ICC Champions Trophy 2004

[GermanShepherd]

Hello,

This is my first post here. I am from Colombo.
Who do you think will win the ICC Champions Trophy 2004 ?

The pools are:
Pool 1: Australia, New Zealand, USA
Pool 2: South Africa, West Indies, Bangladesh
Pool 3: Pakistan, India, Kenya
Pool 4: Sri Lanka, England, Zimbabwe


My analysis of the team's chances are as follows:
1) Australia -- Red hot favourites to win. They are a superbly balanced side; it will take something special to beat them
2) RSA and India -- Both strong sides and are in with a chance.
3) England and NZl are the dark horses; Improving England have home advantage and should win their pool but beyond that they will have to play very well; Kiwis are always a dangerous outfit and if they can upset Australia in the pool stage, their confidence will rocket skywards.
4) Pakistan and WI are in a bad shape at the moment but both are highly unpredictable.
5) I don't give my side SL much hope; We'll have to play out of our skins to get past the pool stage even where England is in the way. A lot I feel hinges on Jaya's form.

[Tim]

Nice post mate, welcome.

[Dasa]

Largely agree, although I think you may be under-rating Pakistan and WI a tad. WI are still a competitive ODI side, as are Pakistan, just hugely inconsistent.

[NikhilN]

I think United States got the worst pool

[Linda]

Originally Posted by Proud Indian

I think United States got the worst pool

Yes, I think thats a safe assumption.

[Sehwag309]

Pool 3/4 seems to have a tough contest

[tooextracool]

Originally Posted by Sehwag309

Pool 3/4 seems to have a tough contest

i think england should get through quite comfortably. SL have always been a poor team outside of home.pool 1 is going to be a real toughy,NZ have improved leaps and bounds in the ODI games recently and will put up a good fight against australia.

[luckyeddie]

Originally Posted by Proud Indian

I think United States got the worst pool

Yes, but ask them who they would wish to play out of all the teams in the world and the answer would in all likelihood be Australia

[thehellraiser]

the india-pakistan game is going to be a cracker....if the recent odi series is anything to go by.

i heard that the tickets for the encounter sold out within 2 hrs.
anyone know the date of the match and where in england it is going to be played.

does anyone know how to get a hold of a couple of tickets...... ....me willing to pay big bucks

[krkode]

Australia have been red-hot favorites to win everything they've participated in since 1999. They have, however, barely made an impact in the past two versions of this trophy...right?

Personally, I think it's all about India and Australia...maybe USA...

[marc71178]

Originally Posted by thehellraiser

i heard that the tickets for the encounter sold out within 2 hrs.
anyone know the date of the match and where in england it is going to be played.

At Edgbaston - I was looking to go, but didn't realise tickets were on sale until they were sold out.

[krkode]

Originally Posted by luckyeddie

Yes, but ask them who they would wish to play out of all the teams in the world and the answer would in all likelihood be Australia

Why do you think that?

[luckyeddie]

Originally Posted by krkode

Why do you think that?

Purely and simply that they (Australia) are unquestionably the best - and anyone worth their salt, given the choice, would take the option of measuring themselves against the cream.

[LankanPrince]

Hi GermanSheperd,

Welcome to the forum my man, as u get can guess from my name I am also from SL. I agree Sri Lanka's form is really rock bottom. They are not bad at tests but they have slipped a long way down from being a good ODI side. Our batting is very weak with the old timers showing their age, especially Marvan and Sanath are more inconsistent that before. However we have promising bowling attack: Vaas, Zoysa and Murali are a dangerous trio. I agree Jayasuriya's form is important but to me the performance of the youngsters, especially Sanga and Mahela is crucial. Anyways best of luck to the SL boyz: they need it because their record in England is quite poor. Their success depends on the pitches. Green, swinging pitches the batting will crumble as we have seen on so many occasions. Dry, spinning pitches (I wish!) and Murali is the man to do it.

Of the other teams either Australia and India are hot favourites. Both these teams are well balanced and they can adapt to different conditions. The Indian batting has obvious class and I really think bowlers such as Pathan, Balaji and Zaheer will do well if the pitches suit the swingers. However Australia has the obvious edge, especially in the spin department with Shane Warne.

The other teams are a definite class below these other teams. England and West Indies have shown glimmers of excellence in ODI cricket but these are rare and they do not have the team strength to overcome Australia or India: they are based on a couple of brilliant individuals. I believe Pakistan is a wildcard in the tournament, if their batsman show to the world how they played against India and Sami and Shoaib are blasting out wickets, it will add definite excitement to the tournament.

By the way GermanSheperd, how is SL these dayz?, I reaaaally miss it. I haven't been since 2000?

LankanPrince

[krkode]

Originally Posted by luckyeddie

Purely and simply that they (Australia) are unquestionably the best - and anyone worth their salt, given the choice, would take the option of measuring themselves against the cream.

Even when they positively know they're not as good as the salt in that cream?

It makes sense, though, and I agree with you. The Ameircans won't mind; I'm wondering what sort of a show they'll put up, though.