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We are in the first week of the 2023 Edition of the ODI Cricket World Cup. Please join me in discussing the games in this thread!
2023 Cricket World Cup
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Cricketer12
United States13980 Posts
We are in the first week of the 2023 Edition of the ODI Cricket World Cup. Please join me in discussing the games in this thread! | ||
GTR
51480 Posts
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Mafe
Germany5966 Posts
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Cricketer12
United States13980 Posts
On October 13 2023 01:22 Mafe wrote: Didnt the cricket world cup use to be a big deal in british media? Now it seems almost like an afterthought compared to, say, the rugby world cup. What happened? Idk i'm not British. | ||
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Cricketer12
United States13980 Posts
Afghanistan - While they predictably lost to India and got trounced by Bangladesh, Afghanistan is slowly growing into an overall more competent side. Their batting looks better every year. They may once again go through a WC without a win, but they need to look towards the long term picture. Australia - Going into this tournament, i had Australia as a shoe-in for the finals primarily due to 2 names: Starc and Zampa. Australia have a serious problem in that Zampa so far has been absolutely bludgeoned, he's not nearly as lethal as the past 4 years (plus the WC being in India) would have you believe. Starc on the other hand has been decent, although not anywhere near his own WC numbers. What's arguably even more worrisome for Australia is their fielding. Several dropped catches have cost them runs and team morale, and in the case of the Kohli catch, arguably the game. On top of this they have fallen prey to several batting collapses in the past few games. While Travis Head's return in a week or so will shore up the batting significantly and Maxwell has been seriously good with the ball, they still have some work to do to get back into the swing of things. Above all, they need a wake-up slap in the face. Their morale is abysmal, they have no fight in them. That needs to change. Bangladesh - Bangladesh began with a really solid team performance against Afghanistan, triggering a batting collapse before completing the chase comfortably. On the flipside they got crushed by England. They likely won't make it out of the group stages, but they might still pull off an upset at some point. Perhaps their spinners can pull off a stunner against NZ tomorrow. England - England began with a truly shocking defeat to NZ in the WC opener, but then looked far more like themselves against Bangladesh. This team is no longer in the prime of its career like it was at 2019, however they remain potent. A place in the knockouts is still on the cards, Reece Topley looks fantastic, and when Malan or Root are on song, they have all the anchoring needed to prevent collapse. Still, they may be challenged on trickier wickets. India - Predictably, the hosts looked great, while many will discount the win against Afghanistan, they still managed to pull off a comfortable win against Australia despite a sheer collapse at the start. Between Rohit, Gill and Kishan they have 3 double centurions in the XI, and between Kohli and Rahul you have all the stability you could need. Where they really excel though is a bowling attack that is perfect for these conditions with arguably the two most valuable allrounders in the tournament. It'll be tough for any team to beat India, but I still suspect we'll see an upset (my money is on SL). Netherlands - The Dutch looked surprisingly good in both their games, and considering they were against semi-final contenders NZ and Pak that's not insignificant. Scott Edwards looks good as a captain making opportunities with the ball where he can, and they've been good in the field. I think they are on their way to 1 or even 2 wins this WC. New Zealand - Their opening game against England made no sense, and while they beat the Dutch, it wasn't supremely comprehensive. NZ currently top the charts, and with 2 more games against easier opponents in the near future look to be solidifying their lead. Barring an upset, NZ only needs 1 win from their 4 games against top sides to make it to the semis. The ICC Dark Horses are looking good, though their bowling is concerning. Pakistan – Pakistan is having an uncharacteristically good opening to their campaign, not only avoiding upsets/batting collapses but completing the biggest successful chase in WC history. The bowling remains dodgy, and while the fast bowlers may be able to use the flat pitches as an excuse, the lack of potent spinners will be a serious problem. They can still make the semis and go further, but the bowling needs to come good. South Africa – South Africa, much like NZ are a team that on paper make no sense. They only bat to 6, and yet I’d call them the best batting lineup of the tournament rivaled only by India. The collapse against Australia was unusual (losing them a good 40 runs or so), however it does highlight what can happen to teams that can find that chink in the armor. If I had to peg down their biggest concern prior to today’s game, I would have said Rabada, but even he was great today. They really are looking on fire as a team. Sri Lanka - SL are in a bad spot after 2 losses to SA and Pak. Going into this WC the general theory was they would have one of the best bowling attacks with one of the weakest batting lineups and the opposite has happened, though bear in mind their 2 best bowlers are injured, and their 3rd wasn't available vs SA. They have arguably played on the 2 best pitches for batting as well so it's hard to say what we'll see from them moving forward. With that said Kusal Mendis is looking like the batter of the tournament so far and he does deserve mention. I still feel confident with my initial prediction of India, NZ and SA making the semis, but now the 4th spot looks like a fight between Pak Aus and England. Anything can happen! Matches to look out for over the next week: Pak v Ind on Saturday, and Australia v Sri Lanka on Monday (otherwise the games between now and next Thursday are rather uninteresting). | ||
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GTR
51480 Posts
On October 13 2023 02:03 Cricketer12 wrote: Australia - Going into this tournament, i had Australia as a shoe-in for the finals primarily due to 2 names: Starc and Zampa. Australia have a serious problem in that Zampa so far has been absolutely bludgeoned, he's not nearly as lethal as the past 4 years (plus the WC being in India) would have you believe. Starc on the other hand has been decent, although not anywhere near his own WC numbers. What's arguably even more worrisome for Australia is their fielding. Several dropped catches have cost them runs and team morale, and in the case of the Kohli catch, arguably the game. On top of this they have fallen prey to several batting collapses in the past few games. While Travis Head's return in a week or so will shore up the batting significantly and Maxwell has been seriously good with the ball, they still have some work to do to get back into the swing of things. Above all, they need a wake-up slap in the face. Their morale is abysmal, they have no fight in them. That needs to change. one of the biggest issues we have being on the sub-continent is a reliable second spinner. as you said zampa has looked like ass this tournament, and relying on the likes of maxwell, head and labuschagne/smith for part-time spin work is a recipe for disaster. unfortunately agar went home with a calf issue and our other spin options simply aren't ready for the national team. | ||
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Cricketer12
United States13980 Posts
On October 13 2023 09:14 GTR wrote: one of the biggest issues we have being on the sub-continent is a reliable second spinner. as you said zampa has looked like ass this tournament, and relying on the likes of maxwell, head and labuschagne/smith for part-time spin work is a recipe for disaster. unfortunately agar went home with a calf issue and our other spin options simply aren't ready for the national team. Tbf, even having Maxi doing as well as he is, is an improvement over Pakistan with 3 of the weakest spinners in the tournament. Though admittedly, Maxi will probably get smacked around at some point, Zampa needs to come good, soon. | ||
Pandemona
Charlie Sheens House51492 Posts
The Ashes series should have been a victory but they went into it with 1 warm up game in which not everyone played in vs Ireland......whereas Australia played multiple warm up games vs lesser sides all be it in England while several of there batsman even played county championship matches to boot. So then when they hit some form in the 3rd test and did great after that it was forgotten about. Roll onto the world cup preparations as defending champions....they played a home series nearly 8 weeks prior to the world cup starting in which several players didnt play in as well, to then have a month off going over to India to try and play there way into the tournament again. Its awful how they can do that, its clear by the end of the group they will probably be in some form but as of right now they look a mess as they aren't used to conditions, don't know there best bowling attack (same happened in the ashes until they figured out Wood and Woakes were better than who they started the series with!!) and the batsman are in 0 form. At least Australia are about as worse as we are so thats funny but i thought they had a good chance to win this if they prepped properly!!! | ||
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Cricketer12
United States13980 Posts
On October 16 2023 05:14 Pandemona wrote: Man the EBC have so much to answer for here, they have no idea how to prep for tournaments or anything anymore. Too busy focused on trying to make money domestically the national team is just getting farmed out for money and it results in awful performances. The Ashes series should have been a victory but they went into it with 1 warm up game in which not everyone played in vs Ireland......whereas Australia played multiple warm up games vs lesser sides all be it in England while several of there batsman even played county championship matches to boot. So then when they hit some form in the 3rd test and did great after that it was forgotten about. Roll onto the world cup preparations as defending champions....they played a home series nearly 8 weeks prior to the world cup starting in which several players didnt play in as well, to then have a month off going over to India to try and play there way into the tournament again. Its awful how they can do that, its clear by the end of the group they will probably be in some form but as of right now they look a mess as they aren't used to conditions, don't know there best bowling attack (same happened in the ashes until they figured out Wood and Woakes were better than who they started the series with!!) and the batsman are in 0 form. At least Australia are about as worse as we are so thats funny but i thought they had a good chance to win this if they prepped properly!!! England's in a fascinating position right now. I haven't watched their games as closely as the Australia games apart from the NZ opener so I cannot speak as closely to things I mentioned about Australia like their mental fortitude. What I can comment on is England is certainly still a top 6 side, they are still fighting for a semi-final spot, however this side is 4 years older and they've been playing in conditions that really hurt them. To beat England you need to bowl them out, accept that runs will flow and focus solely on wickets, and NZ and Afg both did that. I think SA and India beat them, but I really don't know what happens vs Pak, Aus or SL. | ||
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Cricketer12
United States13980 Posts
On October 13 2023 09:15 Cricketer12 wrote: Tbf, even having Maxi doing as well as he is, is an improvement over Pakistan with 3 of the weakest spinners in the tournament. Though admittedly, Maxi will probably get smacked around at some point, Zampa needs to come good, soon. Zampa came good! Straya is back | ||
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Pandemona
Charlie Sheens House51492 Posts
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Pandemona
Charlie Sheens House51492 Posts
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Cricketer12
United States13980 Posts
On October 18 2023 03:49 Pandemona wrote: Lol now South Africa who looked brilliant in two games.....lose the 3rd to Netherlands?!?! What on earth is this world cup lol Like we knew India was easily going to beat everyone but this is just silly. | ||
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Cricketer12
United States13980 Posts
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DropBear
Australia4365 Posts
On November 02 2023 22:30 Cricketer12 wrote: How the hell is anyone meant to beat India... Have the ICC and the entire rest of the world invest more in your domestic competition than all other domestic comps combined for 15 years would help | ||
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Pandemona
Charlie Sheens House51492 Posts
Outside of India i dont see India being as dominate, but we will see i guess, also rumours the ICC gonna pull the plug on 50 over world cup anyway lol | ||
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Cricketer12
United States13980 Posts
On November 03 2023 03:41 Pandemona wrote: Or don't play the competition in India, the pitches are so bad for most teams and the outfields on some of the stadiums are just shocking. Outside of India i dont see India being as dominate, but we will see i guess, also rumours the ICC gonna pull the plug on 50 over world cup anyway lol Not until after 2031 would be my guess. It still gets more vuews than t20 cup | ||
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Tonyarvey
1 Post
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Pandemona
Charlie Sheens House51492 Posts
I mean i like ODI cricket personally, not right now because England are so poor at it, but that world cup final vs New Zealand gives me chills everytime i hear the commentary. Maybe a proper Test World Cup would be amazing, very hard to do of course but that would be the pinnacle for me. Get India, Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and England in Abu Dhabi for couple of months and play some games between eachother, would be great. (I know we have test world championships, but that is good and a good start, but didn't like the scoring system, seems bit harsh on teams) | ||
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Cricketer12
United States13980 Posts
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