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Assessing the Teams

oz_fan

International Regular
Australia
Likely Team:
Gilchrist
Katich (they've stuck with him up to now)
Ponting
Hussey (will replace Martyn)
Clarke
Symonds
Hogg (or Warne if he makes a comeback)
Lee
Clark
Bracken/Clark
McGrath (Will be back in time for the world cup)

Strengths
When batting first usually post high scores that are tough to chase
5 - 11 provide bowling options.
Big hitters - Symonds, Lee, Hussey, Gilchrist, Ponting, etc
Good opening bowling pair: McGrath (accuracy)/ Lee (aggression)

Weaknesses
Gilchrist is hit and miss and when he gets out the scoring rate drops.
Katich falls into the trap of batting too slowly
Willstruggle for bowlers if McGrath or Lee is injured.

Prediction
Definitely make the semis. Best ODI team in the world. Should win.

South Africa
Likely Team
Smith
Dippenear
Gibbs
Kallis
Kemp
Boucher
Pollock
Hall
Boje/Botha
Nel
Ntini

Strengths
Bat down to number 9
Big hitters - Pollock, Kemp, Boucher
Good opening bowling pair - Pollock (Accuracy)/Ntini (Aggression)
Finish the bowling well in the last 5 overs with Hall, Pollock, etc
Score a lot of runs in the last ten overs

Weaknesses
Often choke
Kallis and Dippenear can slow down the run rate
Not much bowling variety
Could have a new captain if Smith continues to fail

Prediction
Will be looking to make up for last time. Have never made a final but might be in with a chance.
 
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adharcric

International Coach
India
Likely Team:
Sehwag
Tendulkar
Dravid
Yuvraj
Raina (will jump ahead of Kaif in the pecking order)
Dhoni
Pathan
Powar
Harbhajan (or Kaif, up the order, if they opt for 6 specialist batsmen)
Patel
Sreesanth (or VR Singh if Sreesanth continues to be expensive and VRS proves his mettle)

Strengths
Explosive opening pair, if Viru & Sachin fire they are extremely devastating
Flexible batting order & solid run-chasers in Yuvraj & Dhoni (Raina?)
Pathan's early-wickets tendency & Powar and Bhajji shutting down the RR in the middle overs
Dangerous off-side cordon (Yuvi/Kaif/Raina) and overall improvement in fielding

Weaknesses
Top-order bats sometimes choose to crumble all in the same match .. not good
Dravid and Kaif get bogged down at times (this has improved though)
Harbhajan with the Kookaburra?
Will Tendulkar's injury woes go away?

Prediction
Definitely good enough to make the semis. From there, depends whether the chokers of old or a revitalized India shows up when the pressure is on.
 
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oz_fan

International Regular
West Indies
Likely Team
Gayle
Morton/Ganga
Sarwan
Lara
Chanderpaul
Hinds
Bravo
Ramdin
Collymore
Powell
Edwards

Strengths
Solid top order - Gayle, Lara, Sarwan, Chanderpaul
Home team
Lara's last hoorah? Will want to gout with a bang
Explosive batsmen - Gayle, Lara, Sarwan
Explosive all rounder - Bravo

Weaknesses
Leadership problems
Often when a big wicket goes (Lara, Gayle, etc) confidence is lost.
No really recognised bowlers
Not many big hitters down the list

Prediction
Could cause a few upsets. With the home town advantage should make super six. Doubt they'll go further than that.
 
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adharcric

International Coach
Well said, except 3 of the "strengths" are closely related ... I would say the fact that they've got a fiery all-rounder in Dwayne Bravo is a strength.
 

oz_fan

International Regular
adharcric said:
Well said, except 3 of the "strengths" are closely related ... I would say the fact that they've got a fiery all-rounder in Dwayne Bravo is a strength.
Definitely Bravo is a quality all rounder and on the improve.
 

oz_fan

International Regular
England
Likely Team
Trescothic
Strauss
Vaughan
Pieterson
Collingwood
Flintoff
Geraint Jones
Giles
Hoggard
Harmison
Simon Jones

Strengths
Good opening batsmen
Explosive middle order - Flintoff, Pieterson
Best all rounder at the moment - Flintoff
Quality quartet of fast bowlers

Weaknesses
Injury prone
Middle order could be fragile.
Don't often post large targets
No wicket taking spin option

Prediction
Should make the Super six. Lowly ranked ODI side.
 

adharcric

International Coach
Pakistan
Likely Team
Butt
Malik
Younis
Yousuf
Inzamam
Afridi
Akmal
Razzaq
Naved-ul-Hasan (or Sami, still can't rule him out)
Akhtar
Asif

Strengths
Explosive batsmen throughout the lineup
Late-order rearguard attacks from Razzaq and Akmal are huge
Seam attack has great potential

Weaknesses
Shotmakers may falter on a track with assistance for the seamers
Team Chemistry? It's been a problem in the past and could resurface.
Fielding needs to improve and Shoaib & Inzy need to stay fit

Prediction
Should make the SuperSix stage and have a good shot at the semifinals, their one-day formidability will be tested in the next few series
 

adharcric

International Coach
Let's hope Vaughan, Giles and Jones can get back to the field soon enough. You reckon Hoggard will become a one-day bowler for England?
 

oz_fan

International Regular
adharcric said:
Let's hope Vaughan, Giles and Jones can get back to the field soon enough. You reckon Hoggard will become a one-day bowler for England?
There's no reason why he can't. Has really impressed in the test matches and I could see him playing a McGrath - like role for England.
 
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chaminda_00

Hall of Fame Member
Sri Lanka

Jayasuriya
Tharanga
Atapattu
Sangakkara
Jayawardene
Dilshan
Arnold
Vaas
Bandara
Murali
Perera

Strengths
Balance spin attack with one aggressive and one defensive, but both can adapt to the situation
Two of the best ODI batsmen in Sangakkara and Jayasuriya
Solid pace bowler in Vaas

Weakness
Batting line is very inconsisent
Rely to much on Jayasuriya and Sanagakkara to make big scores
Lack quailty seamers to back up Vaas
Lack a quailty lower hitter to finish off innings, but if Kappa or Maharoof develop they could fill that role
Atapattu, Jaywardene and Arnold tend to score too slow at times.

Prediction
Will make thre Super 8s, but will struggle to go further then that.
 

Blaze

Banned
Australia are the only side that we can bank on being in the semis IMO.

2-8 can easily beat each other on their day.
 

adharcric

International Coach
Blaze said:
Australia are the only side that we can bank on being in the semis IMO.

2-8 can easily beat each other on their day.
India hasn't been tested on foreign soil yet, but I personally think South Africa and India are a notch above the rest as well (and below the Aussies), while Pakistan have the potential to be in that trio.
 

adharcric

International Coach
chaminda_00 said:
Sri Lanka

Jayasuriya
Tharanga
Atapattu
Sangakkara
Jayawardene
Dilshan
Arnold
Vaas
Bandara
Murali
Perera
I'd put Maharoof in there. Arnold isn't that useful at #7, but SL don't need 5 specialist bowlers if Dilshan and Jayasuriya do their usual 5th bowler duties. That said, perhaps Maharoof should come in for Bandara or Perera, depending on whether the pitch supports the seamers or the spinners. That would deepen the batting, which is pretty important because I don't think the Sri Lankan top order compares with that of Australia, India and Pakistan. Sangakarra should come in at #3, followed by Jayawardene, with Atapattu at #5. Otherwise, looks good.
 

Blaze

Banned
adharcric said:
India hasn't been tested on foreign soil yet, but I personally think South Africa and India are a notch above the rest as well (and below the Aussies), while Pakistan have the potential to be in that trio.
I don't think that the gaps between 2-7are big enough for any team to be overly confident of victory in the games between each of those teams though.
 

Chubb

International Regular
Zimbabwe

Duffin *
Rinke
Masakadza
Taylor
Coventry
Chigumbura
Ewing
Utseya
Panyangara
Mahwire
Hondo

Four Reserves
Rainsford
Higgins
Ireland
Meth

Strengths
Er... bat down to number ten? (and they'll need to!)
Masakadza is very talented, so is Panyangara.
Coventry and Chigumbura is a good aggressive middle order.

Weaknesses
Inexperience
General lack of quality
Lack of specialist batsmen
Political situation means anything can happen between now and the World Cup
The batsmen get too aggressive and get themselves out
They don't really know how to work a ball around for singles, it's big shots or nothing
The bowlers leak runs and aren't penetrative
Their fielding is poor
They can't play swing
They can't play left-armers
They can't play high-quality spin
They can't play pace, with the exception of Duffin
They can't play any bowling except part-time dobbers
The coach is volatile and prone to making excitingly confrontational statements, which tend to backfire
Their running between the wickets can best be described as inept
Too many bits-and-pieces players
Team disharmony
Corruption
Racism


It's enough to make me wonder why I bother.
 
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Dizzy #4

International 12th Man
Canada

*JM Davison
+PB Dassanayake
D Chumnany
Qaiser Ali
DES Maxwell
A Bagai
N Ifill
GR Codrington
U Bhatti
A Patel

Pros
*They got the best all rounder outside the test world, John Davison. In fact, he might be better than some high class allrounders himself!

*They have gone through a rejuveanation program, now claiming to be not a "1 man band"

*Easily the strongest team of the 5 qualifyers, with thier own set up domestic league producing new talent

*A brand new coach in Nicks

*Youthful

Cons

*Without Davison, they have no chance of winning againest test nations, and sometimes other qualfiyers!

*No other reconized players

*Inexperinced


Prediction: A roughie for the top 8
 

adharcric

International Coach
Blaze said:
I don't think that the gaps between 2-7are big enough for any team to be overly confident of victory in the games between each of those teams though.
Hell, even Australia can't be overly confident of victory against Bangladesh anymore, and thats #1 vs #9.:unsure:
 

marc71178

Eyes not spreadsheets
Dizzy #4 said:
Pros
*They got the best all rounder outside the test world, John Davison. In fact, he might be better than some high class allrounders himself!
Tikolo?
 

Dizzy #4

International 12th Man
Not as good recently as Davison!, he did a Jim Laker, 17 wickets, 2 tons, one of them a double as well, if he fires, The one man band could make it to the 8, possibly the semis!
 

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