Group A - India, England, Australia, West Indies

[LongHopCassidy]

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

[open365]

Originally Posted by tooextracool

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]

Originally Posted by Great Birtannia

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.

[aussie]

Originally Posted by 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.

Don't under-rate England, they may have a poor ODI record but they have a great work ethic and could easily upset someone, they managed to keep a full-strenght Pakistan side 2-2 with a weakened side of there own just recently which was a superb effort IMO.

Australia are the only side who one can safely say will qualify for sure, India's form of late has been poor & the Windies are extremely unpredictable.

[aussie]

Originally Posted by tooextracool

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.

Yea i know his ER is high and is proned to bowling erratic spells, but he showed in the latter part of the ODI's in England this year that once he gets it right he can be very effective. It will be a close decision on who England pick between Mahmood/Lewis 2moro morning but i figure it will be Mahmood since fletcher and the selectors have showed even through his stuggles in the ODI's recently they have great belief in the bloke.

[Laurrz]

as an aussie fan, who should i go for? Initially i'd say India

but if i went for England would it help Australias chances of getting thru ? i am confused lol

[Perm]

I'm predicting a few big defeats for England with atleast one competitive game, more than likely against the West Indies. Australia and India will probably qualify unless Gayle and Sarwan have something to say about it.

[age_master]

I would rather have India going through with Australia personally, they have a great record of making finals then choking

[age_master]

Originally Posted by aussie

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.

Watson will probably play the first game, how long he lasts will depend on how well he does. I dont think his bowling will be used as much as it would elsewhere, Symonds and Clarke will bowl more then usual i would expect.

[adharcric]

Originally Posted by marc71178

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

Please consider actually watching cricketers in action before commenting on them.

[Pratters]

Originally Posted by adharcric

Please consider actually watching cricketers in action before commenting on them.

When defending Mahmood's selection in the England squad, he had said the following:

Originally Posted by Marc

Mahmood is in for the same reason that Plunkett is selected in spite of lameness on the field - he has potential and is next in the pecking order.

So it is a bit surprising he cannot understand your anguish and Sressanth's non selection regardless of his record. You gave a similar (if not the same) reason in your remark for why you felt Sreesanth should have been selected:

Originally Posted by adharcric

They dropped India's most promising pacer for what is virtually a preparation for the World Cup.

[roseboy64]

Originally Posted by 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.

Umm no?I'd say Australia and West Indies. England are crap in ODIs and the WI have India in the palm of their hands.

[Pratters]

India wins toss and decides to field. Freddy says England would have bowled any way.