**Official Cricket World Cup Thread**

[chezlaw]

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I still pick Oz if they get their top players back. I'm also hoping they give Tait a run - that guy is faster than anyone else at the moment and can be devastating.

Loads of teams have a decent chance, even the WI. SA may be no 1 in the ratings but have plenty of bad experiences against the Aussies. I hope India do well, their batting line-up can be awesome.

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If Lee and Symmonds don't play its wide open, can't see Oz as favorites without them as their bowling will be much too weak. They should try and persuade Warne to have a last hurrah.

England are about 7th favorites and even they will have a chance. Should be fun but 7 weeks is a bit much.

(BTW Just watched Hayden hit a record 181)

chez

[Isura]

Anyone know if it will be available in HD anywhere? This and march madness, this is gonna be a great few months.

[CopTHIS]

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I still pick Oz if they get their top players back. I'm also hoping they give Tait a run - that guy is faster than anyone else at the moment and can be devastating.

Loads of teams have a decent chance, even the WI. SA may be no 1 in the ratings but have plenty of bad experiences against the Aussies. I hope India do well, their batting line-up can be awesome.

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If Lee and Symmonds don't play its wide open, can't see Oz as favorites without them as their bowling will be much too weak. They should try and persuade Warne to have a last hurrah.

England are about 7th favorites and even they will have a chance. Should be fun but 7 weeks is a bit much.

(BTW Just watched Hayden hit a record 181)

chez

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Damn, I recorded some of the cricket overnight to watch when I get home (using fast forward on Sky +). Now I read that Hayden hit 181!

You are probably right about the Aussie bowling attack, but they have hopes that Lee and Symmonds will be back for most of the games. Whether they will be 100% is another matter. If not, pick this boy Tait I say!

India have bowling issues too, but they could have hitters from 1-8 (well, except Dravid I guess) in the batting line up so should be worth watching.

[CopTHIS]

I looked on the Sky site before - they just said that every game is covered but didn't mention HD. It would be a shame if not, it looks so much better in HD.

[bismillahno]

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If Lee and Symmonds don't play its wide open, can't see Oz as favorites without them as their bowling will be much too weak. They should try and persuade Warne to have a last hurrah.

England are about 7th favorites and even they will have a chance. Should be fun but 7 weeks is a bit much.

(BTW Just watched Hayden hit a record 181)

chez

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Gotta agreee with that, NZ just chased down 346, without Lee the Australian attack has looked very very average here. Can't say I'm complaining though, we've been beaten so regularly by Australia that getting a few wins in has been extremely sweet. I think NZ can cause problems, but I don't think we have the bowlers to win the cup, particularly if Bond doesn't fire. I think South Africa have to go in as favourites now.

[aditya]

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If Lee and Symmonds don't play its wide open, can't see Oz as favorites without them as their bowling will be much too weak. They should try and persuade Warne to have a last hurrah.

England are about 7th favorites and even they will have a chance. Should be fun but 7 weeks is a bit much.

(BTW Just watched Hayden hit a record 181)

chez

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Gotta agreee with that, NZ just chased down 346, without Lee the Australian attack has looked very very average here. Can't say I'm complaining though, we've been beaten so regularly by Australia that getting a few wins in has been extremely sweet. I think NZ can cause problems, but I don't think we have the bowlers to win the cup, particularly if Bond doesn't fire. I think South Africa have to go in as favourites now.

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That was an amazingly sick match. Australia can't do [censored] without their bowling lineup. I understand that Lee is very important, but McGrath was one of the most phenomenal bowlers of his time and he dominated (Did he retire from ODI's?) and he truly will be missed. MG Johnson is one of the worst bowlers I have ever seen and I sincerely hope he will be in the squad in ever match (don't like Aus.) Wasn't he the one who gave up a record of 114 runs against the Saffies.

Who are the current favorites right now? I'd say SA is one of the big favorites, but their uncanny ability to choke with a very good team in the world cup may prevent them from winning.

If Aus gets their act together, they should be strong, but with no good bowlers (is Lee coming back), it will be extremely difficult. BTW, what happenned to Pointing, Gillie, and Symonds, Martin and all those other peeps.

Anyone wanna start some SSNL betting?

[maryfield48]

Good job, MPA.

For the record, the stumps (wickets) are exactly 22 yards apart.

Just to keep things confusing, the term "wicket" can at various times refer to:

1. The stumps (3 wooden poles referred to by MPA that must be protected by the batsman).

2. The specially prepared rectangle of turf between the two sets of stumps, where the bowler bowls the ball at the batsman.

3. An out, as in "England has lost 3 wickets" means that they have had three batsmen out.

As is supposed to be the case for Washington DC's street layout, I suspect that cricket is designed to be as bewildering as possible to fox invaders.

Edit: No. 2 above is also referred to as the "pitch".

[CopTHIS]

From the best-price UK market:

Australia 5/2
South Africa 9/2
Sri Lanka 8
West Indies 8
India 8
England 9
Pakistan 10
New Zealand 10

I'd still make Australia favourites, but partly because of the psychological hold they have on SA. I quite like India at those odds but it's pretty much like saying: Oz and SA are ahead and the rest are about level.

Michell Johnson has a big reputation and is very good when he gets it right. On other days he's all over the place, but it was Lewis I think who gave up the record number of runs (now he did look useless).

If there is enough interest I'd be up for some betting.

[CopTHIS]

I'm a huge cricket fan but I think Jacob Oram is taking things a bit far - being prepared to cut your finger off to play in the World Cup? Yikes.

http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/wc200...ry/281841.html

[maryfield48]

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I'm a huge cricket fan but I think Jacob Oram is taking things a bit far - being prepared to cut your finger off to play in the World Cup? Yikes.

http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/wc200...ry/281841.html

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He'd probably have to cut it off himself. I don't know how they'd convince a doctor to do it.