ICC Champions Trophy pools
 

I'm not sure if it has been said already but putting NZ and Australia in the same pool is ridiculous! They are the two best teams in OD cricket and should therefore be scheduled to meet in the final.

When were these pools decided? Shouldn't the seeding be determined within a month of the tournament?

It would have made sense, but they were decided months ago in order for ticketing and broadcasting arrangements to be set up well in advance.

its pretty screwed IMO

Oh the tourmament hasn't even started and people have started looking for excuse ? IMO, It doesn't really matter what group you are in, every match is a knockout, you lose one match and you are out of series(unless USA beats both Aus & NZ).

Nothing to do with the remark really.. Just replying to ur signature ;)
She is the Long-Jump Medal hope in Olympics... You shouldn't expect everyone to not know it !!

Off topic I guess , but arent Lee-Hesh better bets to win a medal than Anju George ?

Nag . Nag . Nag.

India play Pakistan.
Australia play New Zealand .
England play Sri Lanka .
South Africa play West Indies .

Except for the last pool , the rest seem equally fair/unfair IMO.

New zealand isnt the second best team in everyones opinion .I think SA is .

If you feel so strongly , suggest a better grouping which would be fair and pull in the crowds too.

Aren't the pools decided on rankings anyway?

fair call, but in the first test SL v SA, SL are caning...

thats tests in srilanka.....totally different from ODIs in england......SL arent good travellers .

Besides from being a New Zealander, I go off the official ICC Test and ODI rankings, and if they say New Zealand is second in the world in ODIs, then they are for me. People forget they just won the Natwest Series after being whitewashed in the Test series.

New Zealand are a "champion team" while SA are "a team of champions". On paper NZ look pretty damn crap, yet they perform over and over.

So what if NZ won the Natwest ? SL won the Asia cup recently , but that doesnt make them no2 .

Iam not saying that NZ arent good , just saying that I think SA might just be slightly ahead of them .

Hey I go off the latest ICC ODI rankings.

New Zealand has been more consistent then Sri Lanka, and it wasn't on home soil unlike Sri Lanka's Asia win.

You forget the teams New Zealand have beaten, Pakistan and South Africa comprehensively after their caning in Pakistan (but that was a pretty weak NZ side).

As you said , the Natwest win wasnt on home soil. But the SA and Pak wins were , werent they ?

The other teams in the Natwest series werent very good ones though .