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 GSC Sun 22 Oct 2023, 11:28 am

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:
GSC wrote:Beginning to think England might not retain the trophy

You may think that, I am not waivering in my belief. The lads will make it out the group for certain.

They've got the talent but getting a bit late in the day for it to start firing.

by alfie Sun 22 Oct 2023, 1:06 pm

This is weird. Kuldeep goes for 71 off nine ...and then bowls the 45th over for just 2 runs and a wicket . Suggests the pitch is getting harder to bat on ? If so the chase for India could be tricky.

by wisden Sun 22 Oct 2023, 1:12 pm

NZ 250-5 with 4 overs left

by Duty281 Sun 22 Oct 2023, 1:34 pm

273. It's not a bad effort on a slowish pitch, with an utterly disgraceful outfield (even by the standards of this World Cup). It's certainly a fine comeback from 19/2 after 8 overs. Well done to Ravindra, and full credit to Mitchell for producing a century when only two other batsmen scored higher than 20.

Pretty close to 50-50 at halfway, I'd say.

by KP_fan Sun 22 Oct 2023, 2:01 pm

It was a bad day for ind in field
Dropped 3 catches and had 2 on field DRS given in India 's favor reversed, not usual.

But pulled it back tremendously.Shami found.reverse and Yorkers.
And Kuldeep on an unhelpful pitch slowed and widend his line upon return
Pitch is holding a bit and the score is about Par....might quicken under lights.
If Ind has to win they have to knock off with no more than 5 wickets down

by wisden Sun 22 Oct 2023, 2:04 pm

2nd ball in first boundary for rohit

by KP_fan Sun 22 Oct 2023, 2:10 pm

The outfield is slow, grassy and not the carpet we are used to seeing on international grounds.
It's uneven grassy like cattle might have grazed some parts of it
Ball spins more when falling on turf and scares fielders from diving because of unevenness

by wisden Sun 22 Oct 2023, 2:21 pm

Openers off to a flyer

by James100 Sun 22 Oct 2023, 2:22 pm

Topley confirmed out of the World Cup, Jofra not fit to replace him

by wisden Sun 22 Oct 2023, 2:27 pm

Be interesting to see who does get called up...

by KP_fan Sun 22 Oct 2023, 3:08 pm

Kiwis are diving
Not worth it

by KP_fan Sun 22 Oct 2023, 3:11 pm

Never before game called off for bad light in a game under lights
No one imagined DEFOGGER lights might be required
It's not just fog...looks like clouds descended from mountains into the valley

by KP_fan Sun 22 Oct 2023, 3:24 pm

Fog lifted enough
Target in a game with know reduced overs ia different from if it stops suddenly.
If Ind had know 20 overs they needed to get to 124
If game stopped suddenly ind needed to be 94-2

by Duty281 Sun 22 Oct 2023, 3:33 pm

James100 wrote:Topley confirmed out of the World Cup, Jofra not fit to replace him

England's tournament just goes from bad to worse. Topley has been England's leading wicket taker and pick of the bowlers this tournament. Losing him is such a blow. And it's cruel for Topley, also, because he's missed so many previous tournaments due to injury.

According to the Guardian, whoever England call up will need a visa otherwise they won't be able to play v Sri Lanka or India, as the visa process takes time.

Not sure who England will call upon. Carse is perhaps the leading contender, but I don't think he's principally a new-ball bowler, so it wouldn't be like-for-like.

by KP_fan Sun 22 Oct 2023, 4:33 pm

Duty281 wrote:
James100 wrote:Topley confirmed out of the World Cup, Jofra not fit to replace him

England's tournament just goes from bad to worse. Topley has been England's leading wicket taker and pick of the bowlers this tournament. Losing him is such a blow. And it's cruel for Topley, also, because he's missed so many previous tournaments due to injury.

According to the Guardian, whoever England call up will need a visa otherwise they won't be able to play v Sri Lanka or India, as the visa process takes time.

Not sure who England will call upon. Carse is perhaps the leading contender, but I don't think he's principally a new-ball bowler, so it wouldn't be like-for-like.

What did Topley injure?
Standbys should have ready visas as a part of good planning

by KP_fan Sun 22 Oct 2023, 4:38 pm

My worst fears
India chasing and loses 6 wickets to expose 4 no. 11s
Are quite close now

by Duty281 Sun 22 Oct 2023, 4:47 pm

KP_fan wrote:
Duty281 wrote:
James100 wrote:Topley confirmed out of the World Cup, Jofra not fit to replace him

England's tournament just goes from bad to worse. Topley has been England's leading wicket taker and pick of the bowlers this tournament. Losing him is such a blow. And it's cruel for Topley, also, because he's missed so many previous tournaments due to injury.

According to the Guardian, whoever England call up will need a visa otherwise they won't be able to play v Sri Lanka or India, as the visa process takes time.

Not sure who England will call upon. Carse is perhaps the leading contender, but I don't think he's principally a new-ball bowler, so it wouldn't be like-for-like.

What did Topley injure?
Standbys should have ready visas as a part of good planning

Broke his finger when fielding off his own bowling.

Agree about the standbys, but apparently England were happy to let theirs rest at home.

by KP_fan Sun 22 Oct 2023, 4:53 pm

That's an unlucky and unlikely way of breaking fingers.....only Williamson can consider himself unluckier

I did not understand bringing Archer in squad without fitness anywhere close to normal.

I thought teams could always bring spare players at their own cost into the country

by James100 Sun 22 Oct 2023, 4:56 pm

KP_fan wrote:That's an unlucky and unlikely way of breaking fingers.....only Williamson can consider himself unluckier

I did not understand bringing Archer in squad without fitness anywhere close to normal.

I thought teams could always bring spare players at their own cost into the country

Archer isn't in the squad and has now also been ruled out of the whole tournament - he went out as England's only travelling reserve, as they didn't want to be limited to just batter, seamer, spinner and wanted to be able to call up players for specific roles.

by Duty281 Sun 22 Oct 2023, 5:42 pm

India just about getting home in this tricky chase, thanks to another brilliant match-winning innings from Kohli. But he did fall for 95 after trying to do the same trick as in the previous game - scoring the winning runs and bringing up a ton on the same shot! Still a superb innings with no other Indian making a half-century.

Puts India at 5-0 after 5. We can safely say they are a semi-finalist team and highly likely to grab first place. With an out of form England, Sri Lanka, South Africa and the Dutch to play, it's not impossible that India go 9-0.

New Zealand, first blemish for them, but they shouldn't hurt too much from this loss. They're now 4-1, with a tricky run of fixtures ahead of them - Australia, SA, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Their semi-final status is pretty secure, but if they lose to Australia next time then the pressure builds for the South Africa game...

Tomorrow it's Pakistan v Afghanistan. Pakistan on two straight defeats and eager to rebuild after those setbacks. Pakistan won't underestimate a potentially dangerous Afghanistan side, as if they lose then their World Cup campaign would look to be in terminal decline. An Afghanistan win could actually lift them from 10th to 4th, which highlights how tight everything is.

Semi-finalists - India
Virtually secure - New Zealand
Good progress - South Africa
In the hunt - Pakistan, Australia
On life support - England
Brown bread - Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Netherlands

by KP_fan Sun 22 Oct 2023, 5:49 pm

It was a not really a balanced 11 for india, batting too shallow..and they were below par in the field...dropped 3 sitters.
And yet they had enuf strength & resources to overhaul NZ, the top side in testing conditions.

The charade again to get Kohli a hundred was appalling today...give that they have 4 nos 11s thereafter.
Positive that Jadeja got first real outing including Asia cup where he didn't get much bat
and Shami showing the bench strength

Happy problem for India next game....it's likely to be a a 7.5/10 pitch in Lucknow vs Eng
If Pandya is fit....Pandya and Ashwin will play for shami and SKY
If Pandya not fit....Ashwin will still play for Shami

Shami should be MOM today and will have to sit out next game

by guildfordbat Sun 22 Oct 2023, 7:05 pm

James100 wrote:
KP_fan wrote:That's an unlucky and unlikely way of breaking fingers.....only Williamson can consider himself unluckier

I did not understand bringing Archer in squad without fitness anywhere close to normal.

I thought teams could always bring spare players at their own cost into the country

Archer isn't in the squad and has now also been ruled out of the whole tournament - he went out as England's only travelling reserve, as they didn't want to be limited to just batter, seamer, spinner and wanted to be able to call up players for specific roles.

Hi James - yes, that’s certainly right about Archer not being one of the named 15 man squad. However, as mentioned before the tournament started, I’ve always doubted his presence in the camp and suspected it might be an unnecessary distraction.

As regards a replacement for Topley, I guess we should send someone out and that it would look too defeatist if we didn’t. However, I find it hard to see who could leapfrog Surran and Woakes (benchwarmers yesterday) into the team even though they’ve both been poor to date.

Oh, and if a potential sub doesn’t have a visa already … then we really don’t know what we’re doing!

As regards today’s game, I find myself having a worrying tendency to agree with KP-f. I really dislike the
selfishness of Kohli in turning down team winning runs for a personal century.

I also share KP-f’s concern as to India’s lengthy tail. Whilst Kohli’s innings will undoubtedly be much celebrated, the support and protection afforded to him and his teammates by Jadeja in his thoroughly responsible supporting act has probably gone more under the radar than it should.

Harsh to fault NZ but I thought Ravindra was overbowled, particularly towards the end. With Phillips aready having bowled 2, I would’nt have given him more than 7. Whoever was going to win, it seemed pretty clear it would be wrapped up before the 50th over and so I would have returned to the frontline seamers sooner.

by Duty281 Sun 22 Oct 2023, 9:31 pm

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/icc-cricket-world-cup-2023-where-have-all-the-close-finishes-gone-this-no-world-cup-for-left-armers-1404636

Though a couple of games out of date now, I thought this was a good stats breakdown from Cricinfo. Main points:

- Not a lot of swing or seam on offer for bowlers. Dharamsala, Lucknow and Delhi have been the best grounds for this.
- Death batting has been slower than the 2011 World Cup.
- Best scoring rate in the first 30 overs at a World Cup since records started (1999), also the highest % of runs scored in the first 30 overs.

Seems to point to what we've seen, that those cameos down the order to push the score along T20 style have been quite rare and tough to execute.

- Not much reverse or spin on offer, however spin bowling is accounting for nearly a third of the total overs between 41-50.
- Players with IPL experience are doing better.
- Left arm bowlers are struggling more than usual.
- No close finishes. In fact this could be the World Cup with the most one-sided games.

by king_carlos Sun 22 Oct 2023, 11:26 pm

guildfordbat wrote:As regards a replacement for Topley, I guess we should send someone out and that it would look too defeatist if we didn’t. However, I find it hard to see who could leapfrog Surran and Woakes (benchwarmers yesterday) into the team even though they’ve both been poor to date.

I actually think Brydon Carse could add a lot now we've seen the conditions. In his brief chances he's looked like the closest thing England have found to a like-for-like Plunkett replacement. That ability to bowl back of a length and quick during the middle overs. Obviously he isn't Plunkett's quality but the raw ingredients looked to be there. He can bat a bit down the order too.

by alfie Mon 23 Oct 2023, 7:06 am

Not impossible they could use the injury sub opportunity to add something other than a pace bowler to their squad ? Presume Roy has ruled himself out but could Duckett be considered as a possible boost to the batting ? Or another spinner - Dawson ? Don't think they will , but it could be considered.

Agree with guildford it would be odd to leapfrog the men already there - though I do think Carse the most likely replacement bowler.

Also agree the whole business of Archer travelling when they had no real thought to use him wasn't particularly helpful. Really haven't been altogether happy with the management of this campaign from the start. There doesn't seem to be the same focus we saw in 2019 .

by alfie Mon 23 Oct 2023, 7:17 am

That India-NZ game is about as near as we have come to a "close finish". They really have been the outstanding sides so far. But we are only half way through the round-robin so maybe peaking early won't mean everything at the end ? At least the hosts are now nailed on semi finalists , so the organisers can breathe freely.
NZ are still in good shape 4-1 ; but they do have some games ahead that ought to be harder work than carving up the bottom four as they've been doing ; so they aren't really secure yet.
Wonder if we will see any more major upsets over the next few days ? Afghanistan v Pakistan probably can't be called a given...

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Mon 23 Oct 2023, 9:38 am

Been confirmed that Carse is called up to replace Topley - not that I think he's gonna get a game...shame for Topley and England, but another seamer down is not gonna help!

by wisden Mon 23 Oct 2023, 9:56 am

You feel Afghanistan will need to turn to Rashid khan early here as Pakistan are off to a flyer on a slow dry surface

by wisden Mon 23 Oct 2023, 11:09 am

Anyone else watching this game? Pitch ragging sideways now!

by KP_fan Mon 23 Oct 2023, 11:10 am

The pitch is a slow turner........275 should be a par total I think

by king_carlos Mon 23 Oct 2023, 11:23 am

It's amazing that the Afghanistan vs Pakistan game has seen the ICC (cough cough) prepare a perfect wicket for Afghanistan. Maybe the ICC and PCB coincidentally get on just as poorly as the BCCI and PCB?

by wisden Mon 23 Oct 2023, 11:33 am

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Been confirmed that Carse is called up to replace Topley - not that I think he's gonna get a game...shame for Topley and England, but another seamer down is not gonna help!

What do you make of this selection? I wouldn't have picked another seamer I would have called up Rehan Ahmed or will jacks

by KP_fan Mon 23 Oct 2023, 11:46 am

both teams have 4 spin bowling and 3 seam bowling options

Afg's spin options are of superior quality and Pak's pace by far superior

by alfie Mon 23 Oct 2023, 12:02 pm

Afghans have done well to hold Pakistan down to 4.5 per over. Still need to bag a couple more wickets or the last few overs might yet undo them. Wouldn't want to be chasing too many on this tricky track.
Babar the key man : he's been very patient. Has a realistic target in mind , I think.

by wisden Mon 23 Oct 2023, 12:11 pm

I think 220 is enough on this pitch with Pakistan's bowling attack...anything more is a bonus

by KP_fan Mon 23 Oct 2023, 12:45 pm

Iftikaar is the strongest hitter going around ....you need his type of Muscle to hit sixes on a slow pitch like this

by alfie Mon 23 Oct 2023, 1:02 pm

Afghans getting taken apart in these death overs...looks like about 290 and Afghanistan isn't getting anywhere near that.

by KP_fan Mon 23 Oct 2023, 1:11 pm

Afg erred in bringing pacers in last overs
Naveen still OK.....the other guy Azmat was juts right pace on

Afg needed to have completed quota of 4 spinner also.
5 to 10 runs above par I would say & that is for good batting sides.....For Afg, beyond reach...they are worse chasing.
They would do well to get to 200

by Duty281 Mon 23 Oct 2023, 1:16 pm

That was a good late push by Pakistan on a tricky pitch. Shadab Khan showing why he shouldn't have been dropped in the last game, Iftikhar at his destructive best, and Babar being the glue that held it all together.

They managed Rashid Khan very well.

Should be a total beyond Afghanistan. I believe Afghanistan's record chase to win an ODI was 276 v the UAE back in 2014, so this would be record-breaking, although they did chase 269 to beat Sri Lanka a few months back.

by Duty281 Mon 23 Oct 2023, 2:13 pm

Got a game on here. Shaheen and Hasan unable to do much with the new ball, Afghanistan 38/0 after 7.

Pakistan's fielding has already been substandard.

by wisden Mon 23 Oct 2023, 2:47 pm

94-0 in the 15th...they're flying!

by Duty281 Mon 23 Oct 2023, 2:54 pm

Yep, absolutely flying as they reach drinks. 105/0 after 16.

Pakistan have been terrible. Their bowlers have got the lines wrong. Too much width, too many boundary balls, and the ground fielding has been completely amateur. They've had a couple of near misses as well, but on the whole they've been atrocious, and the Afghan openers have barely played a shot in anger.

Pakistan are in big trouble and so is their World Cup campaign. However, Afghanistan do have a tendency to collapse, so the Pakistanis will know they're not out of it just yet.

by wisden Mon 23 Oct 2023, 3:07 pm

Shadab really struggling can't put two balls on a good length batters tearing into him...Pakistan badly missing nawaz

by dummy_half Mon 23 Oct 2023, 3:42 pm

One wicket down, but still looking like Afghanistan are well in control - at the half way point in overs they are well ahead of the runs required and 9 wickets in hand.

Of course it could turn around with an epic collapse, but I certainly wouldn't put money on it at the moment.

by Duty281 Mon 23 Oct 2023, 3:52 pm

It's a cakewalk at the moment. Pakistan brought Shaheen back and he duly provided the breakthrough, but they couldn't trigger a collapse from it. Shah has come out at 3 and steadied things with his experience.

Usama Mir having another torrid game.

by alfie Mon 23 Oct 2023, 4:02 pm

Suppose I shouldn't be surprised. "Good Pakistan" can turn into "Bad Pakistan " in the blink of an eye...why not between innings ? Not over yet , of course : another wicket could easily bring about a collapse and a lot can happen in 19 overs. But bowling and fielding just not giving a lot of optimism for their hopes at the moment.

by Duty281 Mon 23 Oct 2023, 4:25 pm

Pressure starting to build a little. The second wicket has fallen and the required rate is above run a ball now.

by alfie Mon 23 Oct 2023, 4:45 pm

Candidate for "worst review of the WC " there

. Afridi in "Hopeful fast bowler" mode...pretty good over though.

Still work to do for Afghanistan...

by Duty281 Mon 23 Oct 2023, 4:48 pm

Yeah, horrific review.

Shah gets to his first 50 of the World Cup. Vital innings and very timely.

by KP_fan Mon 23 Oct 2023, 4:51 pm

Afg have defied expectations and played very bravely
Game is now theirs to lose....but they are capable of choking

by Sponsored content