Preview of Australia's World Cup chances
Apologies for going AWOL on the eve of the World Cup (hey, if its good enough for Gilly...) It was a combination of summer fatigue but more so a case of there just being not much worth commenting on. The majority of cricket news (from an Australian perspective) have consisted of players and ex-players all stating that either Australia had no chance of winning the World Cup or were the favourites to make it 3 in a row. The fact that the opinions are split says to me that it could go either way. Australia are a bit like my other favourite sports team, the Brisbane Broncos. In their pomp, they're damn near unplayable. It all depends on who turns up on the day.
That thought encourages me. Australia have made a habit out of turning up to World Cups with their game face on so I expect a dramatic improvement on their 5 match losing streak. My main concern is not Australia's form or momentum - it's the injuries. Ponting's back is still a concern. Matt Hayden is limping around with a broken toe. Michael Clarke admission of batting through the pain offers no reassurance. Andrew Symonds may be playing in the nets with a tennis ball but to my glass-half-empty mentality, he's a reinjury just waiting to happen. And there's always the mortal danger of falling planes.
Another concern is our ineffectual bowling. We wrote off the disastrous Chappell Hadlee Trophy whitewash as Gilly and Ponting didn't tour. Losing 3 frontline batsmen in Gilly, Punter and Pup didn't prevent us from setting huge totals in the last two matches. You can't do much better than Hayden's 181 not out in the last match. But New Zealand chased both totals relatively comfortably. Ponting, Gilchrist and Clarke returning won't address that issue. You may say Ponting's captaincy in the field will help but remember he was running the show when the Proteas chased down 434.
We entered the last World Cup with some uncertainty, losing Warne just before the tournament. That didn't stop us from travelling through the tournament undefeated. Our squad is a little creakier this time around with more injuries and years under our belt. Maybe Cooley and Buchanan have come up with effective techniques and strategies to restrain opposition batsmen. Hopefully Symond's bicep will remain attached to his shoulder bone over the next few months. Time will tell.
With the World Cup unofficially starting today with the warm-up matches, I thought I'd post the dates of Australia's matches for ease of reference:
- March 6 - Zimbabwe (warm-up)
- March 9 - England (warm-up)
- March 14 - Scotland (probably featuring Matt Hayden's return)
- March 18 - Netherlands
- March 24 - South Africa (hopefully featuring Andrew Symond's return, should be a cracker)
| Posted by JC on Mon 5 Mar |  7 comments |
Should be an interesting warm up match against Zimbabwe.
Posted by TA on 2007-03-05 23:09:29
Posted by TA on 2007-03-05 23:09:29
Indeed. We'll probably lose Stuart Clark and Nathan Bracken to ligament injuries. I wonder if ABC radio or cricinfo or someone is covering the game - I can't even find what time the game starts.
Posted by JC on 2007-03-05 23:37:20
Posted by JC on 2007-03-05 23:37:20
They probably won't bother covering the match.
Knowing Australia they will probably lose to Zimbabwe, just to add the excitement. After all they have to sink before they can rise.
Posted by Andrew on 2007-03-06 13:13:08
Knowing Australia they will probably lose to Zimbabwe, just to add the excitement. After all they have to sink before they can rise.
Posted by Andrew on 2007-03-06 13:13:08
I think all the games are day games starting at 9.30am local time (or 12.30 am AEDT) so if you want to follow the games live you'll be in for sleepless nights!
Prime time for the subcontinent though.
Posted by MT on 2007-03-06 14:09:04
Prime time for the subcontinent though.
Posted by MT on 2007-03-06 14:09:04
Re Andrew, I think Australia have already done their sinking - surely the only way is up from here. Surely...
Thanks MT, useful info. Dang, I was up at 12.30am last night working on the computer, I should've checked the cricinfo website to see if they did coverage. Probably not the warmup games but surely the actual World Cup games will be on ABC radio.
Posted by JC on 2007-03-06 16:51:46
Thanks MT, useful info. Dang, I was up at 12.30am last night working on the computer, I should've checked the cricinfo website to see if they did coverage. Probably not the warmup games but surely the actual World Cup games will be on ABC radio.
Posted by JC on 2007-03-06 16:51:46
Seems like teams which have a decent spinner or two will have a good chance of winning this tournament - which means not us.
The results have been all over the place lately - SL crush NZ. bangladesh beat NZ. NZ thrash Australia. Things aren't looking good!
Right now i don't feel confident that we can even beat England in the warm up match.
Posted by MT on 2007-03-08 23:42:56
The results have been all over the place lately - SL crush NZ. bangladesh beat NZ. NZ thrash Australia. Things aren't looking good!
Right now i don't feel confident that we can even beat England in the warm up match.
Posted by MT on 2007-03-08 23:42:56
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