The 2023 Cricket World Cup

by Duty281 Mon 18 Sep 2023, 1:09 pm

First topic message reminder :

After the drama-free finish to the 2019 Cricket World Cup, the 2023 Cricket World Cup will finally get under way on the 5th October, having been initially delayed by Covid and then threatened by a Pakistani boycott.

England are the defending champions, and they're also the reigning T20 World Champions. Doubleplusgood, eh? They're looking to be the first nation to win consecutive ODI World Cups since the Aussie vintage of 1999-2007. Biggest adversaries to that are likely to be India, who haven't won a major global competition since the 2013 Champions Trophy, but will no doubt be heartened by the knowledge that the last three ODI World Cups have been won by a host nation.

Five-time winners Australia can never be ruled out, while Pakistan are fueled by a burning motivation to win the World Cup in the homeland of their greatest rivals. New Zealand have made the last two finals - losing the last on boundary count, would you believe? - and will hope to make the final step this year.

South Africa will presumably think they're due to win something, as they've not won a global competition since the 1998 Champions Trophy, while the Afghans will believe they can spin anyone into submission. Bangladesh will be hoping to make a sizable impact at the ODI World Cup for the first time.

Sri Lanka breezed through qualifying and will be encouraged by making the recent Asia Cup final, even if they did get hammered in said final. The Netherlands round off the ten teams after performing minor miracles in qualification, which of course means the West Indies, the winners of the first two ODI World Cups, will be missing out on this tournament for the very first time.

The ten-team format for the World Cup remains as simple as ever. Ten teams all play each other once, and the top four teams in the group at the end of it go through to the semi-finals, where it becomes a straight knockout. 48 matches total. There will be reserve days for the three knockout matches and, if necessary, Super Overs. But you can't win games on boundary count anymore...

Fixtures:

Tournament Odds:

Squad Lists (Teams have until the 28th September to finalise their squads):

by Duty281 Sat 14 Oct 2023, 10:43 am

Cruel blow for Williamson. Did so well to come back from the knee injury in time, only to suffer that.

Pakistan 74/2 after 13. RR is fine, but Imam just fell after a fishing trip. Babar and Rizwan together, this looks to be the key partnership...and Jadeja strikes second ball! But going down leg and Rizwan survives. Some early turn for Jadeja looks promising.

by KP_fan Sat 14 Oct 2023, 10:45 am

That was a horribly quick decision from onfield umpire to give lbw to one that was missing leg by several inches
A favorable onfield call only has to touch by a millimeter

by KP_fan Sat 14 Oct 2023, 11:31 am

Ball has started gripping just a bit....and a bit more assistance for spinners than I initially thought and more than what bcci curator had planned.
Pak have 4 spin bowling options

by wisden Sat 14 Oct 2023, 11:45 am

Babar out! That will bring saud Shakeel to the crease

by Duty281 Sat 14 Oct 2023, 12:14 pm

Pakistan have collapsed. 168/6, having been 155/2. No set batsmen at the crease.

All over, ja?

by KP_fan Sat 14 Oct 2023, 12:22 pm

Pitch is gripping and even Bumrah produces a big offcutter and then one that holds the line
India has broken the back of middle order

PAK from their POV need to bat out 50 overs and get whatever they do
I don't think pitch is easy like commentators are making it sound

by Duty281 Sat 14 Oct 2023, 12:53 pm

Not a good day for Erasmus either.

191ao. Barring some Shaheen sensationalism we're heading for a 12th consecutive comfortable win.

by KP_fan Sat 14 Oct 2023, 1:09 pm

From around the 30th over mark pitch seems to have crumbled
Keeping low, spinning and ball not coming on the bat.
Buzz on social media is game won already by India

I thinks 80% chance of Indian win...they lose two or 3 early and they will be in a hole.

I would open bowling with Nawaz at one end

by wisden Sat 14 Oct 2023, 2:03 pm

This won't take long Rohit on fire

by alfie Sat 14 Oct 2023, 2:12 pm

So : yet another not very competitive match , eh ? Did think India would likely be too good ; but expected Pakistan to put up a better contest.

But as I post Kohli has got out so at least some of the other bats will have to do a bit of work... 79/2 from just ten so well ahead of the RRR. Should still be a walk in the park.

by wisden Sat 14 Oct 2023, 2:39 pm

Who's gonna stop Rohit? In the form of his life!

by Duty281 Sat 14 Oct 2023, 2:42 pm

Well, at least it'll be done in time for the rugby. Cannot believe how one-sided everything has been in this World Cup so far, a quarter of the way though. The closest margin of victory by runs has been 81; the closest by wickets (so far) is six and ten balls left, although that chase in question was quite easy for Pakistan after an initial blip. Not a hint of a close finish.

And coming up in this World Cup is a run of quite, on paper, one-sided fixtures. England v Afghanistan tomorrow, Australia v Sri Lanka Monday, Netherlands v South Africa Tuesday, NZ v Afghanistan Wednesday, and India v Bangladesh Thursday. Please deliver an upset somewhere, cricketing Gods, although not in tomorrow's fixture, please and thank you.

Anyway, India's win here means we can move them up alongside NZ as 'virtually secure' in terms of a semi-final berth, leaving England/Pakistan/SA as the leading contenders for the final two spots.

Therefore, England v South Africa next Saturday is looking set to be a very important match, but before that England and South Africa must get the expected win over Afghanistan and the Dutch respectively. Apparently England won't be taking a chance on Ben Stokes tomorrow, so he may have to wait until the South Africa game, which would make it over a month since he last batted.

by KP_fan Sat 14 Oct 2023, 4:41 pm

India overcame fears of slipping on a low score banana peel.
Pulverized, pummeled Pakistan in a supercharged nationalist environment.
With that India is the leading team with 2 wins over top-6 sides
And Pak go back with wins against only 2 of Bottom-4 sides with their NRR having taken a beating too.

The pitch had more spin then expected or even intended. Pak needed and looked on track for a 280+ but crumbled triggered by Babar's injudicious stroke and then some good bowling by spinners finding turn and Bumrah's masterful spell with slow balls and hint of reverse.
Bumrah & Yadav bowled most potent wicket taking deliveries while other bowlers had help from batsmen
Rare to have 5 bowlers x 2 wickets each

Next Game ashwin should be back over shardul

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Sat 14 Oct 2023, 6:38 pm

This has to be one of the worst ICC tournaments of all time to date - and with a few of those knockout spots heading towards being sewn up already in all probability it's not going to get hugely better...

by king_carlos Sat 14 Oct 2023, 7:01 pm

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:This has to be one of the worst ICC tournaments of all time to date - and with a few of those knockout spots heading towards being sewn up already in all probability it's not going to get hugely better...

It's not exactly the shot in the arm ODIs were needing that's for sure.

Basically no domestic setup plays a high standard List-A tournament anymore though. A lot has been made of the Hundred side lining the County 50 over comp but realistically it had been in decline for years (if not a couple of decades) and even then English cricket was basically a final holdout trying to take a List-A comp seriously.

I like the ODI format and don't want it to die but endless pish bilaterals bridling to this aren't doing it any favours.

by GSC Sat 14 Oct 2023, 9:59 pm

It's hard to say it feels like a world cup at the moment. More like a series of one off games

Guess we'll see if it kicks into life when teams enter must win territory

by alfie Sun 15 Oct 2023, 5:20 am

It is a little surprising though that all these games are so one sided. You'd expect some of the apparent mis-matches to be blow outs , perhaps ; but it is unusual for so many games between teams generally felt to be of similar strength to be turning into routs.

On the other hand it may just be that India , NZ and SA are indeed much better prepared than their rivals. In which case we will probably see some closer contests between those three , and indeed between the other so-far underwhelming contenders. Will be interesting to see if Sri Lanka (who can apparently bat quite well but not bowl for toffee) can threaten to continue Australia's woes. I am sticking to my pick for Australia in the Tipping Competition on this one but would no longer be shocked if it goes awry...

Otherwise , looking at the fixtures I fear we could easily be in for another week of total non-contests.

by wisden Sun 15 Oct 2023, 9:45 am

Chris woakes is having a shocker again!! Not sure how much longer they give him before they give David Willey a run out

by alfie Sun 15 Oct 2023, 9:55 am

Haven't been watching yet. But I am a bit surprised England haven't taken the opportunity to try a couple of their "spares" out in this match . Woakes has been off form and apparently unwell and I'd have thought this was an ideal chance to give Willey or Atkinson some exposure.

I note Woakes seems to have started off pretty poorly again...getting smashed while Topley is keeping it tight. Hope they don't live to regret a seeming lack of flexibility...

by wisden Sun 15 Oct 2023, 9:56 am

Problems for buttler runs flowing now change needs to be made

by alfie Sun 15 Oct 2023, 11:41 am

I have joined the coverage to see the comeback has been effected with some good work from Rashid and Livingstone ...makes sense that Root is now getting a spell too , as not letting Woakes have any more bowling would seem a sound policy Smile

166/4 after 29 so Afghanistan will still be hoping for a serious score. But after 114 from the openers England might be feeling a bit more comfortable in this position ! Still going to have to go back to seam at some point : did they err by not including Moeen for one of the pace men today ?

by alfie Sun 15 Oct 2023, 12:09 pm

190/6 now as Wood chips in with a wicket with a lifting delivery too good for Nabi.

Livingstone in a fine spell here 1/27 from nine and should have had a second last over , Buttler failing to gather for a stumping. Good rescue job after that rattling opening stand. Up to these two batters now to lift this score I think.

by GSC Sun 15 Oct 2023, 12:12 pm

Afghanistan in danger of falling a bit short again. Had some decent cameos last game. Wood and Topley have done comparatively better than Woakes and Curran. Can see why England are leaving the door open for Archer I guess

by Duty281 Sun 15 Oct 2023, 12:13 pm

Good day for the spinners then, and Wood bringing some box-office pace. Just one away from the tail, so England should be looking to bowl Afghanistan out and keep them below 250.

by wisden Sun 15 Oct 2023, 12:50 pm

Topley should have bowled the death instead of Curran!

by alfie Sun 15 Oct 2023, 12:55 pm

Rashid concluded a fine effort (3/42) with another wicket to a great Root outfield catch ; but some right old rubbish from Curran has Afghanistan on 255/7 with four to go...

Bit mixed from England's bowlers today.

by wisden Sun 15 Oct 2023, 12:56 pm

Gonna need a root masterclass today I think Afghanistan have a really good score here particularly with their bowling attack

by king_carlos Sun 15 Oct 2023, 1:01 pm

Woakes and Surran bowling as they are is a big issue. Woakes is our best PP bowler by a distance through the Morgan and now Buttler tenures. Surran should be the best death bowler in the squad with Jof injured. It's giving them problems at the top and bottom of the innings. To go with concerns in the middle. I had worries about the bowling and fielding pretournament but they are growing.

When Brook then Roy were left out my feeling was I'd have picked an extra batter in the 15-man squad with a bowler missing out. That definitely would've been the wrong call with the bowling issues though. They're going to need options to come in.

I'd presume Willey might be looked at for PP bowling. Atkinson bowls in the PP at domestic level and should be adept in the middle with his pace. They're another two who aren't proven death bowlers though. For his talents, Willey has proven himself not to be one.

They're going to need Topley to stay fit with how things are currently going.

by alfie Sun 15 Oct 2023, 1:07 pm

Topley with a deserved wicket , Ikram falls for an important 58 ...and now Wood does for Mujeeb : so they aren't going to get 300 , but a pretty handy effort still by the Afghans.

277/9 in the 49th...

by wisden Sun 15 Oct 2023, 1:11 pm

Buttler is always calm and collected but I hope he reads the riot act in the dressing room. That bowling performance simply isn't good enough at all

by wisden Sun 15 Oct 2023, 1:15 pm

284 all out. I think that's a very good score especially with their bowling attack

by alfie Sun 15 Oct 2023, 1:18 pm

king_carlos wrote:Woakes and Surran bowling as they are is a big issue. Woakes is our best PP bowler by a distance through the Morgan and now Buttler tenures. Surran should be the best death bowler in the squad with Jof injured. It's giving them problems at the top and bottom of the innings. To go with concerns in the middle. I had worries about the bowling and fielding pretournament but they are growing.

When Brook then Roy were left out my feeling was I'd have picked an extra batter in the 15-man squad with a bowler missing out. That definitely would've been the wrong call with the bowling issues though. They're going to need options to come in.

I'd presume Willey might be looked at for PP bowling. Atkinson bowls in the PP at domestic level and should be adept in the middle with his pace. They're another two who aren't proven death bowlers though. For his talents, Willey has proven himself not to be one.

They're going to need Topley to stay fit with how things are currently going.

Yeah there are definitely problems with the bowling - as I had feared pre-tournament. Topley and Wood are doing well : but surely neither can play nine games ! Honestly do not understand why England didn't juggle their bowling resources for this game.

Buttler runs out the last man so it's 285 to win. Afghans have some handy spinners so suppose this could be a banana skin...but honestly if England are to go anywhere in this cup they should be running that down reasonably comfortably on this track.

by Duty281 Sun 15 Oct 2023, 1:18 pm

Very mixed for England. Curran and Woakes dreadful, but the spin bowlers, particularly Rashid, were on form. Nice to see Root get through a few overs as well. Wood's pace is an amazing weapon, though it carries the side-effect of edges flying to the rope!

I thought England would have used this game to try out Willey and Atkinson.

284. Shouldn't be a tricky chase on this, and against an out of form bowling line up, but let's be wary of Mujeeb and Rashid Khan. I think England will be disappointed with how many they conceded, overall.

by Duty281 Sun 15 Oct 2023, 2:18 pm

Well, a bit of early difficulty. 33/2. Bairstow got a very harsh LBW call, and Root was defeated by Mujeeb.

Would be nice for England's middle order to make a contribution now.

by alfie Sun 15 Oct 2023, 2:19 pm

Bairstow and Root both gone in the first seven overs... Afghan bowlers on the money early. Long way to go to 285 : that possible banana skin looking more plausible...

Still plenty of batting to come , of course. But any thought of an easy stroll to victory can be shelved , I think.

by wisden Sun 15 Oct 2023, 2:31 pm

Duty281 wrote:Very mixed for England. Curran and Woakes dreadful, but the spin bowlers, particularly Rashid, were on form. Nice to see Root get through a few overs as well. Wood's pace is an amazing weapon, though it carries the side-effect of edges flying to the rope!

I thought England would have used this game to try out Willey and Atkinson.

284. Shouldn't be a tricky chase on this, and against an out of form bowling line up, but let's be wary of Mujeeb and Rashid Khan. I think England will be disappointed with how many they conceded, overall.

I would have thought Atkinson will come in for the South Africa game at Mumbai bit more bounce for him and wood would have played 3 games in a row by then so I can see the selectors resting him for that

by guildfordbat Sun 15 Oct 2023, 2:35 pm

Duty281 wrote:Very mixed for England. Curran and Woakes dreadful, but the spin bowlers, particularly Rashid, were on form. Nice to see Root get through a few overs as well. Wood's pace is an amazing weapon, though it carries the side-effect of edges flying to the rope!

I thought England would have used this game to try out Willey and Atkinson.

284. Shouldn't be a tricky chase on this, and against an out of form bowling line up, but let's be wary of Mujeeb and Rashid Khan. I think England will be disappointed with how many they conceded, overall.

Hi Duty - as regards trying out Willey and Atkinson as per your post above and also suggested by Alfie, I tried to touch on this the other night.

I think the issue stems from our having lost to NZ. With 1 loss out of 2 games, we probably felt we had to minimise the chances of losing this game and so went into this one with what was perceived (at least a few hours ago!) as our strongest eleven. Even if we do win today, it still risks problems down the line as the likes of Willey and/or Atkinson will be coming in rusty when they will almost certainly at some time need to replace the injury plagued Wood and Topley.

As regards Afghanistan’s total, I think both they and England will be a bit disappointed. At times Afghanistan looked on to total 310 or so whilst at 190/6, we would have had reasonable expectations of bowling them out for under 250.

by alfie Sun 15 Oct 2023, 2:47 pm

Agree with you , Guildford, re the Afghan total. If not for the run out of the dashing opener , they might have indeed gone on to a very hefty total...and I do think England failed to take full advantage of the dominance of their spinners in the middle overs . Think Root might have bowled a couple more and then we need not have seen that horrible last over of Curran's... But I suppose Sam is considered to be one of the death bowlers and they weren't prepared to deviate from the script ?

Milan gone now ! 68/3 and this would be a very good time for Buttler to play a proper innings rather than a frisky twenty or thirty...

by Duty281 Sun 15 Oct 2023, 2:50 pm

Trouble now...

by guildfordbat Sun 15 Oct 2023, 2:55 pm

Duty281 wrote:Trouble now...

Yep. Could be heading from your “In the hunt” towards “On life support”.

by alfie Sun 15 Oct 2023, 3:00 pm

Batting looks anything but easy at present...lot of balls keeping a bit low. Buttler uncharacteristically twitchy so far : really need these two to build a partnership. Time for a drink...

by guildfordbat Sun 15 Oct 2023, 3:02 pm

alfie wrote:Batting looks anything but easy at present...lot of balls keeping a bit low. Buttler uncharacteristically twitchy so far : really need these two to build a partnership. Time for a drink...

You and the players?

by wisden Sun 15 Oct 2023, 3:07 pm

That Malan dismissal sums up the whole performance so far today...dismal

by alfie Sun 15 Oct 2023, 3:15 pm

Big trouble now ! Buttler gone - in truth he never looked at all secure in that short innings ; and it's 91/4. Brook and Livingstone have a job on their hands ...

by wisden Sun 15 Oct 2023, 3:16 pm

Nice start for Livingstone free hit and 4

by Duty281 Sun 15 Oct 2023, 3:21 pm

Bit of a problem, this, not much batting after these two. Would be the equivalent of losing to Sri Lanka in 2019, or Ireland last year in the T20 stuff, if England do fall short here, and would, indeed, put England's chances of reaching the KO stage on 'life support'.

by eirebilly_01 Sun 15 Oct 2023, 3:30 pm

Well that's it for England, Livingston looks plumb.

by wisden Sun 15 Oct 2023, 3:31 pm

5 down!!! While brook is there we are still in it but it's not looking good right now

by eirebilly_01 Sun 15 Oct 2023, 3:32 pm

If ever it was time for Brook to live up to the hype, its now

by alfie Sun 15 Oct 2023, 3:41 pm

Livingstone gone now... Brook seems to be batting on a different pitch to everyone else but he's going to struggle to bring this home on his own.

Lose this and England are staring down the barrel . Not to say they couldn't win enough of the remaining games - I don't see anyone as unassailable (except possibly India ) ; but on the performances we've seen so far they just don't look good enough to be confident of beating any of the other "big" teams so a sustained run would seem unlikely. I know they came back from early reverses in 2019 ; but this side seems to be a shadow of that confident outfit.

RRR hasn't got out of hand so as long as Brook is there hope springs. But he really needs some decent support ...

by Sponsored content