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ICC Champions Trophy 2004

GermanShepherd

School Boy/Girl Captain
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.
 

Dasa

International Vice-Captain
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.
 

tooextracool

International Coach
Sehwag309 said:
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

Cricket Web Staff Member
Proud Indian said:
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

School Boy/Girl Captain
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...... :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: ....me willing to pay big bucks :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
 

krkode

State Captain
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... :happy:
 

marc71178

Eyes not spreadsheets
thehellraiser said:
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

State Captain
luckyeddie said:
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

Cricket Web Staff Member
krkode said:
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

School Boy/Girl Captain
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 :cool:
 

krkode

State Captain
luckyeddie said:
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? :happy:

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. :mellow:
 

LankanPrince

School Boy/Girl Captain
Pity how there are no overweight, donut eating, coca cola drinking Americans in the US cricket team. They seem to be another talented side (relative to the developing nations) mainly consisting of expatriate Carribeans, Asians and Australians living in the US. The inclusion of a US cricket team isn't as great for cricket development as the ICC makes it out to be. It is obviously a dream come true for cricket loving expatriates in the US but I think interest among the locals is still minimal. ODI cricket is no where near as commercialised as their ridiculous television sports (i.e. NFL, NBA etc.).
Would it be great to see the stereotypical American playing for the US cricket team?, not likely unless there are big bucks to be made! :p
 
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GermanShepherd

School Boy/Girl Captain
Hi SLPrince,

Colombo is very hot atm. Hotter than usual for April. Where are u from in SL ?

SL will have to play exceedingly well to beat England.
Where is that match scheduled to be , btw ? Is it Lords ?
 

krkode

State Captain
LankanPrince:
I agree when you say Cricket may never catch up to the level of Baseball or Basketball in the USA. Cricket is a lovable game, indeed, and the reason many developing nations suddenly take a love to it is they have no other deep-rooted sport. Such is the case with Kenya, I would think. The USA, on the other hand, is deep-rooted in a tradition of Baseball, Football, and Basketball and has been for the past several decades, and no game, no matter how lovable is going to take that away. Look at Soccer, for example, it is the life and blood to millions around the world, yet it barely warrants a following in the US at the level of BBF.
 

Sehwag309

Banned
LankanPrince said:
Pity how there are no overweight, donut eating, coca cola drinking Americans in the US cricket team. They seem to be another talented side (relative to the developing nations) mainly consisting of expatriate Carribeans, Asians and Australians living in the US. The inclusion of a US cricket team isn't as great for cricket development as the ICC makes it out to be. It is obviously a dream come true for cricket loving expatriates in the US but I think interest among the locals is still minimal. ODI cricket is no where near as commercialised as their ridiculous television sports (i.e. NFL, NBA etc.).
Would it be great to see the stereotypical American playing for the US cricket team?, not likely unless there are big bucks to be made! :p
But the US is a country of Immigrants, so what would be a true US team. Natives!
 

LankanPrince

School Boy/Girl Captain
Sehwag309 said:
But the US is a country of Immigrants, so what would be a true US team. Natives!
That is very true, but how come the England cricket team isn't more balanced. There is a lot of talented Asian and Black players in the UK county cricket scene but when they do get picked they get only a couple of matches. The England selectors should persevere with these players more like they have done with Steve Harmison and Andrew Flintoff, both who had disappointing starts to their international career but have gradually made their mark. If the selectors fail to persevere with a base of Asian and Black players, the England team will not realise the talent of players such as Vikram Solanki, Kabir Ali and Alex Tudor.

GermanSheperd: Great to hear that it is hot in Sri Lanka, the dry season must be in full swing. I myself was not born in Sri Lankan but my father is from Kollonawa, mother from Napana (near Kandy) and brother born in Kegalle. Mainly the central parts of Sri Lanka. :D
 

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