Okay, so who's gonna win?

[_Ed_]

And the bowling-attack, Vettori apart, is nothing close to 1999 when you guys had Allott, Nash, Cairns, Larsen, Harris.

A fully fit attack of Bond, Mills, Adams, Oram, Vettori and Styris would be stronger than 1999 IMO. Allott was excellent, so was Cairns, but Nash wasn't as effective in ODIs as in tests, and Larsen and Harris although effective lacked the brilliance of Adams and Oram.

 

[Blaze]

and Larsen and Harris although effective lacked the brilliance of Adams and Oram.

You can't be serious? Gavin Larsen is one of our best ODI bowlers of all time, to even name Adams in the same sentence as him is a disgrace.

 

[Sir Redman]

IMO nowhere near as strong as 1999.
Vincent - glorified slogger
Fleming - middle-order player not opener
Astle - other way around
McMillan - barely in the picture, needs to be
Styris - better than he used to be, obviously, but I still find it hard to understand how he gets the success he does
And the bowling-attack, Vettori apart, is nothing close to 1999 when you guys had Allott, Nash, Cairns, Larsen, Harris.

Sorry, did I read that right? You think that McMillan needs to be in the team for NZ to have a decent chance? There's no way that McMillan would make our full-strength XI right now, and I'd be disappointed if he even made the World Cup squad.

Have NZ ever looked like replacing Roger Twose?

It looked as though Hamish Marshall was filling up that role, but sadly he has been playing like crap since the Zimbabwe tour and at this rate might not even make the squad.

 

[_Ed_]

You can't be serious? Gavin Larsen is one of our best ODI bowlers of all time, to even name Adams in the same sentence as him is a disgrace.

You're right...I can't really remember seeing him bowl at his best (although he was still excellent in the 99 WC) so it wasn't the most informed post ever, and I can't stand his commentary so there was some bias against him there too. Looking at his stats, he was exceptional.

But I still believe that overall this bowling attack compares very favourably to that one.

 

[Blaze]

I am pretty much the same, I can't stand his commentary yet he was my favourite player whilst he was in the BLACKCAPS.

I think he ended up with an RPO of 3.76 or something. Remarkable.

 

[Blaze]

IMO nowhere near as strong as 1999.
And the bowling-attack, Vettori apart, is nothing close to 1999 when you guys had Allott, Nash, Cairns, Larsen, Harris.
Have NZ ever looked like replacing Roger Twose?

Allot - Bond
Nash > Mills
Cairns > Who knows?
Vettori(99) < Vettori (2007)
Larsen > Styris
Harris - Patel/ Harris/ Astle

The 1999 attack was a lot better IMO.

Roger Twose was a highly underrated (and often forgotten about) ODI batsman. Look for Ross Taylor to take over his role in 2007 Richard.

 

[adharcric]

INDIA


Anyone can vote Australia......
..... Even my wife would.

Come on, have some faith. Please ask your wife to do the same. India will prevail.

 

[Richard]

A fully fit attack of Bond, Mills, Adams, Oram, Vettori and Styris would be stronger than 1999 IMO. Allott was excellent, so was Cairns, but Nash wasn't as effective in ODIs as in tests, and Larsen and Harris although effective lacked the brilliance of Adams and Oram.

Adams and Oram, brilliant?
IMO both are pretty average, Larsen was a top-drawer ODI bowler and Harris was a pretty reasonable one (indeed, still is).
Nash bowled pretty well in WC99 from what I remember.
I'd back most teams to have few problems with any of Mills, Adams, Oram or Styris, whereas, as I said, in 1999 there was quality pretty much throughout the attack.

 

[Richard]

Sorry, did I read that right? You think that McMillan needs to be in the team for NZ to have a decent chance? There's no way that McMillan would make our full-strength XI right now, and I'd be disappointed if he even made the World Cup squad.

McMillan is a decent ODI player as far as I'm concerned, and I somehow doubt Fulton, How or anyone of that ilk is as good.

It looked as though Hamish Marshall was filling up that role, but sadly he has been playing like crap since the Zimbabwe tour and at this rate might not even make the squad.

TBH I never thought Marshall was even in the same class.

 

[Richard]

Allot - Bond
Nash > Mills
Cairns > Who knows?
Vettori(99) < Vettori (2007)
Larsen > Styris
Harris - Patel/ Harris/ Astle

The 1999 attack was a lot better IMO.

Vettori didn't even play in 1999, though obviously he will now.
It's hard, because in 1999 NZ had 5 bowlers who almost always did the bulk of the work - these days that rarely happens, least of all in NZ.

Roger Twose was a highly underrated (and often forgotten about) ODI batsman. Look for Ross Taylor to take over his role in 2007 Richard.

Twose has to be about the most hard-done-by batsman during my time of watching World ODIs. For a time he was IMO a better ODI batsman than anyone bar Bevan.
Is Ross Taylor THE most promising one-day batsman to come out of New Zealand? I can't think of anyone else who averages over 40 - even Glenn Turner didn't.

 

[Blaze]

Is Ross Taylor THE most promising one-day batsman to come out of New Zealand? I can't think of anyone else who averages over 40 - even Glenn Turner didn't.

Probably the most promising since McMillan. He averaged close to 70 this year and his New Zealand domestic average is over 50 (it drops down when you include the A games he played last year when he was in horrible form).

If he can transfer his domestic form onto the international stage then look out world.

 

[Richard]

Is he a Twose\Bevan-esque player or is he more of a Dhoni\Pietersen?

 

[aussie]

Australia to win without dropping a game. Major challenges to come from a fully fit Pakistan side & the West Indies..

 

[Richard]

West Indies, more likely than South Africa?
Sorry, what?
And it was far-fetched enough (even if it did end-up coming to pass) to suggest Aus would win without losing a game in 2003, it's utterly crazy to suggest it this time.

 

[Blaze]

Is he a Twose\Bevan-esque player or is he more of a Dhoni\Pietersen?

He is more sensible than Pietersen and Dhoni, I would probably say he is more like Symonds. I'm not saying he is anywhere near as good as him, but he has a great deal of potential.

 

[aussie]

West Indies, more likely than South Africa?
Sorry, what?
And it was far-fetched enough (even if it did end-up coming to pass) to suggest Aus would win without losing a game in 2003, it's utterly crazy to suggest it this time.

the scheduling like unlike 2003 isn't as long as next year. The group matches are just 3 then its staight into the super-eight, semi's & final. If they are full-strenght & play to potential they could well & go unbeaten this time again. In 99 when adverisity hit them they won 8 straight to win the WC & in 2003 they had some luck but still did it.

I think West Indies will do well at home because they seem to one of the few teams in the World who seem to thrive when the pressure of home expectations hit them unlike SA in the last WC. I'm writing SA off as a challenge to Australia because they have the wood on them & if WI were to meet Australia in a semi-final or something they could really challenge.

 

[Richard]

He is more sensible than Pietersen and Dhoni, I would probably say he is more like Symonds. I'm not saying he is anywhere near as good as him, but he has a great deal of potential.

Pietersen and Dhoni have been sensible enough to average 82 and 55 in ODIs so far, whereas Symonds since becoming a good player averages 46-7ish (albeit from 64 innings compared to 16 and 26).
(Yes, all averages ARE against only up-to-standard teams and excluding ICC World XI games)

 

[Richard]

the scheduling like unlike 2003 isn't as long as next year. The group matches are just 3 then its staight into the super-eight, semi's & final. If they are full-strenght & play to potential they could well & go unbeaten this time again. In 99 when adverisity hit them they won 8 straight to win the WC & in 2003 they had some luck but still did it.

Exactly - the improved format will make it more difficult to go unbeaten, because they'll play more games against ODI-standard teams.

I think West Indies will do well at home because they seem to one of the few teams in the World who seem to thrive when the pressure of home expectations hit them unlike SA in the last WC. I'm writing SA off as a challenge to Australia because they have the wood on them & if WI were to meet Australia in a semi-final or something they could really challenge.

Anyone can beat Australia if they have the talent, including SA (who are one of the few who DO have the talent). "Having the wood" doesn't really matter much in World Cups. Anyway - hopefully South Africa are about to win their first ODI series against Australia in any case, and burn the wood.

 

[aussie]

Exactly - the improved format will make it more difficult to go unbeaten, because they'll play more games against ODI-standard teams.

Anyone can beat Australia if they have the talent, including SA (who are one of the few who DO have the talent). "Having the wood" doesn't really matter much in World Cups. Anyway - hopefully South Africa are about to win their first ODI series against Australia in any case, and burn the wood.

1. Ok maybe they will drop a game

2. Not doubting that anyone can beat australia once they have the talent, but when Australia are at the top of their game has been showed time and again in the past they are a level ahead of everyone else. Having the wood MEANS MUCH when it comes to SA/AUS clashes though many times since the 99 WC semi-final Australia have beaten them in situations when they shouldn't have so i for one am not worried about them as a treat regardless of how strong their OD team is..

 

[Richard]

All it takes is 1 game, to banish that wood - perhaps for a very long time.
Hopefully that will come later today.