Semifinalists for WC '07!!

[bumpuss]

process of elimination:

sri lanka - heavily dependent on vaas and murali, sangka. they will perform well the in world cup but not good enough for a spot in the semis;
west indies- all sorts of internal problems, lara not in gud form no chance for the semis
minnows - perhaps bangladesh could cause a few dissappoints
australia- will be favourites should be in the semis
pakistan- tough team, unpredictable at times, should make it semis, either pak or sa.
sa- solid team either pakistan or rsa to be in the semis
ind- should be favourites, after chappell and ganguly droppped have unleashed some young talent look promising
eng- should be favourites, flintoff excellent form, best pace attack currently, easily should be in the semis

therefore
aus
ind
pak
eng
to be the in the semis.

[Blaze]

Did NZ miss their flight?

[adharcric]

Originally Posted by bumpuss

eng- should be favourites, flintoff excellent form, best pace attack currently, easily should be in the semis

Go get some sleep mate. You're a little mistaken there, this is not test cricket.

[Richard]

Originally Posted by Anil

a fully fit england team can put up a strong challenge, i would think...a batting lineup containing trescothick, vaughan, pietersen, collingwood, the powerful flintoff and their support cast and a bowling attack combination of of jones, harmison, flintoff, hoggard, giles et al is not to be scoffed at....even the windies at home can be a force although their batting especially is really in the doldrums right now....

There's plenty to scoff at at an attack of Jones, Harmison, Hoggard, Giles. None are proven ODI-standard bowlers. Indeed, to date there's considerable evidence to the contrary.
Equally - Vaughan is utterly useless in ODIs and Collingwood isn't anywhere near as good as most would have us believe.

[Richard]

Originally Posted by bumpuss

eng- should be favourites, flintoff excellent form, best pace attack currently, easily should be in the semis

Sorry, what? This is excellent form? It's far from it. Nor is this quite as good as we've come to expect.
As for best pace attack currently... not remotely close. Only Flintoff is a proven ODI bowler of those currently in the picture.

[Anil]

Originally Posted by Richard

There's plenty to scoff at at an attack of Jones, Harmison, Hoggard, Giles. None are proven ODI-standard bowlers. Indeed, to date there's considerable evidence to the contrary.
Equally - Vaughan is utterly useless in ODIs and Collingwood isn't anywhere near as good as most would have us believe.

ok have it your way...i was just trying to cheer you up.....

[Richard]

Well, if they actually did something it might cheer me up...
But the last thing I want is to kid myself we're better than we are.
That'll just lead to REAL disappointment at the event.

[marc71178]

Originally Posted by Richard

There's plenty to scoff at at an attack of Jones, Harmison, Hoggard, Giles. None are proven ODI-standard bowlers. Indeed, to date there's considerable evidence to the contrary.

Ignore the fact that Jones is untried and Giles has an ER of 4.34 then.

Please tell of this considerable evidence in their 2 cases...

[bumpuss]

and is that why england? somehow thumped australia in the odis? odi bowlers? wtf nowadays the pitches dont even consider the bowlers its all batsman. i have stay england have the best pace attack. whether they are odi bowlers or not is irrelevant. as for nz i dont think they will make semis, too dependent on astle. BOnd is awesome, but one bowler is not enough. vettori i dont know if he spin up there, specially against the subcontinent batsman.

[Richard]

Originally Posted by marc71178

Ignore the fact that Jones is untried and Giles has an ER of 4.34 then.

Please tell of this considerable evidence in their 2 cases...

Jones has a very poor domestic record.
Giles' ER is 4.45 against ODI-standard sides. Which is hardly that impressive given the stage of innings at which he almost invariably bowls, and how much ODI cricket he's missed.

[Richard]

Originally Posted by bumpuss

and is that why england? somehow thumped australia in the odis? odi bowlers? wtf nowadays the pitches dont even consider the bowlers its all batsman. i have stay england have the best pace attack. whether they are odi bowlers or not is irrelevant.

Err, sorry, how are the fact that they are ODI bowlers irrelevant? When the World Cup happens to be played in... oh... ODIs?
For your information - pitches don't "consider" anything, they're inanimate objects.
Good bowlers bowl well - regardless of how the pitch plays.

[marc71178]

Originally Posted by Richard

Jones has a very poor domestic record.

Jones also has a terrible FC record, but how many people wouldn't pick him in Tests?

Originally Posted by Richard

Giles' ER is 4.45 against ODI-standard sides. Which is hardly that impressive given the stage of innings at which he almost invariably bowls, and how much ODI cricket he's missed.

No, 4.45 is a very good ER in modern ODI cricket.

[Richard]

Originally Posted by marc71178

Jones also has a terrible FC record, but how many people wouldn't pick him in Tests?

So? Just because he managed to do well in Tests (1 series so far) without doing anything at the domestic-First-Class level why on Earth does that make him (or anyone) likely to do the same in the one-day game?

No, 4.45 is a very good ER in modern ODI cricket.

It's not. 4.45 is pretty average for someone bowling exclusively in the middle-overs. You'd expect it to be close to 4. 4.45 would be OK for someone who bowled at the death often.

[marc71178]

No, 4.45 in the death overs would be superb.

4.45 in the middle overs is at worst about par for the course because the game is so much more batsman-orientated.

[Richard]

It's no more batsman-orientated than it was 13 years ago.
4.45 regularly bowling 3 or 4 in the death overs would be pretty good - bowling near exclusively in the middle it's pretty average.