World Cup Predictions

[RolledOver]

World Cup Winners: India
"Big 8" side to perform most poorly: Pakistan
Player with most runs: Ricky Ponting/Ganguly
Player with best strike-rate: MS Dhoni
Player with biggest score of tournament: Hayden
Bowler with most wickets: Zaheer Khan
Bowler with best economy rate: Shaun Pollock
Bowler with best performance of tournament: Bond
Tournament's emerging player: Taylor Ross
Most disappointing player: Inzi and Yousuf
Surprise package: West Indies
Biggest disappointment: Australia
Four Semifinalists:India/SA/ NZ /Aus

[Perm]

World Cup Winners: South Africa
"Big 8" side to perform most poorly: Sri Lanka
Player with most runs: Jacques Kallis
Player with best strike-rate: Adam Gilchrist
Player with biggest score of tournament: Ricky Ponting
Bowler with most wickets: Shane Bond
Bowler with best economy rate: Shaun Pollock
Bowler with best performance of tournament: Shane Bond
Tournament's emerging player: Ross Taylor
Most disappointing player: Glenn McGrath
Surprise package: Bangladesh
Biggest disappointment: Pakistan
Four Semifinalists: Australia, India, South Africa, New Zealand

[Richard]

Yep, that old philosophy of win the toss and bat or think about and still bat doesn't really apply these days

And hasn't for nearly 40 years... and indeed never really has in limited-overs cricket.

[Richard]

South Africa have really been talking themselves up, I think they're setting themselves up big time for a horror finish yet again.

Most people talk themselves up a bit, y'know.

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Most people talk themselves up a bit, y'know.

There's a difference between "a bit" and what Graeme Smith usually does though. That said, he's been rather sensible and well-behaved for the most part thus far.

[KiWiNiNjA]

There's a difference between "a bit" and what Graeme Smith usually does though. That said, he's been rather sensible and well-behaved for the most part thus far.

Australia talk themselves up way more than a bit. Why is it sensible and well-behaved if Graeme Smith is not talking his side up alot? Australia do, and nobody bitches about it when they do it and end up choke-choke-a-choking

[BoyBrumby]

I'll have a bash, but I'm awful at predicting stuff (except for tennis, weirdly, which I know next to nothing about) as anyone who has read the Six Nations thread will know...

World Cup Winners: Australia - form, class; temporary, permanent. Bleh.
"Big 8" side to perform most poorly: Pakistan - bowling attack will either be impotent or spending the entire WC pissing into test tubes.
Player with most runs: Ponting - have to go with class again.
Player with best strike-rate: Dhoni - mightn't score loads, but they'll be quick.
Player with biggest score of tournament: Fat Gray Smith - the tubby dullard will bully one of the minnows to a double ton. You heard it here first.
Bowler with most wickets: McGrath - You can get 20/1 on the great man too.
Bowler with best economy rate: Pollock - no-brainer for mine.
Bowler with best performance of tournament: Ntini - will probably run through someone at some point
Tournament's emerging player: Pollard - heard nothing but good things about the boy. Sounds a beast of a man too.
Most disappointing player: Vaughan - won't play much & will do less when he does
Surprise package: England - to make the semis
Biggest disappointment: That no minnows cause any upsets.
Four Semifinalists: Australia, South Africa, India, England - first two nailed on; latter two based on a superior batting line-up & nationalistic bias respectively

[pasag]

I'll have a bash, but I'm awful at predicting stuff (except for tennis, weirdly, which I know next to nothing about) as anyone who has read the Six Nations thread will know...

Can't be that bad.

[marc71178]

That's quantity of predictions over quality

Same reason I'm in 2nd.

[pasag]

Haha, I know.

[Richard]

Australia talk themselves up way more than a bit. Why is it sensible and well-behaved if Graeme Smith is not talking his side up alot? Australia do, and nobody bitches about it when they do it and end up choke-choke-a-choking

That's because Graeme Smith is a talker who can't walker and with Australia "that's the way they play".

So many cricket writers in this World are hypocrites, and Graeme Smith is one of the worst subjects of that hypocrisy.

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Australia can generally back up the arrogance.
Graeme Smith is a lot more hit and miss. It's not hypocrisy.

[Richard]

Graeme Smith can and does back-up the arrogance.

It's just that people note ad nauseum when he doesn't and it doesn't register when he does.

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Only recently has South Africa looked like the outfit Smith seemed to talk them to be. And as a batsman, Smith hasn't had the walk to back any arrogant talk. Not that I've heard him bragging about his batting ever.

[Richard]

SAfrica have had a good team for more of Smith's reign than not. The only major disappointments in ODIs were that 12-game losing streak (a game against Bangladesh excluded). In Tests they've been less convincing but the only real blemishes were the home loss to England and the loss in Pakistan... everything else has pretty well been TBE.