ICC Cricket World Cup

First topic message reminder :

Table
England 2pts (+2.08nrr)
Afghanistan
Australia
Bangladesh
India
New Zealand
Pakistan
Sri Lanka
West Indies
South Africa 0pts (-2.08 nrr)


Pool Fixtures

Thu, May 30 
10:30 England vs South Africa  (The Oval)

Fri, May 31 
10:30 West Indies vs Pakistan (Trent Bridge)

Sat, Jun 1 
10:30 New Zealand vs Sri Lanka (Cardiff)
13:30 Afghanistan vs Australia (Bristol)

Sun, Jun 2 
10:30 South Africa vs Bangladesh (The Oval)

Mon, Jun 3 
10:30 England vs Pakistan (Trent Bridge)

Tue, Jun 4 
10:30 Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka (Cardiff)

Wed, Jun 5 
10:30 South Africa vs India (Southampton)
13:30 Bangladesh vs New Zealand (The Oval)

Thu, Jun 6 
10:30 Australia vs West Indies (Trent Bridge)

Fri, Jun 7 
10:30 Pakistan vs Sri Lanka (Bristol)

Sat, Jun 8 
10:30 England vs Bangladesh (Cardiff)
13:30 Afghanistan vs New Zealand (Taunton)

Sun, Jun 9 
10:30 Australia vs India (The Oval)

Mon, Jun 10 
10:30 South Africa vs West Indies (Southampton)

Tue, Jun 11 
10:30 Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka (Bristol)

Wed, Jun 12 
10:30 Australia vs Pakistan (Taunton)

Thu, Jun 13 
10:30 India vs New Zealand (Trent Bridge)

Fri, Jun 14 
10:30 England vs West Indies (Southampton)

Sat, Jun 15 
10:30 Australia vs Sri Lanka (The Oval)
13:30 Afghanistan vs South Africa (Cardiff)

Sun, Jun 16 
10:30 India vs Pakistan (Old Trafford)

Mon, Jun 17 
10:30 Bangladesh vs West Indies (Taunton)

Tue, Jun 18 
10:30 England vs Afghanistan (Old Trafford)

Wed, Jun 19 
10:30 New Zealand vs South Africa (Edgbaston)

Thu, Jun 20 
10:30 Australia vs Bangladesh (Trent Bridge)

Fri, Jun 21 
10:30 England vs Sri Lanka (Headingley)

Sat, Jun 22 
10:30 Afghanistan vs India (Southampton)
13:30 New Zealand vs West Indies (Old Trafford)

Sun, Jun 23 
10:30 Pakistan vs South Africa (Lord’s)

Mon, Jun 24 
10:30 Afghanistan vs Bangladesh (Southampton)

Tue, Jun 25 
10:30 England vs Australia (Lord’s)

Wed, Jun 26 
10:30 New Zealand vs Pakistan (Edgbaston)

Thu, Jun 27 
10:30 India vs West Indies (Old Trafford)

Fri, Jun 28 
10:30 South Africa vs Sri Lanka (Edgbaston)

Sat, Jun 29 
10:30 Afghanistan vs Pakistan (Headingley)
13:30 Australia vs New Zealand (Lord’s)

Sun, Jun 30 
10:30 England vs India (Edgbaston)

Mon, Jul 1 
10:30 Sri Lanka vs West Indies (Riverside Ground)

Tue, Jul 2 
10:30 Bangladesh vs India (Edgbaston)

Wed, Jul 3 
10:30 England vs New Zealand (Riverside Ground)

Thu, Jul 4 
10:30 Afghanistan vs West Indies (Headingley)

Fri, Jul 5 
10:30 Bangladesh vs Pakistan (Lord’s)

Sat, Jul 6 
10:30 India vs Sri Lanka (Headingley)
13:30 Australia vs South Africa (Old Trafford)




Knock Out Fixtures


To Follow

Holder's fortune ran out in the end. Windies weren't clever enough batting wise; they tried to batter the ball and win with overs to spare, rather than taking it deep.

World class bowlers are worth twice as much a batsmen. West Indies couldn't maintain the pressure due to not having a decent spinner.

Zampa isn't World class but the likes of Starc, Cummins and Coulter-Nile are and Zampa compliments them well

Starc another ODI Michelle too good for the lower order

Nathaniel Jacobs wrote:World class bowlers are worth twice as much a batsmen. West Indies couldn't maintain the pressure due to not having a decent spinner.

Zampa isn't World class but the likes of Starc, Cummins and Coulter-Nile are and Zampa compliments them well

I mean Coulter-Nile is as world class as me, but otherwise agree. Starc is deadly

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:

Nathaniel Jacobs wrote:World class bowlers are worth twice as much a batsmen. West Indies couldn't maintain the pressure due to not having a decent spinner.

Zampa isn't World class but the likes of Starc, Cummins and Coulter-Nile are and Zampa compliments them well

I mean Coulter-Nile is as world class as me

I assume Morgan and Smith just don’t know about you then Olly, coz if that were true you’d be in the England side

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:

Nathaniel Jacobs wrote:World class bowlers are worth twice as much a batsmen. West Indies couldn't maintain the pressure due to not having a decent spinner.

Zampa isn't World class but the likes of Starc, Cummins and Coulter-Nile are and Zampa compliments them well

I mean Coulter-Nile is as world class as me, but otherwise agree. Starc is deadly

I read the stat on twitter that Starc, Cummins and Coulter-Nile all average under 30, anything under 30 generally considered 'world class'. Coulter-Nile obviously isn't as good Starc/Cummins but he was selected ahead of Hazlewood so he must be pretty decent

Alternatively put, I'd much rather face Zampa, Maxwell or Stoinis rather than Coulter-Nile .

Olly get your kit ready you make your debut on Saturday

Afro wrote:

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:

Nathaniel Jacobs wrote:World class bowlers are worth twice as much a batsmen. West Indies couldn't maintain the pressure due to not having a decent spinner.

Zampa isn't World class but the likes of Starc, Cummins and Coulter-Nile are and Zampa compliments them well

I mean Coulter-Nile is as world class as me

I assume Morgan and Smith just don’t know about you then Olly, coz if that were true you’d be in the England side

You haven’t seen me on a cold May day coming on first change in the Norfolk league on an uncovered wicket have you Afro? Deadly I tell thee. Deadly

Never had the pleasure, no

Come on guys his 10 overs for 70 was worth far more than Smith's contribution with the bat.


Starc and Cummins were huge and theres no question that accurate pace bowling is the biggest threat at this world cup. That said Australias bits a pieces trio of Maxwell stoinis and zampa (who's just bits and no pieces) did an excellent job of controlling the scoring in the middle.

Really though this shows why England were so desperate to fast track Archer, and they suffered when he struggled to find a good line.
Looking at the rumoured decision to drop Rashid I assume theres a number of factors coming in to play there.
Firstly the desire to get all the pace they can out there. Bangladesh are not the sort of side who will deal with it well.
Secondly the way Pakistan took Rashid apart. Some players are very comfortable against spin, especially the Asian teams. It's a stereotype but we've seen SA struggle with it, and west indies and NZ uncomfortable but for the most part the Asian players haven't had too many issues with spinners so far. It's a fair assumption the Bangladeshi batsmen will be more terrified of head high fast balls than Rashid.
Possibly the pitch too..it may be a bit of home knowledge that they dont expect much for spinners from the track being used.
Finally...and quite possibly the real reason is managing Rashids pain. It's hard to know from the outside but maybe that ongoing problem contributed to his mauling by Pakistan. Either way it's a good opportunity to rest him in a game they must be backing themselves to win.

If Rashid has been dropped he can’t exactly grumble too much. 7 matches 5 wickets average 58 at home so far this summer

I watched parts of the game live and followed rest on CI

It was a very good performance by WI given that they were playing the top side in the world & one most likely to win the world cup.

WI was not less in skill....but only did not match tight discipline & organization of Aussies.
And they lost it more with the ball.......letting Aus get 40 runs too many.

On the strength of their show today, it looks increasingly likely that WI will make it to the last 4.

On what planet are Australia the "top side in the world"? They are ranked 5th and for a reason ie they were awful for about two years

VTR wrote:On what planet are Australia the "top side in the world"? They are ranked 5th and for a reason ie they were awful for about two years

The one where they won their last 10 ODIs, including an away series in india and one in Pakistan. Most of them without their best two batsmen.

The issue I have with them being favourites for the world cup is the reliance they will have on Starc and Cummins, and a number of pretty average players filling the middle order. Theres a pretty fair chance one or both their star bowlers will break down, and that significantly weakens them.

They are on a high though, and have little to loose after being so god awful less than a year ago. They seem to have their ruthless edge back. Theres no question they are in that top bracket.

But they did just struggle to put away the West Indies despite all that teams attempts to commit suicide.

Well that's just a good run of form, after two years of absolute dross. They had to win some matches eventually as they were massively underperforming. I'm not ruling them out winning the tournament, but England and India were clearly the top teams coming into the tournament

VTR wrote:On what planet are Australia the "top side in the world"? They are ranked 5th and for a reason ie they were awful for about two years

I have explained my point of view before a number of times....

1-Bilateral ODIs records are partial indicator
2-A Big indicator is the ability to withstand pressure of a world-cup and at most CT games come close to similar levels of pressure
3-Ability to raise the level in a BIG tournament / BIG occasions.....i.e have skill but need a big stage to feel motivated

-Aus are very high on indicators 2 and 3 and that's why they have won 5 out of 11 editions and lost in finals of another 2)
And this is embedded in them as a  cricketing nation regardless of the skill level at any time.

--WI & Pak are exceptionally good at No.3.....they raise their level much higher when put on the big stage.
-NZ is quite good at No. 2
-SA suffers in No, 2
-Ind is aiming to be like Aus ( poor man's Aus)
-Whether Eng is going down SA's trajectory or Aus....this world cup will tell

Does anyone know what's common to Marcelo Rios, Kim Clijters, Amelie Mauresmo, Jelena Jankovic, Dinara Safina, Karolina Pliskov,

KP_fan wrote:Does anyone know what's common to Marcelo Rios, Kim Clijters, Amelie Mauresmo, Jelena Jankovic, Dinara Safina,  Karolina Pliskov,

Not sure if it's a rhetorical question but my guess is that they're the England and South Africa of the tennis world when it comes to the trophy cabinet.

Good previous post by the way, comparing points 1,2 & 3 and how the different teams cope.  I'm going to adopt that as my own theory at work with your permission.

West Indies still look pretty poor, they've just been fortunate to come up against two sides who played well below their respective capabilities. The race for spot number four is still between Pakistan and New Zealand, with England/India/Australia nailed on for the other three. Will be a blow for Pakistan if rain ruins their encounter with Sri Lanka, likely loss of a point.

Nathaniel Jacobs wrote:If Rashid has been dropped he can’t exactly grumble too much. 7 matches 5 wickets average 58 at home so far this summer

Well I mean he can seeing as he’s been a key player for England in the build up and has most ODI wickets since the last World Cup - also hardly his fault fielders drop dollies off his bowling

I’d be a little worried about England’s decision making if they do this - seems a little flustered, and reactionary. Stick with what has worked, Rashid during the middle overs is key.

KP_fan wrote:Does anyone know what's common to Marcelo Rios, Kim Clijters, Amelie Mauresmo, Jelena Jankovic, Dinara Safina,  Karolina Pliskov,

They all tried to conquer Australia... by land, air, sea and arranged marriages... and failed?

Galted wrote:

KP_fan wrote:Does anyone know what's common to Marcelo Rios, Kim Clijters, Amelie Mauresmo, Jelena Jankovic, Dinara Safina,  Karolina Pliskov,

Not sure if it's a rhetorical question but my guess is that they're the England and South Africa of the tennis world when it comes to the trophy cabinet.

Good previous post by the way, comparing points 1,2 & 3 and how the different teams cope.  I'm going to adopt that as my own theory at work with your permission.

That's not how I meant this tennis Trivia , but more to corroborate the 3 indicators I pointed in the post before than.

These are "Slamless" top seeds of ATP/ WTA..........they remained No. 1 for several weeks without having won a grand slam ever.....and note that there are 4 grand-slams every year and definitely made it to last 4 or last 2 regularly.

Confirming that they either succumbed to pressure or ran into lower ranked opponents who raised the level of their games.....i.e points no. 2 and 3 of my earlier post.

On the contrary Boris Becker was No.1 for a brief period only.....but is ranked among the all-time greats......for he could raise the level of his play...especially when in crown jewel of grand-slams Wimbledon........or when playing top rated player anywhere.

On SA & Eng....I think they will end up more like Simona Halep & Caroline Wozniacki.......slamless No.1 for a long time....but eventually won grand-slams.

There can be a temptation to read too much into a couple of games - especially early in a tournament of this length.

I agree Australia have hit a good run of form at the right time ; but so far they have only had to brush aside the modest talents of Afghanistan - and get over the enthusiastic and colourful but inconsistent West Indies. They came back brilliantly with the bat : Smith anchored the innings in his inimitable style (a big problem for all opponents !) and NCN provided the fireworks...but they were aided by the fact that the West Indies bowling rather went to pieces later in the innings. They really should never have been allowed to reach 288. And I wouldn't be blaming it all on the (admittedly modest) spinner who actually managed a few fairly economical overs while the pacemen were getting splattered... As for the chase I did not stay up to watch but am not surprised it fell short. West Indies tend to like the big shots and if some of them don't come off they are going to struggle against good bowling. They will probably cause upsets ; but I'd be surprised if they can reach the knockouts.
Australia will definitely be a strong contender : could even claim favouritism after these first few games. But we will get a better idea of just how good they are when they take on one of the heavyweights. At the moment there is a small question mark on their batting outside of Smith and Warner , in England at least. And Cummins and Starc are indeed vital on the bowling front.
Conditions at the different grounds are going to play a big part :in fact have already as we see the predicted huge scores generally not happening - yet. Long winded way of saying we shouldn't rush to judgement too early.

Who would have picked Pakistan after the first ten games in 1992 ?

Bristol weather: Met Office forecasts downpours for Pakistan vs Sri Lanka Cricket World Cup match
There is a 90-95 per cent chance of rain for most of the day.

That's unfortunate for Pak to have of all the Lanka game washed out instead of the one against Aus

I don't think there is a reserve day for these game and that's a shame

The standard of umpiring in yesterdays match was exceedingly poor. I wonder if that had a slight mental affect on the West Indians chase, it certainly appeared to affect Holder.

Many of you will remember the feeling with Germany and Italy in the World Cup (football) that early form never mattered, it’s how you end it. The feeling was always that warming up into a tournament was the best way to go.

I do think India and Australia are the top guns cos of mentality, but I have a feeling England will be better against those pair than the others. Less about England at that point, but the match as a whole. The determination to beat them and the swagger in knowing they have.

The umpires were proved right on a couple of the reviewed calls...and I dont think the Windies needed that to form their mental approach. It was entirely predicatble "just the way I play" stuff.
The best bits and the worst.
Gayles innings typifies that...10 runs off 3 mishits early in the innings against one of the worlds best bowlers in a game where almost every wicket has gone to catches from pace bowlers, the third nearly gets him out. Does he think "Im not hitting these cleanly dont get out"? No he swings at the next with another high risk shot.
It paid off then but not long till he had 3 reviews to get out. After that it was a mix of either not daring to touch the ball or trying to hit it out of the ground and very little calm.
Is anyone shocked that yhe west indies lack discipline and a clear gameplan? Surely not. They are riding a wave at the moment and performing better than most anticipated 6 months ago. If they can keep the morale and effort up and have more times like that first 20 overs they can still be a danger to anyone.
Dont forget it took an absolute freak innings from NCN to get Aus that victory, even if you accept the theory the aussies believed he was better than his stats that innings was so far beyond anything hes ever done in any format in the professional game.
Aus are a good side, and are much more switched on and focused than they were in the series were England destroyed them. The players they are fielding are better too, not just Smith and Warner but they have found a strong top order around them and have to outstanding quicks.
The bowling attack England made 481 against only had Maxwell and Stoinis form this one in it, I do think some of us are judging too much on the Aus weve known from a year ago not the one thats turned up here.  As I said above though theres a few key players in the first choice side, but not adequate replacements...thats why I think Aus will struggle in a long tournament format. They already have a few weak links, take out any of the stars and the team weakens rapidly. England are much better equipped to carry one or two injuries.
I dont entirely buy KPFs cultural assumptions approach, but there is no question confidence plays a part for teams. England have been full of it. But then Pakistan were massively short and pulled a big performance out the bag against England. West Indies found theres when England toured and they had their best players available, then seemed to loose it halfway through yesterday. England have had bags of swagger since summer 2015, and bordered on arrogance at times in the past year....there cant be a side much more sure of themselves than the one thats beaten everyone series after series after series.
SA is another example of a team we seem to have been blinded into thinking will just be good because its south africa. The more I look at them and their record the more obvious it is that they weren't going to be good. Its not chocking, its that they dont have many good players and cant balance a side. The injuries have exacerbated that, as have some poor selections. Its not chocking, they just aren't very good.

So overall I dont see a great deal has changed for me.
The best sides are still England India and Aus. New Zealand next best. I had SA down next but id stick them below Pakistan and Windies who are both capable of upsetting things and crashing the top 4 if they can maintain their application. Then SA and Bangladesh. Then Sri Lanka and Afghan who are every bit as rubbish as anticipated.

Still a lot of uncertainty and Im back to doubting England after the games so far. They really cant afford to stuff up against Bangladesh.

We have yet to see any of the batting attacks really get on top which is another thing thats perhaps been quite a surprise and shaken things up a bit. The conditions have favoured bowlers, and theres been a lot of quality pace on display.

eirebilly wrote:The standard of umpiring in yesterdays match was exceedingly poor. I wonder if that had a slight mental affect on the West Indians chase, it certainly appeared to affect Holder.

I will admit that the quality of umpiring was poor yesterday. Far too many horrid calls (including big missed no-balls). Carlos Brathwaite seemed to insinuate that there was racism involved in the decisions, I was actually worried it was corruption. Probably though just incompetence.

KP_fan wrote: don't think there is a reserve day for these game and that's a shame

Correct, reserve day only in place for the semi-finals and final.

Forecasts actually slightly better than it was but so much rain early means they would need a long dry spell just to get the ground dry enough to start. Cant see 40 overs getting played sadly, which is a big shame for Pakistan in a game they would be expected to win comfortably.

Patchy rain through the weekend could impact the next games too, not rain them off but possibly disrupt them. That tends to suit the weaker sides and create a bit of a lottery effect.

I think the key here would be to not attempt to have a full or longish first inning.......like they often do in suhc cases
BUT directly start as a 20-20

About a 0.0000001% chance of getting this game played to a result. The Met Office has actually issued flood warnings for Bristol this afternoon, added to which the drainage quality at this ground is far from spectacular.

Sri Lanka will move into 3rd with this point.

I remember the 1992 world cup where India was extremely unlucky, largely due to rain

-Lost by 1 run to Aus in that infamous  rain revised target  rule
-Lost to Eng by 9 runs and there was some dubious umpiring
-Lanka game rained out
-& lost to SA when they chased down target in the last over in a rain curtailed game

KP_fan wrote:I remember the 1992 world cup where India was extremely unlucky, largely due to rain

-Lost by 1 run to Aus in that infamous  rain revised target  rule
-Lost to Eng by 9 runs and there was some dubious umpiring
-Lanka game rained out
-& lost to SA when they chased down target in the last over  in a rain curtailed game

TMS  are going through this one in detail from a Pakistan perspective. 
Lost one, won one, one rained off to start the tournament.....
They lost the next two as well (including coming unstuck on the rain rules to SA) then won every game to take the title. 

The rain rules were a mess then, an attempt to change from run rates but still no greater justice. D/L hasnt been perfect but its a huge improvement.

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:

Nathaniel Jacobs wrote:If Rashid has been dropped he can’t exactly grumble too much. 7 matches 5 wickets average 58 at home so far this summer

Well I mean he can seeing as he’s been a key player for England in the build up and has most ODI wickets since the last World Cup - also hardly his fault fielders drop dollies off his bowling

I’d be a little worried about England’s decision making if they do this - seems a little flustered, and reactionary. Stick with what has worked, Rashid during the middle overs is key.

Whilst what you say is true, if Morgan didn’t have confidence in him against Pakistan whom where 0-11-1 dare I say it but Bangladesh are playing considerably better than Pakistan.

Rashid seems to have that flakey confidence so no point playing him and damaging his confidence when he will probably be more useful against the non Asian sides

Nathaniel Jacobs wrote:

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:

Nathaniel Jacobs wrote:If Rashid has been dropped he can’t exactly grumble too much. 7 matches 5 wickets average 58 at home so far this summer

Well I mean he can seeing as he’s been a key player for England in the build up and has most ODI wickets since the last World Cup - also hardly his fault fielders drop dollies off his bowling

I’d be a little worried about England’s decision making if they do this - seems a little flustered, and reactionary. Stick with what has worked, Rashid during the middle overs is key.

Whilst what you say is true, if Morgan didn’t have confidence in him against Pakistan whom where 0-11-1 dare I say it but Bangladesh are playing considerably better than Pakistan.

Rashid seems to have that flakey confidence so no point playing him and damaging his confidence when he will probably be more useful against the non Asian sides

England did only play one spinner vs India at Cardiff last year, albeit that was a T20 and was Moeen rested. The boundaries are notoriously short straight at Cardiff, so makes some sense.

Despite yesterday's show, I feel the West Indies can be a contender for that semi final slot. But if they end up missing out, they might really regret yesterday's meltdown. They really had commanded the first half of their bowling innings, and were reasonably in control in the first half of their batting innings. But they couldn't sustain that for the full 50 overs. Think in terms of skills, their bowling has really caught up though they do miss a decent spin option. With Kemar Roach and Shannon Gabriel sitting out and still when the bowling unit can put in decent performances, it has to be miles better than what it used to be. The batting too has picked up since the return of the big guns, Gayle and Russel are certainly feared by other teams though the latter in particular hasn't delivered anywhere near the hype. Despite yesterday's peculiar innings, Shai Hope is a man of hope for the side. And I really liked Jason Holder coming up the order and batting 6. He's still not quite there as a number 6, but he most certainly can be there and now he'll have to learn that role on the job. Think they should consider Roach or Gabriel in place of Brathwaite. Yes he once did smoke Stokes many moons ago, but Carlos isn't really all that good with bat or ball. Gabriel is much improved in terms of his accuracy and has always been seriously quick. Roach has the experience, and though he's not as quick as the Roach who terrorized Ricky Ponting, he has added more skills to his craft. With one of them instead of Brathwaite, West Indies might lose out on their batting depth, but depth without quality, particularly when that also end up compromising the bowling as well, its not worth it.
And They should rethink the opening combination, Hope is better off opening, and Evin Lewis is good to smash India around in T-20s only! Perhaps they can play him against India, but else play Hope up the order. Is Bravo, currently way out of form, the only reserve batsman in the squad? Perhaps they should have brought in Roston Chase, could have doubled up as the spinner and properly added to the batting.

Feel sorry for Pakistan today. They can be mercurial and smash or crash to anyon a given day, this current Sri Lanka outfit is probably the worst the island nation has come out with in the history of the world cup that even the Pakistan team on a wrong day would fancy beating them. Lanka would be happy with the extra point they would most likely be pocketing...

The England game would be the toughest that the Bangladeshies may have to face in this WC. On a pitch that may not have much for spin with short boundaries against a set of power hitters, their spinners, even the experienced Shakib would in all likelihood struggle big time. Their seamers don't have the pace to blast out wickets. If England bat first, then it could be curtains for Bangladesh very quickly, even before the end of the first innings. Bangladesh should consider playing Rubel Hossain instead of Mehedi Hasan today. That can have a small impact on their batting depth, but Shakib, and if needed, Mahmudullah and even Mosaddek Hossain can bowl some spin. Rubel is a pretty average bowler for sure, but he's their quickest, and has a history of lifting his game in a World Cup game as England only found out in the last edition.

Disagree about Rashid being flakey, his confidence has been evident for the past 4 years. Compare him to Moeen who's all over the place. England back him to bowl aggressively and accept it wont always go well.
More recently though his had the low level niggle which has at times restricted him and quite possibly relates to some of his recent poor returns.

I really don't see this as a dropping off the back of one bad game where many in the team underperformed. More likely its premeditated to rest him in an easier game where seamers may of enhanced value anyway.

Unless I'm missing something theres no sign from within the team hes being dropped as such.

Interesting report on cricinfo with Boult talking about the particular balls being used here. Apparently they have a better gloss and swing ore easily than a normal kookabura. It may explain some of the changed dynamics in the games and better balance between bat and ball.

The Kookabura balls have long been a complete disgrace for some time. The only thing is that they last longer, otherwise for a bowler, spinner or quick, it mostly has been a disaster, particularly in limited overs though the test balls haven't been much better. Glad to note they are at least making an attempt to address the concerns, and going by Boult's assessment, seems they have been reasonably successful. Hope they would use similar technology on the test balls too.

Gooseberry wrote:Interesting report on cricinfo with Boult talking about the particular balls being used here. Apparently they have a better gloss and swing ore easily than a normal kookabura. It may explain some of the changed dynamics in the games and better balance between bat and ball.

Game abandoned. Pakistan, likely, drop a point. The weather for the three weekend games looks fine, however.

Mercurial Pak would have won every alternate game....so they got a point out of the game they were likely to lose

Once in a 4 year world-cup should have a reserve day for each game

http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/26920563/england-step-away-game-diffuse-pressure

England Under Pressure Suggests CI headline now & Morgan making effort to diffuse pressure.
With just one loss....a chase where they performed credibly & made the second highest score of this world cup so far.....why are they under pressure

Most games have been interesting in this worldcup, including what Afg served against Lanka.

Eng overwhelming favorites and the pitch is reportedly green & Eng playing an extra seamer....and I believe BD too will.

BD are not expected to win this game, or the world cup or even make it to semis
Even a No. 6 finish would be deemed credible by their fans and cricketing world.

So what they need to do today is take the game deep like they did against NZ.....and SA did against India.
and the only way to do so is for BD is  their top order to no crumble in a heap.....if they bat 50 overs whether first or chasing losing no more than 7 wickets....they will be competitive.

Even a sub-optimal performance from Eng should still see them winning.
BD win is extremely low probability

KP_fan wrote:Even a sub-optimal performance from Eng should still see them winning.
BD win is extremely low probability

Would agree with that. England were very poor, by their standards, against Pakistan and were still only 15 runs short of winning. That said, Bangladesh have got a habit of tripping up England at World Cup games, having beaten the English on the last two occasions.

Rotating Rashid out of the side seems perfectly fair. I don't expect any of the bowlers to play all 9 games in the group phase, and Cardiff is well suited to the seamers.

Bangladesh win the toss and, unsurprisingly, choose to field first.

It's time for 500 England to develop a sensible score on a green top and a pretty slow outfield. Oh and it's Moeen who misses out, not Rashid.

So presumably Rashid is 100 % fit . Suppose if it is just a case of resting one spinner due to conditions it is sensible to leave out Moeen : Root can bowl some off spin. And I get that they want the extra seamer.

Tail is bit longer though none of them are real rabbits ( and yes , I know poor old Moeen has been wearing long ears lately , but still) : good to see the sun is out.

Bangladesh to open with spinners ? Why not...

Moeen apparently taken out of the starting XI because his wife is imminently expected to give birth to their second child. So after all the drama, it seems as though England would have been unchanged, if it weren't for off-the-field family circumstances.

Relatively restrained start for England , barring one sumptuous drive from Roy... Think everyone will be planning to open with a spinner against England , since it clearly bothers these two - and their traditional fast start has been such a feature of England's recent amazing batting record.
Though perhaps that plan would require a bit of a difficult mental adjustment for teams like Australia and West Indies...