It's World Cup Time!

Just a matter of hours until the 2015 Cricket World Cup kicks off !!

And this time I won't be battling petty annoyances like time differences. This is without doubt the pinnacle event of cricket, the one tournament that demands undivided attention among all cricket fans.

I was 7 years old when the 1992 edition was hosted in Australia and New Zealand. Forget calling that a distant memory, it isn't a memory at all... and that makes this edition even more special with cricket's showcase event right here in our humble back yard.

Why Should We Care?

There is no test match championship, there is instead a dodgy ranking system which nobody really understands or pays attention to.  So with the 'pure' form of the game not having a marquee tournament, this fifty over World Cup becomes the closest thing we have to gauge which cricketing nation is the best in the world.

Does it truly reflect the greatest team?

Australia rampaged through a triple strike from 1999 - 2007 when they were clearly the best in the business, so that made sense. But then again South Africa constantly under-achieve, New Zealand constantly over-achieve and Sri Lanka pulled off an underdogs dream in 1996 without dominating before or after.

The answer then? Yes and no... two months of good cricket is enough to win the cup but is hard to pull off unless it is really deserved.

So Who Will Win in 2015?

It's a cliché, but his is truly one of the most open world cups in a long time. Ever since Australia climbed a few rungs down the latter it became largely an open playing field among the big guns.

Let's have a go at the order of likelihood to win:

Unfortunately we have to write off UAE, Afghanistan and Scotland. I always welcome the little guys but again there are a few too many soft games coming our way. Of this group, Scotland is the most likely to pull a surprise.

Bangladesh and Zimbabwe are capable of much more but can't seem to get it together.

The West Indies won't show up among their political and selection battles, poor Jason Holder has to carry this hopeless mob on his young shoulders.

Ireland will annoy one or two teams, may there be plenty of Irish luck.

England are a poor ODI squad, they are all noise and hot air.  Led by an Irishman who pretends they aren't scared of Mitchell Johnson, it's pretty hard to back the poms to go beyond the quarters.

Sri Lanka rely too much on their ageing old boys club, there is surprisingly little else going on in their line-up. If Malinga turns up fit though then there could be surprises.

Pakistan are the joker card of the pack, capable of anything and at the same time nothing. They are the gambling man's bet, although on paper though they are disappointingly inexperienced and average this time.


This leaves.....

New Zealand, who were dubbed by AB de Villiers as "World Cup favorites" not long ago... right before he and his men thumped us. A nice piece of reverse psychology! The fact is we finally have the talent for once, and that might actually go against us. We're famous for sneaking into semi-finals unnoticed but this time all the big boys will be watching closely.

Australia and India are two teams never to be written off, both are cocky and annoying but they have genuine match winners littered in there and a genuine hunger to succeed. Always beware the wounded Aussie, however India will have to overcome their horrifically poor bowling and fielding.

South Africa are the most complete team in the world, and yet you can never confidently say they won't pull out their token choke.


Some predictions then:

Winner: South Africa
Deserved Runner Up: Australia
Unlucky Semi Finalist: New Zealand

Most Runs: Hashim Amla
Most Wickets: Dale Steyn
Best Strike Rate: Shahid Afridi
Best Economy Rate: Daniel Vettori
Most Sixes: Brendon McCullum

Meaningless but pretty 20 Award: Shane Watson
Last Man Standing Award: Misbah ul Haq
Disappointing Golden Duck Award: Chris Gayle
Reverse Pull Slog on 99 Award: Glenn Maxwell
The "Why Me" Award: Jason Holder
The Shut Up Award: James Brayshaw (Big men and big levers!?)

Player Most Missed: Dwayne Bravo
Player Most Missed (by opposition):  Ishant Sharma

Let the games begin!

Why Australia Won the Ashes

Believe it or not, before this Ashes series began I predicted Australia to win comfortably.

It seemed ridiculous to most at the time and rightfully so, but here we are with Australia up three zip and the Ashes wrapped up and back on this side of the hemisphere in the shortest time frame possible.  I will admit I didn't predict such a comprehensive walloping, England are dead and buried and the old ghosts of the 90s are back. The English media have quickly forgotten that England were #1 not long ago.

Why would anyone back the Aussies? They had lost three Ashes in a row and were in complete disarray. Instead of playing good cricket they were busy failing their homework, giving Glenn Maxwell a test cap and punching Joe Root.

So how did things flip upside down?

© mirror.co.uk

The Last Ashes Were Close
Australia had the better of England for huge parts of the last Ashes despite being hounded with unkind rain gods, horrid umpiring and the existence of Phil Hughes.  If you look closer Australia nearly had the first test, and rain saved England twice... it wasn't that far away from being 3-2 to Australia, yet it reads as a 3-0 thrashing. Hindsight and luck of course, but 3-0 it was.

England were Good, Never Great
Australia were never knocked off their perch by a superior side, it was a kamikaze.  With the great Indian batting engine losing their reflexes with age, it was England and South Africa who were there to pick up the pieces.  South Africa is the superior of the two, but England benefited by not having to play them much and made the #1 ranking first.

They were never bad but they never touched the same heights Australia did during their pomp.  The likes of Cook, Trott, Prior and Anderson feasted on the highs and gave their averages a royal boost. But were the chips ever really down? Were they ever severely tested by a side? They are now.

Beware the Mongrel
Yes Australia fell off their own tree and smacked every branch on the way down. And once battered and bruised, they were kicked down, taunted and humiliated by everyone who cared to do so. Amla, Cook, Dhawan, you name it, they all had their glorified hour at sinking their teeth into Aussie flesh. It was more than a decade of hurt that was being paid back, and it was ugly.

Even New Zealand embarrassed them in their own backyard, the shame.

But did they go too far? Because the sleeping mongrel as been awakened.  Lets not forget they have a large pool of players and a very proud history and tradition. Australia never takes losing kindly and there is only so much shoving one can take before the wounded animal bites back.

© guardian.co.nz

Oh they're back, and they're hungry for more.

Darren Lehmann
There had to be catalyst to stir the pot and get the Aussies fizzing again, and a no nonsense and bloody minded *Australian* coach was the obvious answer. Enter Boof Lehmann.  Suddenly Australia have their mojo back, the battered Aussies have resurfaced and they let the world know all about it in Brisbane.  No more rotation policies, no more homework scandals, no more Phil Hughes, just 11 fired up angry blokes playing cricket.

But England had gotten so smug and unlikeable that the impossible finally happened, I *wanted* Australia to win. Its almost like the 2005 Ashes in reverse, the underdog is just so much more fascinating. Like democracy, one of these two cannot be in power too long before it starts to get infuriating. There has to be a balance.


And balance has been restored, for now.

Understanding the Calypso Collapso

Cricket often has some strange and unexplained phenomenon, for example:

• How Ajit Agarkar can get a century at Lords.
• How Michael Yardy was allowed to play international cricket.
• Why somebody would pay Glenn "The Big Show" Maxwell one million bucks.

But there is one cricketing mystery that continuously trumps them all, one team that can truly define the term enigma in their consistently baffling pursuits on the cricket pitch. This is none other than the West Indies.

Rewind about 30 years and these guys used to be absolutely unstoppable. They practically invented swagger, power cricket and tasteful arrogance. Some stonewalled all day while, others bludgeoned bowlers for fun, and they had a seemingly never ending assembly line of fast bowlers and swashbucklers. 

Until it well... ended.

© Getty

Most teams around the world are right on top or consistently crap, but how many can slide from one to the other in the very same match? There is no doubt that the West Indies are the undisputed king of collapses. Lets take a look back and analyse the concept of "The Calypso Collapso".

Some of the best

• Limping like a lame horse to 112 all out in 43 overs in a World Cup quarter final.
• Failing to chase 166 against Kenya, making 93 instead. Again in a World Cup.
• Crashing to 8-31 against Zimbabwe chasing 138.
• This last month, a 70 all out and 3 butchered run chases to lose 5-0 to Australia B.

But that's just the beginning...

The Top 3 West Indies Hall of Shame

#3 - ICC Champions Trophy Final 2006 (from 80-2 to 138 all out)

Chris Gayle claimed that he had 'unfinished business' leading into the match and responded by carting about everyone in sight including a 6-4-4 off none other than Glenn McGrath. The West Indies were flying at 10 an over when Nathan Bracken bowled the delivery of the tournament and sent Gayle back, and the rest of the lot stood around confused and clueless. And that includes Brian Lara who managed 2 off 18 deliveries.
Collapse = 58-8

#2 - DLF Cup 1st Match 2006 (172-1 to 201 all out)

Chasing a sizeable but gettable 279, Chanderpaul and Gayle went absolutely berserk and flayed 92 off 83 balls and 58 off 46 balls respectively. Australia were in a state of rare haplessness as in the strangest of situations Chanderpaul had romped to 50 when Gayle was on 9. It didn't last of course and Chanderpaul's departure left a pretty easy task of 106 required at four an over with 8 wickets in hand. They got 29.
Collapse = 29-9

#1 - World Cup 2nd Semi Final 1996 (165-2 to 202 all out)

And the biggest disgrace of all. They had Australia at 4-15 including Taylor, Ponting and both the Waughs, and even still Australia managed to somehow limp to 207. Chanderpaul and Lara were making light work of it until they fell and the inspired tactic of sending tail-enders Gibson and Harper backfired spectacularly. Richie Richardson stood alone at 49 not out and a World Cup final went begging. They never made the World Cup Semi Final even once since then.
Collapse = 37-8

Somebody call my shrink... again   © Getty

And I thought after the World T20 victory these guys were on the way back up.

Life is tough as a West Indies fan.