For the love of cricket

February 14 is a great day to start a World Cup for lovers of cricket although six weeks of intense competition may have divorce lawyers salivating, particularly with such anti-social start times.

The opening day is, on paper at least, a mouth-watering prospect, pitting co-hosts and pre-tournament favourites, Australia, against arch-rivals England after New Zealand start the tournament against Sri Lanka hours earlier.

The reality is likely to be a comfortable one-sided victory for the ‘baggy greens’ as Australia boast a formidable record in this format of the game while England’s recent record is poor, despite some improvements since Alaistair Cook was axed as captain.

Australia has lost only two of their last 20 50-over One Day Internationals (ODIs) and one of these was in a 4-1 series drubbing of England. They have only been pushed close by South Africa. Conversely England has won only two of their last 12 fixtures against the Aussies.

One of their key assets is the left-arm pace bowler, Mitchell Johnson. Many believe that he is a ‘confidence’ player, in which case he will relish this opener having blitzed through England’s batting seemingly at will over the last year.

Paired alongside either the other Mitchell, Starc, or Josh Hazlewood, Australia has the most potent bowling line-up in the competition, particularly suited to the hard, bouncy wickets produced in Australia. New Zealand, who share the hosting duties, also will provide wickets that suit pace, particularly when delivered from height.

The fast bowlers are also boosted by the introduction of two new balls, one from each end, meaning that conventional swing, admittedly at the cost of reverse swing later in the innings, will last longer.

However, the tournament favourites (in a competition where the favourites have won the last four times) also possess an impressive batting line-up. Either one of Aaron Finch or David Warner can win the game from the opening slot although neither are as potent as Glenn Maxwell, Mitch Marsh or James Faulkner. Captain-in-chief (at least while others remain injured), Steve Smith, is positively sedate by comparison although his unconventional technique belies wonderful co-ordination and a quick brain. Alongside these Shane Watson, a remarkable talent, is almost the forgotten man!

Their closest competition comes from South Africa, who they recently dispatched in an ODI-series. The Proteas possibly possess a marginally stronger batting line-up combining experience and adaptability.

AB de Villiers has just re-written the record books with the fastest ODI century off just 31 balls, while JP Duminy is another who can win a match single-handed. Faf du Plessis has been a revelation over the last 12-18 months and can amend his style to suit the game situation although is at his best when destroying opposition bowling attacks.

With the ball, Dale Steyn has been the most consistent paceman for a number of years and the hard wickets will suit the height of new-ball partner, Morne Morkel. Vernon Philander does not possess the same virtues although his consistent line and ability to swing the ball make him difficult to score from.

Of course, South Africa’s greatest problem may well be the burden of the previous performances of past generations that have promised much yet delivered little, leading to them now carrying the tag of ‘serial chokers’.

Away from the top two it is difficult to see which team can perform with the level of consistency required to win a tournament. Well, that would be the case if it were not for a format that means the top teams can qualify from a group stage without hitting top form.

Other sides that could do well include co-hosts New Zealand who can count on the leadership skills and experience of Brendon McCullum and Daniel Vettori while the likes of Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor are potential match winners.

The West Indies are one of three nations to have claimed this title at least twice (alongside Australia and India) and boast a heady cocktail of flair and flamboyance, set behind a trio of pacemen, allowing those of slightly advanced years, to reminisce about their glory years.

In Kemar Roach, Andre Russell and Jerome Taylor they have the pace if not the height of yester-year, although they have a well-travelled Chris Gayle who will open the innings, probably alongside Dwayne Smith. Marlon Samuels and Darren Bravo will hope to stabilise the middle-order, although the fact that Darren Sammy bats as low as No. 8 demonstrates their strength in depth.

Of the Asian sides it is Pakistan that has the most intriguing prospects, particularly as they lifted the trophy the last time it was held in Australia with an Imran Khan-led come-from-behind victory in 1992. Frustratingly inconsistent, they can beat any side on their day and have a nice balance to their side, particularly if they can manufacture a return (injury replacement perhaps) for Saeed Ajmal now that his bowling action have been confirmed as legal.

They are captained by one of the oldest players in the competition, Misbah Ul-Haq (the two others over 40 represent the UAE), who, alongside ‘Boom Boom’ Afridi has announced his retirement after the World Cup.

Pakistan does not possess the depth of explosive batting that the top teams have although they can depend on Misbah and Younis in the middle of the innings provided they are given a solid start by the openers.

Their traditional strength lies in the pace bowling department although they have already lost Junaid Khan meaning they will be led by Wahab Riaz who they hope will again rise to the big occasion (he took 5-46 against India in the semi-final in 2011). Most excitingly they have the seven-foot-tall Mohammad Irfan who will relish the pace and bounce of the wickets.

They will have to hit the ground running as their opening match is against India who have plummeted to new depths and, at the time of writing, have failed to win (or even get close to winning) any of their warm-up matches in Australia.

However, be wary of the wounded tiger! They are the defending champions for a reason and have some of the finest batsmen around, led by (whatever recent results suggest) the best captain in world cricket. I suspect that they have lacked motivation for what may be ‘meaningless’ games in a jam-packed season. Games don’t get much bigger for them than an opening World Cup game against their main rivals.

Their main weakness appears to be in the fast-bowling department which lacks consistency and wicket-taking ability. They will, therefore, rely on Jadeja and Ashwin to stem the flow of runs on wickets that will provide little assistance.
Sri Lanka is flying below the radar although they have the greatest ‘death bowler’ in Lasith Malinga. They rely too heavily on a couple of ageing stalwarts to score the runs although Angelo Matthews is proving to be an inspirational captain who leads by example.

England has had a marginal upturn in performance although not sufficient to be considered to have any real chance. Most discussion relates to whether they will lose to one of the Associate nations!
 
If they do successfully negotiate the group stages, most intriguing could be a game against Pakistan when Irfan, the world’s tallest player, could bowl at England’s diminutive James Taylor. The son of a jockey, Taylor, measuring 5ft 6in, has continued his fine domestic one-day form into the international arena. The disparity in height could make for some fascinating cricket!

England’s best chance may be to find their form during the group stage and peak for the knock-out rounds and spring a surprise. This is the main down-side of this competition in that results against the top countries have little meaning – provided they can beat the smaller nations.

The ICC is committed to developing the global game and so has invited four ‘developing’ associate countries to qualify, yet this leads to a number of one-sided fixtures. They have produced shocks in the past, most notably Kenya in 2003 and Ireland in 2007 although unfortunately these have not allowed significant additional opportunities as commercial interests dictate that the larger nations play each other more often. At least the ICC has decided to reduce the total number of teams to a total of 10 for the 2019 World Cup, although I’m not sure that’s the real answer.

The 11th running of the World Cup will hit the ground running ahead of 44 days of action, at the end of which one version of green and gold will hold the trophy. Any team will have to play well to beat Australia who should be the second country to win the title on home turf.

The 11th World Cup will almost certainly be similar in one respect to its 10 predecessors.The tournament, which begins next Saturday, is crucial for the future wellbeing of the 50-over format. At 44 days, it will last a day longer than the last competition.

Both McCullum, the Kiwi captain, and Mathews, of Sri Lanka, have fertile cricket brains and sufficient daring to try something different.
 
The rest of the teams are Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, competing in their first 50-over World Cup, and Scotland, who have Paul Collingwood back on board behind the scenes, no doubt at this very minute revising the words of ‘Flower of Scotland’.