacking in a world class spinner like muraly... and the west indies are a fantastic one day outfit - in case you hadn't noticed brian lara is one of the greats of the modern game, ricardo powell has hit more 6's than anyone else playing the game in the last 3 years, and ramnaresh sarwan has an average of over 50 and a strike rate of over 80...

i find it amusing that people make such comments about cricket teams when they obviously haven't watched or read much of the teams involved...

and on the pathetic NZ team, it really did prove that one player can't save a team, and that out top order is a dismal mess, at first i was surprised to see the pig at number 4, but he shone brightly. a dispicable performance from fleming, astle, macmillan, adams and harris ensured we were all but humiliated.

and this won't shut me up at all pixie, your team is still abunch of cunts, and a loss is still a loss

Why the fuck are they still persisting with McMillan? He has been pathetic for so long now.

SMF - so tell me then - y do U think they r a bunch of cunts???

kallis is second only to brett lee on the scale of 'hateability'... if you can't see why everyone hates him you really are one-eyed

gibbs is a match fixer

donald still thinks he is white lightening, when really he is just a cold fart with too much to say for himself on the field

boucher is too reminsicent of one mr adam parore who is again one of the biggest cocksmears to play the game, especially out of NZ

klusener is ok these days, but his reputation precedes him...

pollock is a dirty ginger

just a generally dislikeable team... still, not as big a pack of cunts as your rugby team

Fuck - Shane warne is a match fixer aswell..... dont hear u calling OZ cunts

Donald is a good player - period

Boucher - is one of the top wicket keepers at the moment....

fuck Pollock is brillaint - him and Jonty can always turn a match........

Klusener - well come on you have seen him play - what more can we ask for!!

you have missed the point by so far its ridiculous...

for starters, donald, klusener & jonty WERE good players...

but i haven't been discussing their talent, they fully deserve their status as the second favs, gibbs, pollock, kallis, nitini & boucher will ensure a strong future for south african cricket...

i'm talking about their attitude

and i have called australians cunts on more than one occasin, in case you didn't notice i said brett lee was an even bigger tosser than kallis...

i hate brett lee more than any other sportsman, ever.

as for warne, yeah he is a fixer, and a smear as well... as is ponting, langer, hayden, bevan, mcgrath, gillespie, waugh... they're a pack of twits the likes of which cricket has never seen... which is not a comment on their undeniable class and ability as cricketers...

i was brought up a true cricket fan, and enjoy cricket in all forms, but am from the old skool in that respect. cricket is and was a gentleman's game, and should remain that way...

my fav players in that respect, that show both ability and humility are adam gilchrist, shane bond, michael vaughan, sachin tendulkar and sanath jayasuriya...

a minimum of attitude and a maximum of ability is what makes a true cricketer IMO.

oh yeah i forgot that little twat that is supposed to be aussie's new all rounder that hasn't come to the cup due to injury...

SHANE WATSON

soon to over take brett lee as the biggest smear in world cricket...

Hear hear, SMF. Fine words.

lmao at smf. I'm sure you're holding something back, come on now tell us what you really think.

West Indies may have good batters but are seriously lacking bowlers. They will be found out by a good all round side. The same is true of Sri lanka and india if the pitches aren't taking spin, apart from murali (cause he throws it and is a blatant cheat) and srinath. I really can't see anyone outside of aussie or south africa taking it, unless one of those 3 sides batting line ups hit real form. England and NZ have good solid sides but lack the stars that can turn a game that the others have. Pakistan are the great unknown. They could bow out in the first round quite easily, but they could also win the tournament.

The pitches NZ and india played on this summer will seriously harm those teams chances. Anyone watching the game could see the affect it has had on the batting, and to a lesser extent the bowling. In those conditons good batting wasn't rewarded and bad bowling was. Now on good pitches the batters are playing like its a minefield and the bowlers like they don't have to work that hard for wickets.

For fucks sake someone gets some balls and drop Fleming or at least remove him as captain.

I know you are all going to say "who will be captain". Anybody !
We can no longer say he is in for his captains skills after last nights shocking display of captianing.
Ken Rutherford said this is a flat pitch and a spinner should be selected. He also said that if NZ wins the toss we should bat first.

Did Fleming take note of this?

No!
Lets not listen to someone who has played in Blomfin for about 4 years and knows the conditions.

Oh no Mr Fleming knows better.

Fleming needs a scare.
Like McMillan he is a waste of space.

I will no longer have anything to do with this great game until this man is removed.

yeah, basically you never bowl first any more, unless its a minefield...

great point about the NZ pitches JAH

Yeah another disasterous call from Fleming.

i think what flemming was trying to do buy batting first was if they bat first and bomb out which they would probably do(following the indian series) they would have wasted there chance at batting first and he would of hoped that the bowlers would have bowled better because they bowled way to much to the legs of the lefthanded batsmen which is easy pickings

flat pitches, have some confidence... bat first, score some runs yourself... its a pretty simple formula for fleming that he has repeatedly failed on delivering...

one day cricket has become pretty simple. unless its a complete dog of a track you bat first, its just better odds.

look at the pakis this evening, just let in 310 and chose to bowl first...

STOOPID

Was Fleming making those decisions or was he carrying out Paddles plan based on preconceptions about Sri Lankan weaknesses? I think the choices were made from above not on the field.

I was just about to post the same thing Mr Meiner.

get with it meer, fleming it rated the best captain in world cricket by those in the know. ie. those who know a shitload more about cricket than you or I.

smf - you missed the biggest arsehole in all of world cricket, Mr suredoes chuckfast. Not only is he a blatant chucker when he bowls fast but doesn't give a shit that hes a cheat and has an arrogant attitude that puts brett lee to shame. Waqar younis shows in that beamer last night why pakistan won't win the world cup and expect the same attitude from akhtar when the going gets tough.

Aussie beat Pakistan convincingly last nite, who saw the game, Symonds is a top batsmen and i reckon he will be one of the more dangerous players in this world cup.

justahalf:
I agree Fleming WAS the best captain in the world.
Based on recent performances with the bat and a shit load of bad call as captain he can no longer be rated number 1.

He has the talent and the skills as both but currently something is missing between the ears and it has cost NZ game after game.

The best example of this is not taking or even thinking about taking Ken Rutherfords advise.

If NZ don't progress to the next round he must carry a lot of the blame and he must go.

Those were off the field calls though, did he make them. Hadlee seems to have far too much influence at the moment.

Don't know about Fleming having ever been the worlds best captain. He is a choker and I've watched him do it in a number of games.

He is rated that by many of the worlds cricket experts, maybe you know more than them.

chaminda vaas...

hatrick off the first 3 balls against bangladesh, and then a 4th in the over... one of the biggest hidings i have seen...

could be funny if we beat the yapies, then they won't go through, looks like the lil fellas from sri lanka hitting their straps just at the right time

ha ha point jah

Actually I do have soemthing worthwhile to add...

I watched a full replay of the WI innings last night and out fielding was INCREDIBLE..... and I use not that word and caps lightly, it was the best fielding effort I have seen from any team for years

This is good sign, I think were gonna take the yapies at last

Finally saw some good batting from Sachin Tendulkar last nite in the match against Zimbabwe, he scored 81 off some 90 odd balls.

They won the match by 80 or so runs

hopefully now people in India will stop burning pictures of their national team!

Ha! Look at that Maestro like comment above

Sri Lanka knocked over the Canadians with consummate ease, so theyre run rate is looking good

Yeah, SL are looking dangerous... but they might've peaked too early.. it's a long tournament

lowest score ever in a ODI by Canada

i am sooooooooooooooooooo worried - SA have been playing shocking :O they have to beat SL - have to, have to, have to!!!!

In my opinion Sri Lanka are the best team in pool B, and at the moment the only team that even have a chance of beating aussie. oh those kiwis arn't half bad either!

They didn't bat first though. It does help their run rate, but if they had of batted first and won by 200 plus it would have helped it more.

Check this report out

Zimbabwe cricketers Andy Flower and Henry Olonga continued their protest against President Robert Mugabe's government by wearing black wristbands at the World Cup match against India in Harare.

Flower and Olonga sported black armbands during their team's opening game against Namibia at the Harare Sports Ground, saying they were mourning the "death of democracy" in Zimbabwe.

The International Cricket Council rejected the Zimbabwe Cricket Union's request to punish them for bringing the game into disrepute but requested they stop the armband protest.

Flower, the team's top-ranked player, and Olonga, the first Black player to represent Zimbabwe, instead wore wristbands pulled up onto their forearms. Olonga is 12th man for this match.

The pair issued a statement condemning human rights abuses in their country before the Namibia match.

wtf, how does protesting against mugabe bring the game into disrepute. The rest of the team are the ones who should be fined for not protesting.

yeah, it was the zimbabwe cricket union (who are inevitably influenced by mugabe himself) who petitioned to the icc to punish them, but the icc have level heads like the rest of us and realised that that is simply ludicrous...

Last nite England kicked Pakistan by 112 runs