Bad feeling England just might get lucky again.

[LA ICE-E]

Originally Posted by nightprowler10

An Australia vs South Africa semi final doesn't sound yummy to you?

yeah, it does and i do think that if anyone were to knockout australia in the semi's it would be SA but then '99 wc semi's comes to mind. But also i wouldn't trade that with having dead matches and critics starting to talk about "how this wc bad and bla bla bla"

[Matt79]

Plenty of people are already discussing how disappointing this WC has been. Bad atmosphere, lots of one-sided pastings, some shocking performances from supposedly good teams and a disappointingly small amount of good cricket. I predict it will be remembered from the Australian three-peat and otherwise as an example of how NOT to run a major tournament.

SA is the team I'd prefer Australia to face in the semis, rather than SL or NZ. With the two teams the way they are, I'm comfortable we can beat them 9 times out of 10 - especially in a semi-final or final.

Australia v. NZ would probably be the best final from point of view of a contest, although SL would provide a more entertaining match if they got going. I think its more likely to turn into a blow-out if SL is in rather than NZ however.

[LA ICE-E]

Well it's been a dissappointing one out side of the field but not in it. but i don't agree that there's not been good cricket, and there's been the same amount of one-sided games as the other wc's have and you're taking away credit and critizing another team for the shocking results, which you should give credit and not take it away from them. It though was dissappointing with the crowds and bob woolmers death and nothing else but those are big factors which overshadows things a bit. So we don't need any dead matches now.

the best thing would be a bowl-out in the final!

[Scaly piscine]

Originally Posted by Matt79

People already doing that.

SA is the team I'd prefer Australia to face in the semis, rather than SL or NZ. With the two teams the way they are, I'm comfortable we can beat them 9 times out of 10 - especially in a semi-final or final.

Australia v. NZ would probably be the best final from point of view of a contest, although SL would provide a more entertaining match if they got going. I think its more likely to turn into a blow-out if SL is in rather than NZ however.

I wouldn't expect anything other than NZ getting thumped. NZ haven't shown any great quality yet apart from Bond obviously, scoring a couple of toss inspired wins against England and SA and beating a woeful WI side. England would have the best chance against Australia in a final given it'll likely be a pacy bouncy wicket, but it's highly likely that Australia would play SL or NZ in a final, if they get that far. Sri Lanka are mentally tough enough to beat Australia if they play well on the day, relying on a very good bowling performance.

[Matt79]

Originally Posted by LA ICE-E

Well it's been a dissappointing one out side of the field but not in it. but i don't agree that there's not been good cricket

I didn't say there hasn't been good cricket but to date there has been a depressingly small amount for what is meant to be the showcase of the one day game.

there's been the same amount of one-sided games as the other wc's have

how is that a good thing?

and you're taking away credit and critizing another team for the shocking results, which you should give credit and not take it away from them.

Doing nothing of the sort. Ireland and Bangladesh earnt their way into the Super 8, and I'm not for one minute saying that they don't "deserve" to be there - you win you deserve to go through. All credit to Ireland and Bangladesh for that.

I am however certainly cricitising India and Pakistan for their pathetic showing in this tournament. The Cup would have undoubtedly been a better tournament and we would have seen more competitive and better standard of cricket IF India and Pakistan had played to anywhere near their potential. They didn't do so and were deservedly eliminated, but its a shame they couldn't produce the kind of cricket their squads should be capable of. I don't think you can argue that the tournament would not have been better if they had done so.

I think Ireland's performances since then have shown that Ireland are a game, committed team that their country should be proud of. That said, they were only able to beat Pakistan because Pakistan dramatically underperformed.

the best thing would be a bowl-out in the final!

It would be good if this wasn't the 3rd WC in a row where Australia wins after their opponents fail to show up.

[pasag]

Yeah agree with BLE. I really don't like this England ODI side very much (as opposed to the Test side which I respect and admire) and them winning the WC would be tragic in my books.

[Matt79]

my wife just asked who "BLE" is and I explained. Her response "how sad would you have to be to get banned for being an idiot and then keep on rejoining and doing the same thing. I mean get a life".

Says it all really...

[pasag]

[LA ICE-E]

Originally Posted by Matt79

I didn't say there hasn't been good cricket but to date there has been a depressingly small amount for what is meant to be the showcase of the one day game.

there's been a lot of good fielding though and also a double hattrick...but all these are overshadowed by empty stands and the death.

how is that a good thing?

no but isn't any worse either and irish games in the beginning of the super 8's weren't one sided, only the last one or two.

Doing nothing of the sort. Ireland and Bangladesh earnt their way into the Super 8, and I'm not for one minute saying that they don't "deserve" to be there - you win you deserve to go through. All credit to Ireland and Bangladesh for that.

I am however certainly cricitising India and Pakistan for their pathetic showing in this tournament. The Cup would have undoubtedly been a better tournament and we would have seen more competitive and better standard of cricket IF India and Pakistan had played to anywhere near their potential. They didn't do so and were deservedly eliminated, but its a shame they couldn't produce the kind of cricket their squads should be capable of. I don't think you can argue that the tournament would not have been better if they had done so.

I think Ireland's performances since then have shown that Ireland are a game, committed team that their country should be proud of. That said, they were only able to beat Pakistan because Pakistan dramatically underperformed.

Fair enough, but remember that ireland almost beat SA in the warm ups so they could have beaten pakistan even if they didn't "dramatically underperformed".

It would be good if this wasn't the 3rd WC in a row where Australia wins after their opponents fail to show up.

Well i wouldn't mind if australia won after a bowl-out! I would rather have people remember the wc as the 3rd in row for the aussies than how not to run a tournament. That said we need a bowl out in the final and every one would forget about the negatives...

[LA ICE-E]

Originally Posted by Matt79

my wife just asked who "BLE" is and I explained. Her response "how sad would you have to be to get banned for being an idiot and then keep on rejoining and doing the same thing. I mean get a life".

Says it all really...

who's "BLE"?

[Pratters]

Hmm. South Africa have kept crapping up which means they deserve to not have more points than they do at the moment. Now it all comes down to who wins the crucial matches remaining which is fair enough for me.

[Barney Rubble]

Personally I actually think it'd be horrific if we won this World Cup. We'd only end up doing exactly what we did after winning the Ashes, which was allow the team to sit back for 3 months and do nothing, resulting in some shocking performances provoked by huge levels of complacency.

England's ODI side need a massive kick up the backside. If Duncan Fletcher won't deliver it, maybe it wouldn't be the worst thing if South Africa do on Monday.

[Matt79]

Originally Posted by LA ICE-E

who's "BLE"?

BingLeeElectric - the man of a thousand accounts. 999 of them are banned to date...

[Matt79]

What's a bowl-out? I assumed you'd made a typo writing "blow-out".

How did Ireland go against South Africa in the Super 8s? Warm up games are just that, and they frequently bear little resemblance to the real thing. That South African side has since gone on to lose to Bangladesh - another example of bad underperformance, albeit not in the same league as Pakistan vs Ireland, and are not nearly as good a team outside of South Africa as the ICC rankings and the mainstream media make them out to be.

I'm a fan of Ireland, but the reality is that their squad is nowhere near the strength of any of the Test-nations. Now obviously matches are not decided on paper, hence we get upsets and hence sport is worth watching - but Pakistan SHOULD have been able to beat Ireland easily. They didn't and it cost them and deservedly so, but I don't think it diminishes Ireland's achievement to acknowledge that Pakistan were shocking.

[Matt79]

Originally Posted by Barney Rubble

Personally I actually think it'd be horrific if we won this World Cup. We'd only end up doing exactly what we did after winning the Ashes, which was allow the team to sit back for 3 months and do nothing, resulting in some shocking performances provoked by huge levels of complacency.

England's ODI side need a massive kick up the backside. If Duncan Fletcher won't deliver it, maybe it wouldn't be the worst thing if South Africa do on Monday.

Well if they win the next fourth matches in a row to win the Cup, they'll have to string together some decent performances against good teams, so in a sense they wouldn't be totally undeserving. In some ways it would be similar to Australia in the 99 WC, although a shorter winning streak. But yeah, to date they certainly don't deserve to be in the semis, let alone win the cup.