CWC Day 2 thread. Aus V Sco, Ken v Can

KevIRL

I know day 1 hasnt even finished but.....

2 games tomorrow

Hard to see anything other than a landslide for the Aussies and a fairly handy win for Kenya.

The Australia game is on Sky Sports with the Kenya-Canada game available via the red button if you have Sky digital.

(thoughts and updates on this thread)

county

25-1 for a scotland win,worth a punt?

mikeruurds

county wrote:

25-1 for a scotland win,worth a punt?

At those odds the Scots are practically favourites I would've thought you could get at least 50-1 on that.

I'd love to see Dougie bring it home, but it'll probably be a landslide victory for the boys from Oz as Kev says.

Edit: Kenya vs. Canada should be more of a contest.

mikeruurds

Aussie off to a flyer... 53/0 after 8.1 overs. Gilchrist and Hayden are in a menacing mood.

I hope no-one took that bet at 25-1!

Canada taking a cautious start against Kenya 32/0 after 9 overs.

Mike

Edit: Canada 68/1 after 13.5 overs... sudden accelleration by Barnett with four 4s in a row! Go you crazy Canucks!

Actually, got that wrong. 13th over = 444.44 - one dot ball.

RuggieBear

gilchristy gone lbw

mikeruurds

RuggieBear wrote:

gilchristy gone lbw

Robbed 4 runs short of his 50 too. Pity.

RuggieBear

mikeruurds wrote:

Robbed 4 runs short of his 50 too. Pity.

not for the scots...lol

RuggieBear

hayden gone lbw

mikeruurds

Canada plodding along at 3.75 per over against Kenya... 127/4

Aussie are 180/2 after 32.1 overs... this looks like it is going to be a big score and Ricky Ponting looks like he has a big 100 in his crosshairs. 60 runs off of 56 balls and still accellerating.

I'm guessing 330+

Royale with Cheese

Ha ha, Michael Clarke looked a right idiot there.

mikeruurds

Ponting is going BIG today... defo 330 plus score on the cards.

Poor Scots. I hope they're enjoying the batting display.

Ah no... the showers in Jamaica are only supposed to hit at around 2-3pm!!!


Edit: The Canucks are falling apart. 187/9 at the death - 3 wickets fall in 3 overs. 9 balls to go. I hope the Canadians bowlers brought their 'A' game today.

Canada 199 all out with the last wicket falling on the last ball of the innings.

mikeruurds

Good knock by Ponting with 113. A few key wickets have been lost in quick succession - 310 is looking more likely now.

KevIRL

Great last 3 overs for the Aussies.

KevIRL

334/6. Big last few overs for the Aussies.

Hogg 40 off 15!

mikeruurds

KevIRL wrote:

334/6. Big last few overs for the Aussies.

Hogg 40 off 15!

I wasn't that far off with my prediction then

KevIRL

Kenya 30-1.

Scotland 19-0

KevIRL

KevIRL wrote:

Kenya 30-1.

Scotland 19-0

Jinxed the Scots. Risked an extra 2 runs from an over throw. Haq gone

KevIRL

Scotland 27/2

KevIRL

32/3 Scotland.

In danger of a skittling here

DMC

Spread markets are saying between 75-100 runs for Scotland....

KevIRL

Kenya 58/2

DMC

Mark Nicholas pfo. "you little ripper" to Glenn MCGrath indeed.

42/5

Marshy

In fairness to Holding and Atherton, who criticised the inclusion of some of the minnows, nobody wants to see a game drift to an inevitable result like Aus v Sco at the mo.

DMC

But they want to keep international cricket as an elite band of 8 or so countries. They don't seem to buy the fact that for cricket to grow, it needs to embrace the next level. The ICC has many, many faults (Percy Sonn being one) but the advancement they have made for the next level has been a welcome one.

How are Scotland and Ireland meant to progress if they are not allowed to play the top countries?

105/7 in the 35th.

Marshy

No I take that point, but I think their argument would be that the WC is not the place for them to be playing the top teams. They can play the top teams in other one dayers etc, just not in what is supposed to be the the premier event where in general they arent competitve.

mikeruurds

Yet the minnows continue to cause major upsets when given the opportunity.

The exposure that a team like Ireland are getting back home during the tournament will also do a lot for cricket domestically even if they lose all their games.

Marshy

Well how many wins will there be over one of the big 8 by one of the minnows? Very few I'd say, maybe even none.

Theres just too many I think. Have perhaps Kenya and one other of the rest. The likes of canada, bermuda, holland are just making up the numbers.

DMC

Marshy wrote:

No I take that point, but I think their argument would be that the WC is not the place for them to be playing the top teams. They can play the top teams in other one dayers etc, just not in what is supposed to be the the premier event where in general they arent competitve.

Saudi Arabia and Togo played in the last soccer WC, and I didn't hear any calls for them not to be in it because they had no chance of winning.

Cricket for so long has been a closed shop, so while the likes of Atherton and Holding might have the best interests of competitiveness at heart, you cannot dismiss the opportunity to develop the game in new markets. The World Cup is the show piece, and you need the odd minnow there, to give the countries on the next level the opportunity to test themselves against the best.

Mike is right, the exposure the Irish cricket team has got in the national media over the last couple of weeks is more than they've ever had.

mikeruurds

The "second tier" competitions get absolutely no coverage. International friendly games between the minnows and the Big 8 generally happen informally at the tail-end or beginning of major tours and generally are not played in the same competitive spirit as the games at the World Cup.

This chance only comes around once every 4 years. Let's just give the smaller teams a chance to experience top class cricket in the hope that one day they will develop to a point where they provide a challenge to the top sides. The opportunity to represent their country also encourages youngsters to get involved in cricket.

I personally enjoy seeing talented players (i.e. Ashraful from Bangladesh) from the smaller sides get a chance to play in the big leagues.

I think they're doing way more than just making up the numbers.

Just my humble opinion.
Mike

mikeruurds

Another problem is that most of the second tier sides almost never get an opportunity to play one of the top 8 teams outside of the World Cup. South Africa can easily afford to go on 5 or 6 tours a year. I'd say Ireland would struggle to justify the cost of flying its team and support staff to say Australia for one ODI. They wouldn't be able to swing a 3 or 5 match series as the Aussies would rather play that many games against a ranked side. The top 8 sides only play the one off friendlies to fill a few days in a tour and to do their bit for the development of the game.

The World Cup is the best opportunity to get everyone together and to give the minnows a chance to play 3 games of which 2 will be against high ranking teams. There is simply no other way that this could be done. And the minnows need to experience competitive cricket at the top level to improve. Also because a victory against a minnow side counts for the same points as a victory against a top side, they are guaranteed that the game will be played hard and that they will at least be taken seriously.

No token friendly game against a South Africa B team will do that for them.

Mike

Marshy

Yeah I agree with what has been said, but I think there still must be an element of competitiveness. So like I said, just have a few less. This way the best of the rest play in the WC.

We'll have to see how Ireland get on, but that'll be a indicator of where they are.

mikeruurds

Marshy wrote:

Yeah I agree with what has been said, but I think there still must be an element of competitiveness. So like I said, just have a few less. This way the best of the rest play in the WC.

We'll have to see how Ireland get on, but that'll be a indicator of where they are.

I don't disagree with you. I'm hoping that the continued exposure will motivate the minnows to gradually become more competitive.

Look at Bangladesh and Kenya. They've grown in leaps over the last 5-10 years thanks to the odd game against a cricket super power.

Mike

DMC

I do think there will be a lot of one sided games, we are agreed on that. All the minnows will be gone in 2 weeks, leaving just the top 8. I think that is only fair.

So far, in the history of the World Cup, the minnows have grown. Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe (initially), Bangladesh and Kenya have been successes, but that's only after a couple of World Cups. If Ireland qualify for the next World Cup, with money behind it to improve the game and take it forward, it can only be for the good of the game.

county

Australia 334/6 v Scotland 131/9

Australia Win by 203 runs

even though it was the scots i would have loved to see them doing a lot better