Group A - India, England, Australia, West Indies

[aussie]

My England & Australian teams for their opening games:

ENGLAND:

Strauss
Flintoff
Bell
Pietersen
Collingwood
Dalrymple
Yardy
Read
Mahmood
Harmison
Anderson

If Flintoff can bowl later on in the tournament, i would drop Mahmood & pick Joyce to either open or bat in the middle-order.

AUSTRALIA

Gilchrist
Watson
Ponting
Martyn/Katich
Symonds
Clarke
Hussey
Hogg
Lee
Bracken
McGrath

Martyn/Katich - two of the men under pressure, i personally would still pick Martyo to bat at 4 & let Watson open. But i fear the selectors will let Katich open, but even so Watson has to play since his role as a bowler will give the bowling attack a very good balance.

 

[Nate]

I notice nobody has commented on the fact that Katich was told to play a specific role in the last Tournament, merely had a go at him.

I notice shut up.

He`s said himself he hasn`t played his role well enough and needs to score quickly. Something I leave in the toilet could`ve told me he was playing a role, it was made very clear.

Watson and Symonds gunned it with the bat in the warm-up. Martyn went alright as well. Pidge, Lee and Symonds were brilliant with the ball, Bracken and Hogg were economical, but Johnson and Watson got smacked a bit.

 

[Great Birtannia]

AUSTRALIA

Gilchrist
Watson
Ponting
Martyn/Katich
Symonds
Clarke
Hussey
Hogg
Lee
Bracken
McGrath

I would leave Watson out for the first match, I think he will struggle with the ball on the flat decks in India. Katich does deserve the chance to hold his place, ahead of Watson opening anyway which really shouldn't be a long term option, and I think with Gilly rusty and Ponting's record in India, Martyn's experience and his ability against spin bowling will be valuable in the conditions.

 

[Poker Boy]

My England & Australian teams for their opening games:

ENGLAND:

Strauss
Flintoff
Bell
Pietersen
Collingwood
Dalrymple
Yardy
Read
Mahmood
Harmison
Anderson

If Flintoff can bowl later on in the tournament, i would drop Mahmood & pick Joyce to either open or bat in the middle-order.

AUSTRALIA

Gilchrist
Watson
Ponting
Martyn/Katich
Symonds
Clarke
Hussey
Hogg
Lee
Bracken
McGrath

Martyn/Katich - two of the men under pressure, i personally would still pick Martyo to bat at 4 & let Watson open. But i fear the selectors will let Katich open, but even so Watson has to play since his role as a bowler will give the bowling attack a very good balance.

Probably the best XI England can field though the seam bowlers are a worry -Anderson rusty, Harmison and Mahmood have leaked runs in the past. I hope if the wickets help spin Fletcher gets KP bowling - that's a weakness of England we don't have a batsman who can bowl spin in an ODI if needed like Gayle or Jayasuria. Every England batsman who could bowl spin rarely did -Vaughan and Hick should have bowled more in ODIs. As for Australia I reckon Gilchrist's best opening partner is either Hussey or Hayden - can't fathom out why Katich is in there while Hayden is not -I know who i'd rather bowl at. PS - 6 runs off 40 balls - was Katich in a huff a-la Gavaskar in 1975(even Sunny might say that was too slow)!!

 

[Jono]

Three out of four I agree with - if SL end up in Pakistan group I think they'd take out SA - 5-0 whitewash in 2004 and more recently knocked them out of the VB series.

That SA team late in the VB Series was severely injury stricken. Mind you SL are a massive darkhorse in this tourny, but I think you're underrating SA.

Aus vs. SA final is a strong possibility IMO, since they performed very well against India in India when they were on a hot streak. 2-2 drawn series, and never looked like losing it.

 

[Nate]

The Saffies bowling is weaker then its showing at the moment I reckon. Its frailties will be shown in this tourney IMO.

 

[tooextracool]

Lewis did well in autumn series against Pakistan but if it doesn't swing could be easy meat

There is no substitute for line and length in ODIs. Whether the ball is swinging or not if you bowling 6 out of 6 balls on the right spot you arent going to be easy to get away for runs especially with the new ball. Lewis may not be a bowler capable of destructive spells, but at least he provides some control and accuracy in a side filled with bowlers than can hardly bowl a straight ball.

Stuart Broad should have been here - he's young but he's tall and gets bouce.

Much like Mahmood and Harmison then? Broad is clearly not ready to play international cricket at the moment, he needs to brush up in domestic cricket first.

 

[tooextracool]

My England & Australian teams for their opening games:

ENGLAND:

Strauss
Flintoff
Bell
Pietersen
Collingwood
Dalrymple
Yardy
Read
Mahmood
Harmison
Anderson

If Flintoff can bowl later on in the tournament, i would drop Mahmood & pick Joyce to either open or bat in the middle-order.

Why on earth would anyone pick Mahmood? And its incredibly absurd to pick Mahmood over someone like Lewis. At least not when one bowler has an ER of 6.38 which makes the zimbabwian and bangladeshi bowlers looks brilliant.

 

[Gajanayake]

I have this feeling that England will upset India tomorrow......hope I'm wrong but some thing tells me it will be so.


This is the team I think India should roll out

Sehwag
Tendulkar
Kaif
Yuvraj
Dravid
Dhoni
Mongia
Powar
Harbhajan
Agarkar
Munaf

 

[Nate]

Why didn`t India choose Sreesanth?

 

[Gajanayake]

Why didn`t India choose Sreesanth?

I'm not sure. He's more likely to trouble batsmen than Rudra Pratap Singh, imo.

 

[Gajanayake]

Why on earth would anyone pick Mahmood? And its incredibly absurd to pick Mahmood over someone like Lewis. At least not when one bowler has an ER of 6.38 which makes the zimbabwian and bangladeshi bowlers looks brilliant.

From what I've heard in the reports, Fletcher feels Mahmood's speed and bounce would be more effective than Lewis in Indian conditions.

I think Mahmood will start against India in Jaipur.

 

[Pratters]

Why didn`t India choose Sreesanth?

It would have been a huge experience for him and it is a pity he wasn't chosen.

 

[adharcric]

Why didn`t India choose Sreesanth?

Our selectors are stuipd ****s, that's why. They dropped India's most promising pacer for what is virtually a preparation for the World Cup.

 

[marc71178]

So it has nothing to do with his less than great record thus far then?

 

[LongHopCassidy]

By that logic, Watson shouldn't be playing, nor should Mahmood, Katich, Munaf or Harmison. Second chances not your style, Marcus?

 

[open365]

Why on earth would anyone pick Mahmood? And its incredibly absurd to pick Mahmood over someone like Lewis. At least not when one bowler has an ER of 6.38 which makes the zimbabwian and bangladeshi bowlers looks brilliant.

Agreed totaly, i really hate the way Lewis gets completely ignored by everyone.

What's he done wrong? He was our best bowler by a mile against Pakistan, he got a hell of a lot better figures than Mahmood all the way through the series and gets ignored by everyone then when Mahmood takes 2 wickets in the last match (as opposed to Lewis' 1-27 of ten) he gets the headline and everyone goes on about how amazing he is.

Lewis deserves his chance, he's the only one of the current England bowlers that can bowl a consistent line and length which is what we need in ODIs.

And to anyone who wants Katich in the Aus side over Hayden, ask yourself this- Who would England rather see opening the batting against them on Sunday? Matthew Hayden or Simon Katich?

I don't know how on earth Katich is veiwed as being over Hayden right now.

 

[godofcricket]

Why do i get the feeling that india are gonna thrash england tommarrow???

 

[godofcricket]

With windies in the group, i would say india and Australia could easily walk to the semi-finals......this group isnt hard to predict. Unless Chris Gayle has something special for us, we might see a upset, u never know.

 

[aussie]

I would leave Watson out for the first match, I think he will struggle with the ball on the flat decks in India. Katich does deserve the chance to hold his place, ahead of Watson opening anyway which really shouldn't be a long term option, and I think with Gilly rusty and Ponting's record in India, Martyn's experience and his ability against spin bowling will be valuable in the conditions.

Well Watson opened in the warm-up so maybe the selectors see him as opener option for the time being. I dont think Watson's bowling will struggle that much, the pitch & conditions in malaysia look fairly similar to India so i think his bowling will go ok.