This tournament continues to intrigue the cricket mind if not yet the cricket heart (to the degree I expected). The battle over the role of minnow cricketing nations is playing out before our eyes while the stars of the established teams continue to leave us puzzled by their lack of impact (save perhaps Afridi who is carrying his team at the moment). Each thrashing dealt to the likes of Canada and Kenya seems to be matched by the ever-trying, somehow-English-defeating Irish or the sudden appearance of African spinners good enough to take wickets ...for Africa (ahem). Yet there is still no contender for that coveted title of 'favourite' as the first round crawls on (and on). For now I will focus on the England team who by definition should be at the forefront of the assault on the lesser cricket nations but this week offered a gift to the likes of Holland and Kenya by losing so spectacularly to Ireland.
In one 50 over game the English team may have undone all the work attempted by their cricket board to keep the minnows out of the 2015 tournament and nothing could or should seem more charitable. Add to this the exciting tie with India and the low-scoring-yet-enthralling victory over South Africa the other evening and in the space of two weeks England have set the World Cup alive, provided ammunition to the minnows and knocked the seemingly stable tournament leaders down a peg. In short, whether saving one day cricket or not, the English have given the ultimate charity to cricket.
I can't say the same for every other team with the likes of West Indies and New Zealand inflicting heavy losses on the lower ranked teams (perhaps they have something to prove?). Here is the best part though - Geoffrey Boycott on the question of minnow teams (recorded 24 hours before ENG vs IRE):
"We all await that one surprise match when an Associate defeats a big team. That probably will happen... I know you're from Ireland and you're team's doing really good and I'm pleased for them. But that's not a good reason. There are too many bad cricket matches for one surprise"
You make yourself a hostage to fortune with statements like that. I would read/listen to the entire thing though as this question of minnow cricket nations will not go away and clearly not every Englishman is as charitable as those currently playing
RECENT RESULTS
- Canada vs Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe crushed Canada by 175 runs but my player for ZIM was out first ball for 0
- Netherlands vs West Indies: West Indies were clinical as they won by 215 runs after 6 wickets (including a hatrick) for Roach
- Sri Lanka vs Kenya: Malinga's 6 wickets (including his second World Cup hatrick) ensured a 9 wicket win for Sri Lanka
- England vs Ireland: Ireland achieved the upset of the tournament by chasing England's 327 with 3 wickets to spare after one Kevin O'Brien blazed 113 (63 balls) breaking the record for fastest World Cup century
- Netherlands vs South Africa: centuries to Amla and AB de Villiers were too much for the men from the low countries as victory was as large as 231 runs
- Canada vs Pakistan: Shahid Afridi saved his team with 5 wickets that allowed a successful defense of 184
- New Zealand vs Zimbabwe: Despite plenty of concerns back home given the potential of facing 30 overs of spin (and the Black Caps not quite being as comfortable against spin as the Indian team for example) victory was obtained by 10 wickets in a very impressive performance that assuaged a few fears (but not all)
- Bangladesh vs West Indies: Bangladesh folded for 58, West Indies raced home by 9 wickets and the entire match lasted just 30 overs and 1 ball; disappointing doesn't even begin to describe this match
- Sri Lanka vs Australia: an interesting contest was ruined by rain as the match up from the 2007 Final somehow managed to provide less entertainment than that most farcical of finishes (at least Gilchrist got 144 in the match 4 years ago)
- England vs South Africa: a low scoring dog-fight from a previous era and with England getting across the line by 6 runs the standings become more interesting as one front-runner makes room for a resurgent England team
...but who really knows in this chaotic situation? As I type this, New Zealand have just beaten Pakistan and by beat I mean thumped - more about this on the weekend as we move into the final stages of round 1
Lastly, thanks to everyone that has added their unique view to the counter on this blog - 33 were recorded in the first week of my donation plan. That's $33 to the Christchurch relief effort so well done.
Well that's it from here and I hope you join me again
It's good bye for now
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