OVER the last five days, the South Australian Cricket Association and Queensland Cricket have, perhaps inadvertently, kick started the process to return Australian cricket to the top of the table following a disastrous six months on the test circuit. And this is before the long-awaited review of said six months has got underway, but more on that in a moment.

Two Darrens: Berry and Lehmann were recently appointed as coaches of the South Australian and Queensland cricket teams respectively, following stints as interim coaches of their Twenty20 sides. While neither story has got the press it deserved due to the World Cup, this is a massive boost for the Sheffield Shield competition and Australian domestic cricket in general. It is encouraging because it is an investment in the future of Australian cricket and it is ensuring that talent and tactical nous built up through many years in Sheffield Shield cricket and in the case of Lehmann, international cricket. Importantly, they will provide two rather underachieving states (though I will give full credit to the Redbacks for their T20 Big Bash win this year) with the confidence to play calculating, but aggressive cricket.

In recent years, state cricket boards/associations have, for the most, not made use of the most precious resources at their disposal; namely recently retired first class cricketers, aside from NSW with Matthew Mott. Experience is the best teacher in cricket. The rapid loss of experience without any attempt to manage the loss of knowledge and intuition is a key reason why the performance of cricket teams decline. It stands to reason then that some of the better coaches, mentors and technical advisors for domestic cricket will come from the pool of recently retired first class and international players. It is therefore in the interests of Australian cricket to keep these people in the domestic loop. The value of having a Michael Kasprowicz, Brad Hodge or Andy Bichel around state teams cannot be quantified when it comes to improving the standard of domestic cricket and ensuring that the well loved National Selection Panel have the confidence to draft players from domestic ranks.

I am not for a moment suggesting that no Australian should be limited to first class or international players who have retired in the last five years. Indeed, we have had many successful exports: Dav Whatmore, John Dyson, Bruce Yardley, Tom Moody and now Trevor Bayliss have worked wonders for Sri Lankan cricket. Jason Gillespie is now plying his trade as a coach in Zimbabwe, while Troy Cooley (yes, he apparently had a few tricks up his sleeve) and David Saker have moulded the England bowlers into a potent lineup. Likewise, Australia has been welcoming of Mike Young’s baseball background, while Western Australia has signed on Mickey Arthur following a relatively successful stint as South African coach. What I am suggesting is that when state associations face the inevitable job of planning for the retirement of a player, one option that should remain on the table is a coaching stint (even if it was part time to accommodate media and other business interests, post cricket).

Berry’s appointment is particularly pleasing, and not just because he is a Victorian! I have been mightily impressed with his ability to think laterally and look at player pools that are outside of established cricket circles. Take for instance his work as Director of Coaching at the Rajasthan Royals. He has made some big calls in his tenure and has been prepared to back his instincts rather than the well established development mechanisms. One of these ‘big calls’ included the selection of one S R Watson from relative obscurity, along with left arm quick bowler Kamran Khan, IPL star Yusuf Pathan and the wrong footed Sohail Tanvir. While some of the bigger squads, such as the Royal Challengers Bangalore, struggled even with big names up their sleeve, ‘Chuck’ along with his support crew provided kept individual and game plans simple and developed a winning culture at the Royals – this at a team in it’s first season of competition.

He did exactly the same thing with Nathan Lyon for South Australia during the Big Bash. Lyon, a groundsman at the Adelaide Oval had bowled particularly well in the first grade Twenty20 competition and was provided with a chance to work his magic alongside Adil Rashid and Aaron O’Brien – and didn’t he deliver. Not only was Lyon’s selection from left field, the three spinner attack was probably a first for Australian cricket – three frontline spinners playing regularly (i.e. not on minefields every single game) – all signs pointing to a man who is prepared to gamble on his hunches for the good of the team. More often than not, he has got the call spot on.

–

THE appointments come as Cricket Australia announced a wide ranging review into the performance of the test team and other associated entities, following the capitulation to England this summer. It will be headed up by the former Chairman of BHP Biliton, Don Argus, along with former ICC Chief Executive Offcer, Malcolm Speed. They will receive input from three former captains: Allan Border, Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh; ‘Tugga’ previously indicating that he would be happy to step into a mentor role with Cricket Australia.

Cricket Australia CEO, James Sutherland (who will sit on the panel as an ex-officio member), has provided the review panel with a rather broad brief:

The review group has been asked to understand the causes of the Australian cricket team’s recent performance decline in Test matches and recommend changes to deliver sustained success.

The advice of three great Australian captains will be invaluable diagnosing the problem(s) with the test side, domestic competitions and feeder mechanisms. The key phrase there is diagnose the problem(s). At some point, the right people need to be in place to put in the recommendations put forward by the Committee. Someone has to deliver results which will ultimately lift Australian cricket out of it’s current rut and clearly, the wrong people are in place at the moment to deliver that recovery. Andrew Hilditch infamously proclaimed that his group of merry selectors did a ‘good job’ during the ill-fated series, while ‘Teflon’ Tim Nielsen’s performance leaves much to be desired, despite the recent extension of his contract to 2013.

Neither cuts the mustard as the sort of people to lead a long term recovery nor show any bravery in their decision making, something that will invariably be discussed in the Argus Review. The appointments of Darren Berry and Darren Lehmann however are the first sign that Australian cricket is getting serious about regaining that prized number one spot in test cricket.

Sandru Santhana Anandaraj (@fourth_stump)
TTA’s Chief Correspondent
Follow us online @trueallrounder

Image sourced from user hamedog on Flickr via Creative Commons.

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I’ll preface this article by saying by and large the inclusion of the batting powerplay has radically shifted the face of One Day Internationals positively. They are a great addition to the format forcing a bit more creativity and nuance from the fielding side to get around the restrictions and help speed up the batting tempo for viewers to enjoy. The times in which they are used still bears issue due to their commonly shared and repetitive introduction to the game. Administration regarding the batting powerplay and especially the bowling powerplay need to be addressed.

From September 2010, including matches with data I could find, the latest a bowling powerplay was left (besides instances where it wasn’t used at all) is in the 21st over by Australia vs Sri Lanka. This powerplay was left until later because of Upal Tharanga and Tillatkeratne Dilshan smashing the frontline Australian bowlers around, until Dilshan was out in the 20th over. The next longest example was New Zealand against Australia with the same reason as above; Shane Watson and Brad Haddin were belted the ball around and New Zealand only had 206 runs to defend. There is only one other instance (ENG v AUS, 13.1 overs in Watson’s 161* match) where the bowling powerplay was delayed beyond it’s absolute minimum starting point. 3 instances out of 112 points of data; 2.67% of the time. Not particularly relevant then to have the bowling powerplay remain the same.

The batting powerplay shows a more varied pattern of results, but are clustered relatively the same. There are many more instances where the batting powerplay isn’t used, such as Australia vs New Zealand in this World Cup where the Australians didn’t bother to use it, or in either of Kenya’s games at this World Cup where they were thrashed out of using them. Out of 96 instances of it’s use, the average time the batting powerplay is commenced is the start of the 41st over, with the upper maximum being used 16 times (commencing 46th over) and the lowest being at the start of the 16th over by New Zealand against Pakistan, with Martin Guptill and Jesse Ryder looking to chase 124 in rapid time. Other notable uses of the batting powerplay fall into two categories; batsmen dominating the bowling attack or a complete capitulation of the batting order, requiring drastic use of the batting powerplay. The second earliest usage of the batting powerplay in the data range was Sri Lanka vs Australia in that famous comeback at the MCG. Angelo Mathews called for the batting powerplay in the 27th over as a last resort when the man at the other end was Lasith Malinga; we all know how it went from there and how the powerplay was crucial in seizing back some momentum. In the former category, AB de Villiers and JP Duminy used it aggressively against India in their 1st ODI on January 12th, where the two used it in the 28th over to maintain a high tempo. In the corresponding innings of that match, India were collapsing and Virat Kohli used it with his last viable batting partner Harbhajan Singh. The trend of smashing bowlers or utter collapse to dictate the use of the batting powerplay outside of the normal is pretty predictable. In total, the bating powerplay has been used 5 times before the 30th over, 22 times from 30 to 40 and the remaining 67 instances from 40 onwards.

This is far too predictable for widespread use. Wait until the 40th over or until the new ball is given to use the batting powerplay after receiving 15 overs of (effectively) mandatory field restrictions at the beginning of the innings. This still leaves that perceived lull period from Overs 16 – 39, which was there prior to the powerplay’s introduction. Games tend to meander through the lull, without many risks taken by the batting side whilst the 5th/6th bowlers trundle through the part time overs for the fielding side.

Instead of regular and standardised use of the powerplays from 11-16 and 40-45, why not administrate their use to speed up the middle overs and shake up the dynamic of the batting innings? If the two powerplays had to be used from overs 21 to 40, it rapidly changes the way the game is played. Sides will experiment with the batting lineup to best utilise these middle overs with their cannon hitters; bowling sides will get part time overs through from overs 11-20 and afterwards. The best bowlers will also have to be used in the midst of the innings rather than on the periphery of every one, leaving more overs at the end to be bowled by part timers allowing for even more scoring opportunity. Lineups might have to be altered at the expense of a part-timer just to get through these broken periods of field restriction.

Scoring still happesns rapidly at the end of the innings with or without the batting powerplay; the perception you need to save it until the dying overs defeats its best use is odd. More often than not, pinch-hitters at 7/8 like Yusuf Pathan, Abdul Razzaq, Shahid Afridi and Kieron Pollard are asked to do massive amounts with little time to get in and watch the ball. The batsmen above them should be just as capable of whalloping the ball as necessary.

This would probably lead to a break up in the powerplays; bowling powerplay likely at 21 and batting at 34 (new ball) or 36 (last applicable use of it), which is even better than a block of ten that it could turn into. Means the middle overs get two periods of interest rather than zero, leading up to the final 10 overs of crash-bang cricket anyway. This guarantees every team uses it as well, barring a complete disaster where they don’t reach 20 overs, in which case they shouldn’t be playing ODI cricket. In this time of T20 adventurism and clever shot selection, it shouldn’t be an issue to ask for 80 runs from the last 10 overs without the batting powerplay in any case. Look at the damage Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar have done in non-powerplay overs; batsmen aren’t restricted in these periods if they are talented enough.

It creates interest and excitement to experiment with the powerplays. Four years to trial them before the next World Cup is perfect as well. Look at how haphazardly the use of UDRS has been without an extensive trial for all teams made mandatory by the ICC, as it has failed to do so currently.

The intention of the powerplays is noble; get more spice and action into the middle of the game. Sadly all sides are exploiting the powerplays in ways that undermine their need. Creative administration will help make ODIs more exciting, generating more people through the turnstiles.

Jarrod Potter
Editor of the True Allrounder
Twitter: @JarrodPotter & @trueallrounder
Facebook: www.facebook.com/trueallrounder

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Canada and Kenya both showed a complete ineptitude towards playing professional cricket at the highest level in their matches yesterday. Kenya faced an average New Zealand bowling attack and were put to the sword instantly. The English-accented Seren Waters was the only batsmen to show any desire to stay around, but even his 16 from 49 balls came to an end unceremoniously after playing around a Hamish Bennett swinger. New Zealand took 8 overs to chase the 70 runs and completely humiliate Kenya. Canada didn’t do much better; wickets were gifted to them by Sri Lanka in chase of a big total as Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene made it clear to them who was the top side on the day. Small batting resistance by Rizwan Cheema and Ashish Bagai only halted the rot for a short time as Canada went on to be skittled for 122, 210 runs behind Sri Lanka.

These are woeful results; no one will gloss over how extensively these two teams under-performed. It has been a quick decay from their impressive efforts in the practice matches, with Canada pushing England all the way and Kenya showing some resolve against the West Indies and the Netherlands. The tournament proper has cast them as unwelcome at the big table because of their lack of resolve.

Not all Associates deserve to be tarnished with the same ideas though. Ireland and the Netherlands have shown in the last two ICC tournaments what can be accomplished with little resources but lots of determination. The results of this have been just as clear with the pillaging of Irish players to England. If Ed Joyce and Eoin Morgan are good enough to play for a Full Member nation, why can’t Ireland have the same title for producing them?

Don’t rule out upsets by Ireland or the Netherlands at this World Cup; as I mentioned in my Associates preview post, if they were in Group A these two teams were a chance of causing some serious upsets and potentially advancing to the Quarter Finals. The grassroots efforts of Afghanistan, the UAE and Uganda are also worth mentioning in this breath, as these teams have shown they’re able to rise up and play well against the bigger nations. Will these teams make the top cut? Afghanistan has already shown they are capable of stepping up immediately with a win in the World T20 Qualifier and the Intercontinental Cup in their first year of doing the rounds on the highest circuits of Associate cricket. UAE has played the Asia Cup a couple of times and always looks close to playing the World Cup (at least under the old models). Uganda upstaged Kenya in a couple of T20s in 2009. Not saying their progression will be quick, but over a 10-15 year period, the ICC needs to figure out just what they want top level Associate cricket to look like and see where the overlaps are between it and Full Member tours.

Casting the Associates out of the World Cup is an insult to the hard work they put in, on their own time and to the detriment of their careers (most are only semi-professional in playing cricket and have jobs to supplement their cricketing), inevitably leading to the drying up of interest in cricket outside of the ten Full Members. Seren Waters has already qualified for England; think about the implications of them robbing from another country to fill their team and ask yourself if that makes sense. Some nations will come and go; Canada and Kenya will be added to the list including Namibia and Bermuda of Associates to play the World Cup without any real success to back it up afterwards.

Eventually the ICC needs to admit there either is no plan to admit more Test Member nations or explain the pathway to that achievement. Without this distinction, the Associates will continue to flounder and eventually capitulate like Kenya has done under the burden of pressure.

Jarrod Potter
Editor of the True Allrounder
Twitter: @JarrodPotter & @trueallrounder

Feature Picture by Gouldy99 under Creative Commons.

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Squad: Andrew Strauss (C), James Anderson, Matt Prior (WK), Ajmal Shahzad, Graeme Swann, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, James Tredwell, Tim Bresnan, Jonathan Trott, Luke Wright, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Michael Yardy, Kevin Pietersen. Chris Tremlett (Travelling Reserve)

Likely XI: Strauss, Prior, Bell, Trott, Pietersen, Bopara/Collingwood, Yardy, Broad, Swann, Anderson, Bresnan/Shahzad

England comes into this World Cup with mixed form in the 50 over format. Having lost 6-1 against Australia recently, this counterpoints their earlier victory over the Aussies in June/July to the tune of 3-2. Tours away and home against Bangladesh resulted in similarly non-definitive result of 2-1 at home, with a surprise victory for the Bangladeshis at Bristol, whilst the series in Bangladesh was 3-0 in a far more comfortable affair. South Africa’s series against the Poms was affected by the weather and two of the five matches were lost, leaving the final ledger 2-1 to England. These aren’t the results you would expect from a side that treated Australia like kiddy grade in the Ashes, but it seems their form in ODIs isn’t as concrete.

They face a constant flow of injuries. Just about all the players in the squad have had health breaks, or an injury recovery period. Tim Bresnan is improving in his bid for playing the Cup, but with Chris Tremlett on immediate standby with the team, it doesn’t seem as if there’s a whole lot of confidence in the assertion. Similar concerns exist for Ajmal Shahzad with his hamstring not improving as rapidly as the English physiotherapists are praying for. Eoin Morgan pulled out to the disappointment of Ireland (who I maintain would’ve bounced him off the face of the Earth), having fractured a finger in the Australian tour. Stuart Broad and his abdominal strain have improved, but now is copping a case of Delhi belly, so he could be rested for the opening game against the Netherlands. It leaves a fairly bareboned lineup once the injury stricken are taken out of contention.

Batting

What the spate of bowler and lower order batsmen injuries do is force the impetus onto the top order to make massive totals. Andrew Strauss and Matt Prior weren’t particularly effective in the ODIs against Australia this summer, but form from last season does fall with Strauss. He lead England’s runscoring in ODIs for 2010 with 806 runs at 57.57. His two centuries and 6 fifties from 14 innings is decent, but will need to make those runs against the big boys to keep England in the right half of the group. Matt Prior is a surprise call up, considering he only managed 3 ODIs last year and was seen as third in line behind Steven Davies and Craig Kieswetter. Form will need to find Prior soon or else he might be demoted down the order for someone with a better current track record.

The impenetrable anchor Jonathan Trott, easily the biggest cricket revelation in the last two years, has been dominating all formats and will need to continue on in the World Cup. 137 against Australia, after fighting through cramp, showed his ability to persevere is as strong as his classically elegant strokeplay. His two centuries during the Australian ODI summer showed there is still room for tempo cricket in an increasingly T20 inclined world. Rotating the strike, hitting the occasional bad ball for 4 whilst constantly getting 2s can just as easily maintain a 100.00 strikerate without the associated dangers of clobbering everything. Trott could benefit from dropping himself down to number four allowing an attacking player to fit into the attacking player’s home at three. That attacking man should be Ian Bell. His scores recently in ODIs haven’t been impressive, but his ability shouldn’t be doubted, highlighted by a dogged century at the SCG to grind Australia out of a series draw.

After Bell and Trott, Kevin Pietersen will need to provide the power game he is noted for. At 30 years old, this could be his last World Cup. ODIs haven’t been kind to Pietersen over the last three years, with his last century in the format coming in November 2008. Since the start of 2009, KP has an average of 21.36 with a single fifty coming against Australia in Melbourne this year. There is his dropping from the side to consider for limiting his time in the format, but those excuses will need to be left at Heathrow Airport if England want to build big totals in the way Pietersen used to specialise in.

The lower order looks like a patchwork of desperation call ups due to injury, hope for resurgence in form and blind faith the selections will eventually pay off. In order of those three characteristics: Ravi Bopara, called in for Eoin Morgan, will be there hoping to revive his stagnated international career with useful contributions of power batting and tight part time bowling; Paul Collingwood, the English ODI leading runscorer of all time, wondering whether his limited overs career should go the same direction as his Test variety; and Michael Yardy, the jack of all trades, king of none. These three players highlight baffling selection criteria for the ECB, with more talented players in Adil Rashid, James Hildreth and James Taylor (not the folk troubadour) all watching the matches from home instead of the field. Michael Yardy is particularly useless in this format, the supposed allrounder has a bat average of 23.61 and ball average of 48.21. Dare I say it, any English team with Yardy in it is playing with an X rather than an XI. Regardless of their hodgepodge status, this English lower order will need to fire all the talent neurons in their collective heads to forge something for the bowlers to defend.

Bowling

James Anderson and Graeme Swann will shoulder all of the workload burden. Around them are average part-timers, semi-injured allrounders and a general lack of a cohesive attack. From his 4 matches this year, after returning from paternity leave, Anderson took 7 wickets at 34.00 with a larger issue being his economy rate of 5.95. Anything about 5 for a strike bowler is unacceptable. Swann succombed to International-Spinner-In-Australia Syndrome but don’t hold that against him; he will love the conditions on the subcontinent. If Yardy and Pietersen can deliver more than piecemeal overs from the other end, Swann will be in a position to bowl England to victory every time he grasps the ball.

Stuart Broad will need to recover from his stomach bug to impress upon the selectors his aptitude in this format. He was the leading wickettaker for England in 2010 with 30 scalps at 24.86. His batting over the same period has gone to shambles that said, with only 34 runs recorded from his 6 innings. He is primarily a bowler at this World Cup, but never discount the need for effective batting from a supposed allrounder in the making.

Tim Bresnan could make an impact if he plays, but at this stage you’re tossing a coin to decide whether he makes himself fit again. Luke Wright and Ajmal Shahzad round out the bowlers, but realistically I’m not sure either will play in the tournament itself. Chris Tremlett would be a better addition to the side than either of the aforementioned. Jonathan Trott will also bowl part time overs in a desperate attempt by the ECB to get through 50 overs with 3 ½ bowlers.

England have the Group of Death and could struggle to make much of an inroad to the Cup if results don’t come. West Indies and Netherlands need to be matches they lock into the book resoundingly, as they would hope is Ireland, but the Irish have a lot to prove against them. India and South Africa will prove to be too powerful and Bangladesh at home is no walk over either. Third or fourth is there’s to lose if they fail to play better than they did against Australia. Bangladesh and Ireland will be eying off victories against the weakened Brits and with good reason.

Thank you everyone for reading our World Cup Previews and let’s hope your team performs up to and above the standards we have indicated in this series of posts.

Jarrod Potter
Editor of the True Allrounder
Twitter: @JarrodPotter & @trueallrounder

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Sri Lanka
Captain: Kumar Sangakkara
ODI ranking: 3rd
Best result at World Cup: Winner (1996)
Squad: Kumar Sangakkara (captain), Mahela Jayawardene (vice-captain), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul Tharanga, Thilan Samaraweera, Chamara Silva, Chamara Kapugedera, Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, Muttiah Muralitharan, Ajantha Mendis, Rangana Herath.
Likely XI: Tharanga, Dilshan, Sangakkara, Jayawardene, Samaraweera, Kapugedera, Mathews, Perera, Malinga, Mendis, Muralitharan
Last five games: WWNLW

History beckons for the Sri Lankans as they return to the subcontinent for this World Cup campaign. Last time the World Cup was held in that part of the world, Arjuna Ranatunga (or ‘big Ramatunga’ to Twelfth Man fans) held the Cup aloft at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Importantly, they were the last country to have the Cup in their trophy cabinet before Australia’s three-in-a-row rampage. The men in royal blue have followed the path of India in balancing talented youngsters with in form, battle hardened veterans, but unlike India it hasn’t reaped the rewards in terms of international tournament victories – the closest being a finalist in the 2009 World Twenty20. Sri Lanka will be coming into the tournament with a fairly strong warm up, albeit a tad disrupted. Their most recent wins have come against Darren Sammy’s West Indies at home (check out Sean Ross’ preview of their chances) and against Australia away prior to the Ashes.

Coach Trevor Bayliss, who used to mentor New South Wales, has done a fantastic job in maintaining the standard that fellow Australians, Tom Moody, John Dyson, Bruce Yardley and originally Dav Whatmoore, established with the players during their terms as coach of the Sri Lankan national side. There is no doubt that the Sri Lankans are the fielding experts of the subcontinent (perhaps they should teach Ricky Ponting’s men a thing or two about that) and they play pace bowling quite well, complementing their mastery of spin bowling and batting against quality spin bowling.

Batting

Sri Lanka have the benefit of a sliding top order, with Dilshan, Jayawardene and the captain Sangakkara able to float in postions two to four in the lineup, potentially even six in Dilshan’s case. Jayawardene can be credited with creating extra options (maybe a headache or two) for the selectors, thanks largely to his majestic 110* against the Kolkata Knight Riders during last year’s IPL, along with his run feast at the World Twenty20 in the Caribbean later that year. The sliding order enables either Dilshan to become a lower order hitter to accommodate another batsman in the top order, or move him up the order to open with Upul Tharanga so another spin bowler can fit into the final XI. Speaking of Tharanga, he has been in decent form, scoring a century against the West Indies in their brief tour earlier in the month.

Unlike Ian Chappell, I am not sure that Sri Lanka’s middle and late order batting is as weak as it seems.  Chappelli has been constantly harping on about the lack of a middle order striker, particularly with Dilshan’s move up to the top of the order. To a degree, he’s right, it would be nice to have someone in the David Hussey or Yusuf Pathan mould to finish off an already weary attack. Indeed, Thilina Kandamby was slotted into this role in 2009. However, Sri Lanka have steady hands in the form of Thisara Perera and Angelo Mathews and both are capable of clearing the boundary, especially during Powerplay overs. Just ask Michael Clarke and the Australian XI that played Sri Lanka on that infamous chilly November evening in Melbourne. That night, the 20,000 odd fans that had turned up (mostly vocal Sri Lankan supporters) witnessed  Perera, Mathews and even Lasith Malinga chasing down Australia’s score despite losing eight wickets.

Bowling

The tournament will mark the end of the road for Muttiah Muralitharan. Sure, this website may not have given him the royal treatment at times, but the fact that he is in his fifth consecutive World Cup as the primary spinner is a testament to his longevity in the game and his character, fighting off the multiple egg whisking allegations with a big smile on his face. His longevity is even more impressive, given that just about all of the other veterans of that wonderful 1996 campaign moved on from the game. The only other players from that era who even had a whiff of making the final fifteen man squad were left arm medium pace bowler Chaminda Vaas and opener Sanath Jayasuriya. Both were in the preliminary squads but left out of the final ones; Jayasuriya is now enjoying his new role in Sri Lankan public life.

Spin will be the primary method of attack and Murali will be backed up by Ajantha ‘tricky fingers’ Mendis and left arm orthodox bowler Rangana Herath. Herath’s selection is a tad bemusing, given that he only returned to the national ODI setup mid last year, a good six years since his last game. His returns haven’t been mind blowing, but he does pick up the odd wicket here or there at a reasonably low economy rate for a spinner. Expect him to be the third wheel of the spin attack if Murali and Mendis play together.

Mendis appears to have lost his aura over the last two years. Far from being the unstoppable tank that bemused India in the 2008 Asian Cup and 2009 World Twenty20, batsmen seem to have a grip over his deliveries. Cameron White took him to task at last year’s World Twenty20, dispatching balls either out of the ground or straight into the sightscreen. He needs to focus on accuracy and sending down over after over of nothingness for the batsman if he is to remain in the XI. In that sense, I am very surprised by the omission of the tall off-spinner, Suraj Randiv (not a fan favourite here at the TTA office though). His performances at the same World Twenty20 were more than respectable, even taking the limelight away from his more esteemed and unorthodox colleague in Mendis. It may well be that his more orthodox, upright delivery stance was the difference in sending down cheap overs and knocking over batsmen.

The Sri Lankans have been innovators in limited overs cricket, with the most obvious example being Kaluwitharana and Jayasuriya belting the living suitcases out of the ball during the first fifteen overs. In recent years, the innovation unit has been hard at work in their bowling department. Take Lasith Malinga for example. The brains trust figured that batsmen struggle to pick up his yorkers and bouncers, particularly at the end of a match as the ball scuffs up and slowly becomes camouflaged with the pitch. So instead of bowling him at the start, they introduce him in the middle to late overs to keep the score as low as possible. Don’t be surprised if Dilhara Fernando and the allrounders Mathews and Perera take on new ball duties to save Malinga for the death.

Verdict and road to the final

Final

The good thing for Sri Lankan fans is that they are not in Group B, the group of death, instead having Australia, Kenya, New Zealand, Pakistan, Canada and Zimbabwe. The clash against Australia will make for excellent viewing, as will the game against Pakistan around the middle of the group stage. Sangakkara’s men will also have the benefit of having Canada as their first group game and New Zealand at the end. Progress into the knockout round is assured and they have the personnel to beat any team that makes it that far into the tournament. They do need to be careful though of throwing opportunities and favouritism away as they did in the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy, where they crashed out of the first round.

Games: 20 Feb (VS Canada), 26 Feb (VS Pakistan), 1 Mar (VS Kenya), 5 Mar (VS Australia), 10 Mar (VS Zimbabwe), 18 Mar (VS New Zealand).

Sandru Santhana Anandaraj (@fourth_stump)
TTA’s Chief Correspondent
Follow us online @trueallrounder

Image sourced from user abip on Flickr via Creative Commons.

Related posts:

1. ICC Cricket World Cup Preview – Australia
2. ICC Cricket World Cup Preview – India
3. ICC Cricket World Cup Preview – South Africa

Captain: Elton Chigumbura
ODI Ranking: 11 (yep, they’re even behind Ireland!)
Best result at World Cup: Super Sixes (1999 and 2003)
2007 World Cup: First round
Squad: E.Chigumbura, R.Chakabva, C.Coventry, G.Cremer, C.Ervine, S.Ervine (Replaced by T.Mawoyo, who was in turn replaced by T.Duffin) G.Lamb, S. Masakadza, C.Mpofu, R.Price, E.Rainsford, T.Taibu, B.Taylor, P.Utseya, S.Williams

Likely XI: Coventry, Taylor, C. Ervine, Chigumbura, Lamb, Taibu (wk), Cremer, S. Masakadza, Price, Utseya, Mpofu
Last five games: L, W, L, NR, L.

It seems like so long ago. In 1999, Zimbabwe defeated both India, and an already qualified South African team in the last group match, to win through to the super sixes and send the tournament hosts, England, packing from the tournament. In that round, they gave an honourable performance, including a Neil Johnson 100 at Lords against Australia. Four years later, assisted by a forfeit, they again made the super sixes, but this tournament commenced the downfall (from an already low place) of Zimbabwean cricket, as the protests of Henry Olonga and Andy Flower made worldwide headlines, and the subsequent exit of players decimated the team to a point where Test status was “voluntarily suspended”.

The former players responsible for that period are back in coaching roles (Streak, G.Flower), and the concentration of resources into limited overs cricket (including some tours to this very region) provides hope that this somewhat more settled squad (even if the batting line up continues to chop and change) can put in a performance more worthy of a “Test” nation.

Batting

Sean Ervine pulled out of this tournament to play with Hampshire in the English County game. It was a decision which enables him to maintain British citizenship and avoid being classed as an overseas player, and reflects a dilemma facing many players in the current cricket climate where national duty is not as important as the next paycheque. Tino Mawoyo was approved as his replacement, but he has since suffered an injury (abdominal muscle tear) and will be replaced by Terry Duffin.

Former joint ODI record holder of the highest score (194* in an ODI v Bangladesh) Charles Coventry should step up to the opening spot as a result, having been serviceable in that role in the warm up match against South Africa. If he could repeat that sort of innings, he’d be the player to watch.

However, the player to watch must be Brendan Taylor. While there’s plenty of talent in the team, he’s the only one who’s really converted it to success in 2010, with three fifties and two hundreds – including a career-best 145 not out against South Africa in a losing cause. He topped Zimbabwe’s ODI run-scoring for 2010 and must surely be the key wicket opposing teams will be looking to capture early.

Bowling

The Zimbabwean fast bowling ranks are, well, weak. Chris Mpofu will be responsible for holding up that part of the team, although Shingarai Masakadza has been improving. However, Zimbabwe have a surprising level of depth in their spinning ranks, with Ray Price, Prosper Utseya and Graeme Cremer competing for spots, and it will be the spinners expected to take the wickets. Their recent propensity to tour Asia (part of a political reward perhaps?) sees them knowledgeable about the conditions they will face, and they can be expected to use their spin strength to their advantage on spin-friendly wickets.

Prior to this tournament, it could easily have been suggested that Elton Chigumbura would almost certainly have been axed if not for the “(c)” next to his name of the team sheet. However, his bowling in the warm up game in Dubai against the Netherlands was instrumental in obtaining a win. Of course, he’s an all rounder and captain, and will therefore be expected to lead in all forms of play, much as he did when leading Zimbabwe with the bat to their T20 World cup warm up win over Australia in 2010.

Verdict = 5th in Group A

We all know the format of this World Cup has been designed to rectify the television consequences of both India and Pakistan missing out on the group stage at the last World Cup. The effect on the Associate nations is disastrous in that a once-off win over a test rival is no longer loaded with the chance to step up to a finals berth. However, that does not rule out the possibility.

Zimbabwe open their tournament with a match against 3 time reigning champions Australia, and would personally fancy their chances of causing an upset like their shock 1983 World Cup win against the same nation. As mentioned before, they did beat Australia recently in a T20 world cup warm-up game. However, we are talking about a side which has won eight out of 46 world cup matches. There are much better ways to waste your money, gamblers!

They will be hoping to beat Canada and Kenya, and appear to have the talent to do so, then steal a win against the poorly performing NZ team, or the always hard to predict Pakistanis. It’s unlikely, but they will give it everything they have as they know it’s essential for the rebuilding of their country’s cricket for a strong performance. The side is now made up of a fairly youthful group (but, when compared to Australia’s preferred team, this side seems do young that it’s a junior development squad). Zimbabwe and their fans will be hoping that this tournament can not only lay the foundations for a return to test level, but more importantly, competitiveness when they do return.

Games:
21 Feb v Australia (Ahmedabad)
28 Feb v Canada (Nagpur)
4 Mar v NZ (Ahmedabad)
10 Mar v Sri Lanka (Pallekele)
14 Mar v Pakistan (Pallekele)
20 Mar v Kenya (Kolkata)

Joseph Ryan
@josephryan79

Considers himself qualified to write this article on the basis that he’s seen Zimbabwe win a World Cup match, live! (versus England, 1992, Lavington Sports Club Oval, Albury)

Related posts:

1. Zimbabwe Ready for Test Matches Again
2. ICC Cricket World Cup Preview – Sri Lanka
3. ICC Cricket World Cup Preview – India

Likely XI: Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Junaid Siddique, Raqibul Hasan, Shakib al Hasan (C), Mahmuddalah, Mohammad Rahim (WK), Suhwaradi Shuvo, Abdur Razzak, Shafiul Islam, Rubel Hossain

Bangladesh. Not a team that strikes fear into the hearts of their opponents or conjure up a sense of nostalgia for past matches that have gone down to the wire. This year will be Bangladesh’s fourth appearance in the big dance, and probably their best chance to hit the quarter finals running. Home pitches will be a massive advantage to the perennial cellar dwellers. Series wins against Zimbabwe and New Zealand in the past year will have the Tigers up and about and ready to do some damage against the bigger sides.

They find themselves smack bang in the middle of Group B, rubbing shoulders with cricket’s elite. India, England and South Africa are the heavyweights of the group, which also includes the improving Ireland and Tom Cooper’s adopted side, the Netherlands.

Bangladesh can more or less lock in wins against Ireland and Netherlands, but their big chance to make the finals will be against the West Indies. We’ve seen the might of Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard this Summer in the T20 Big Bash, however they won’t find the pace to work with on the dry, slow pitches that they’ll be fronting up to. The Windies batting order is frail if their guns fail to perform. If that happens, the sky is the limit for Bangladesh reaching quarter finals or even further.

Let’s be honest, there are no household names here. There is no Dale Steyn swinging the ball at 150km/h. There is no Shane Watson to lay the foundation of a 250+ score and bowl at the death Abdur Razzak and Shakib Al Hasan are as good as it gets for the Tigers with Mashrafe Mortaza out. They’re both proven performers with their slow left arm orthodox bowling and will be hard to score off on their home pitches. Shakib will also throw in some handy middle order runs and is by far their classiest batsman.

Consistency will be the key; depending on how baked the pitches are 250 may be a tough score to chase in the 2nd innings. The majority of the batting has to come from Tamim Iqbal. When Tamim makes runs, Bangladesh go on to worry the opposition. Built in the Sehwag/Gilchrist mode of ODI hitters, Tamim gets the innings going strongly and doesn’t relent. When he gets in and scores a decent knock, it acts as a good footing for team-mate cameos at the end of innings to boost the total.

The top and middle order face the same consistency issues which have plagued Bangladeshi cricket for the last ten years. Imrul Kayes and Junaid Siddique have come in and out of the side regularly and will need to impress to hold down their spots for the future. Raqibul Hasan, the pouty-faced “retiree” from last year is also in the reckoning for a middle order spot and needs to similarly show some reason not to throw him out for cracking the sads. With the likes of Shahriar Nafees and Mohammad Ashraful waiting in line behind the incumbents, there will be little room for a lack of performance.

Their fast bowling stocks are improving, but are still extremely raw at international level. Rubel Hossain and Shafiul Islam will need to take the shine off the new ball throughout this tournament, with usual pace suspects Shahadat Hossain and Mushrafe Mortaza unavailable. They’re both extremely new to international cricket, but will be forced to prove themselves and chip in with wickets if Bangladesh wants to proceed far into the World Cup.

There will be no problem with their slower bowling on home soil however; spinners coming out of their ears will make it tough for any side batting last including South Africa and England. Additionally to Razzak and Shakib, Mahmuddalah, Naeem Islam and Suhrawadi Shuvo offer up even more options to get through the 50 with spin. Expect anywhere from 25 to 40 overs per game from the Bangladeshi spinners; that’s how much they like to turn to spin and how successful their tweakers are at getting wickets.

Enough about spin and what might happen, I hit the local to find out what a couple of old blokes think.

Alan:
Mate, it’s not even worth thinking that Bangladesh will win a game, they’re not a snowballs chance in hell against the big blokes, they’ll probably even struggle against Netherlands and they’re no chance against the Irish. I’ve seen those blokes play having downed 5 pints of Guinness each, Bangladesh aren’t even allowed to drink beer, what am I meant to think about that?

Barry:
I reckon they might go alright. The pitches over there are rubbish and their spinners will make the most of it. Not sure what to think about their batting, could be hot, could be cold, I haven’t seen enough of them to be honest.

So you can take from that what will.

Key Players:

Abdur Razzak: I would say their most important player, needs to stand up and take key wickets as he did in 2007. I’m going to make a bold prediction and back him in to take over 15 wickets.

Tamim Iqbal: If he scores, he scores well. At 21 he is one of the scariest batsmen in world cricket, which shows his huge talent. Even with missing because of injury for New Zealand series, he still scored 776 runs at 33 in 2010, with a high of 125 against England, with the next best score for the Tigers being 25. If he is at his best, he could top the runcharts for the tournament.

Shakib Al Hasan: The captain and their most consistent batsman since Habibul Bashar, he is one man who can stand up against bowlers like Anderson and Steyn. Plays his middle order role well and will contribute with his left arm spin.

Gone Missing:

Mashrafe Mortaza: Bangladesh’s leading wicket taker will miss the cup due to another knee injury, his aggressive fast bowling would have been key to knocking over the big teams.

BT’S Tip:

Forget your NAB cup tips from the old bloke who sits in the TAB every week at your local. Throw some of your hard earned on Bangladesh against the West Indies and there will definitely be value for money if you take their chances against England. The Poms are full of injuries and their batting isn’t the strongest, get the 2 Springboks Pietersen, Strauss and old mate at the counter may be hurling some dollars in your direction.

I can write and write about Bangladesh’s spin options and their chances at home. You can write them off against India and South Africa, while they are some chance against England, the Poms need to beat them, and they won’t be forgiven if they lose.

I’ll back them in for the finals, I’ll be keen to see how they perform with a bit of confidence, they need to attack every game like the Tigers they are and strangle teams with the ball. This will be the only way for them to progress, and if they do make the finals, what will be flowing instead of the champagne?

Ben Tyers
Twitter: @bentyers

Feature Picture by Abeeeer under Creative Commons.

Related posts:

1. Bangladesh: Is this the tipping point?
2. ICC Cricket World Cup Preview – The Associates
3. ICC Cricket World Cup Preview – Zimbabwe

Squad: Darren Sammy (c), Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Adrian Barath, Carlton Baugh (wk), Sulieman Benn, Dwayne Bravo, Darren Bravo, Nikita Miller, Kieron Pollard, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Andre Russel, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Devon Smith

Likely XI: Gayle, Barath, Chanderpaul, Darren Bravo/Sarwan, Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Carlton Baugh (wk), Darren Sammy (c), Sulieman Benn, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach

Form Guide: LLLLL

At cricket’s first World Cup in 1975, a bespectacled Clive Lloyd held the trophy aloft after the West Indies defeated Australia at Lord’s. The skipper was magnificent in the final belting 102 off just 85 balls – a feat even more impressive in the days before roped off boundaries and bats that resembled tree trunks. Lloyd was assisted by a young Vivian Richards running out three of Australia’s top four.

If the West Indies circa 2011 are to emulate the efforts of Lloyd’s men they will need to look to their leaders for inspiration. Darren Sammy might be the captain on paper, but Chris Gayle remains their spiritual leader, best batsmen and a useful off spin bowler. His contributions in this tournament will be a talisman for how the West Indies perform.

The West Indians need first to worry about progressing through a tricky group. India and South Africa will breeze through, leaving England, the much-improved Bangladesh and the West Indies to battle for the last two quarter final spots, with the Associates Ireland and the Netherlands batting above their weight. The West Indians bring a reasonable squad, a tad too top heavy, but competitive. As usual West Indian consistency will be a problem, this side can mix it with the best on their day, but recent history shows they wont string together the quality of games required to go all the way.

They’ve been tuning up for the tournament in Sri Lanka and were beaten rather convincingly 2-0 in a three match series, with one match abandoned. One positive to take from the series was youngster Adrian Barath who blitzed 113 in the first match alongside the recently returned veteran Ramnaresh Sarwan’s 75. Kemar Roach also bowled impressively and Dwayne Bravo was ok with both bat and ball. Twice they posted scores around 250, which might be competitive outside the tournament, but it’s likely the World Cup, with the hardened driveways of Indian and Sri Lankan pitches, will be won on the back of monster scores of 300 plus rather than around 250. Darren Bravo, brother of Dwayne, will be looking to continue his impressive run with the bat. Likely fighting for the Number Four spot with Sarwan, Darren Bravo has scored well in the little amount of international opportunity afforded to him. At 22 he definitely forms the core of a power batting order for the future.

The worry from the Sri Lanka series is how Gayle struggled with the bat, but he’s only ever one towering six over mid on away from form. If he finds the right bowler, he could repeat his Big Bash efforts in the tournament proper. 94 off 40 and 61 off 30 were a couple of indicators to the form Gayle can bring on his day.

Other than the youngsters Barath and Darren Bravo, it’s the usual suspects who will need to make the runs. Shivnarine Chanderpaul will look to impress at probably his last World Cup. Ramnaresh Sarwan will try to cash in on an unexpected return to the one day team, but needs to hold his spot with decent knocks. Dwayne Bravo has struggled for form over the last 12 months but wont be taken lightly. Wrecking ball Kieron Pollard has a reputation as one of the best T20 players on the planet, but is yet to transfer this to one day form. There will be plenty of teams hoping this stays the case, though the West Indian camp is reportedly confident he’s a big stage performer and will turn this around.

It’s not the worst batting lineup at the World Cup and just might be the most entertaining. However, judging on recent performances it’s not likely to score back-to-back big scores to progress from the quarter final to the final.

The bowling attack is a worry; too may overs go to part timers who should only be casual grade cricketers. Ravi Rampaul has been opening the bowling of late with poor results, but his career statistics stand up reasonably and is a consistent workman for the team. Much rests on Kemar Roach’s very young shoulders. Roach with the new ball in hand is brilliant. He’s a throw back to the good old days of WI cricket – fast, straight and a little bit scary. He’s one of the most exciting youngsters in world cricket. Roach impressed in Australia last summer and will need to take plenty of wickets whilst staying economical. It’s big ask for a 22 year old at his first World Cup, but he’s got the talent to deliver upon the request. It will be interesting to see if Kemar Roach, Shaun Tait, Dale Steyn or a surprise random player bowls the quickest delivery of the tournament. Most underrated captain of the world, Darren Sammy needs to take responsibility upon himself as captain to bowl early and precisely. Expect the West Indies to mix up their bowling attack through the tournament if results don’t go their way.

Dwayne Bravo bowls more than handy medium pacers but he’s struggled with injury of late and hasn’t been bowling much. According to the man himself on Twitter, he’s ready and raring to go with both bat and ball for the World Cup. Kieron Pollard will be expected to chip in too, as the West Indies lower order will have to work hard to post larger totals. Andre Russell, the Jamaican allrounder might finally get his ODI debut sometime in the tournament as well, as he’s already shown express speed and a decent slower ball in his test debut and 12 T20Is so far.

Spin bowlers will be required to bowl a lot, which isn’t a bad thing on the sub-continent. Big Sulieman Benn is well known here as the guy who got in Australia’s face. But he’s more than that, he can bowl with deadly accuracy and guile when keeping his mind on the game. His skipper will be looking for him to keep things tight between overs 15-40. Gayle will bowl his darting off spinners and should keep things tight. Of all the bowlers mentioned above only Roach registers as a genuine wicket taker, don’t expect WI to crack much deeper than six wickets into a batting lineup, placing pressure on their own batting lineup.

Their chances at this World Cup are poor at best. They may well beat India or South Africa in the group stage, but are just as likely to lose to Bangladesh, true to their hot-and-cold reputation. If they progress to the final stage they’ll be a dangerous floater but recently haven’t shown the consistency needed to win a tournament. I think they will clear the group stage at the expense of Bangladesh but that’s where it will end.

Sean Ross
Twitter: @seanjhross

Feature Picture by Erik Hartberg under Creative Commons.

Related posts:

1. ICC Cricket World Cup Preview – Bangladesh
2. ICC Cricket World Cup Preview – India
3. ICC Cricket World Cup Preview – Sri Lanka

India

Captain: MS Dhoni
ODI Ranking: 2^nd
Best result at World Cup: Winners (1983)
2007 World Cup: First round
Squad: MS Dhoni (c and wk), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, , Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Sreesanth (replacement for Praveen Kumar), Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel, Piyush Chawla, R Ashwin
Likely XI: Tendulkar, Sehwag, Gambhir, Raina, Kohli, Dhoni, Yuvraj, Harbhajan, Zaheer, Munaf, Nehra

Last five games: LLWWL

Following their abysmal exit in the first round of the 2007 World Cup, India will be looking to make their home fans this time around. Many of the dinosaurs, such as Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, that played in the West Indies have made way for an injection of youth and talented domestic players, while retaining a core of experienced, powerful personnel. This new approach to selection (i.e. actually backing youth) has paid off in the form of a World Twenty20 title in 2007, but the BCCI will be looking for a much bigger return on it’s youth investment. They are coming off the back of a 3-2 ODI series defeat at the hands of South Africa away though. Granted, the batting line up was markedly different, with Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar out of action, but the men in blue will only have two warm up matches against Australia and New Zealand to get their batting and bowling attacks sorted out.

Batting

Going into an astonishing sixth World Cup, Sachin Tendulkar will take his customary spot at the top of the Indian batting line up. Since the last World Cup, Tendulkar has overcome injury and rather dogged calls for his retirement to strike a rich vein of form, probably best encapsulated by his barely believable 200 not out against South Africa early last year. Fitting really for the man with the most runs and matches in ODI history to take the record. Three of his four highest scores ever in One Day International cricket were made in the last year, two of them coming against top quality opposition in South Africa and Australia (175 to almost help India over the line in a game in late 2009).  The thirty-seven year old maestro is far from finished at international level.

Then there’s Virender Sehwag at the other end. Just like a set of Diwali fireworks, this guy can end a match within the first twenty overs and complements Tendulkar’s more subdued but equally effective method of scoring. His shoulder is still a tad painful though, so it may reduce the effectiveness of some of his shots: instead of the ball flying over backward point or third man for six, it might just land inside the rope instead. He will also be utilised for his part time off spinners, which he bowls in a traditional fashion as opposed to his compatriots Harbhajan Singh and Ravichandran Ashwin. I wouldn’t be surprised if Dhoni also goes to Sehwag for some advice on field setting – we have seen in previous IPL tournaments that Sehwag is a no nonsense aggressive captain who gets things done.

When he is finally dismissed, the middle order is more than capable of continuing the onslaught, thanks to new superstar Suresh Raina and former U/19 captain Virat Kohli. I am quite surprised that the Indian selectors are still persisting with Yuvraj Singh when they have players such as Murali Vijay up their sleeves, but I guess the Indian selectors are going with Yuvraj’s experience, hoping he can find the form that he showed in the 2007 World Twenty20 (something Stuart Broad hopes doesn’t occur again).

Something that will also be worrying about this line up is MS Dhoni‘s current batting style. It is not his form that is a problem per se, it is the way that he goes about scoring his runs. He seems to have lost that aggression that we saw in 2007/2008, belting the living suitcases out of the ball and seems quite content – in many ways, the same problem that Australian vice captain Michael Clarke has gone through in recent times. While Clarke has been able to hit his way into something resembling form recently, Dhoni again will be relying on those warm up games to find that explosiveness again. His role is even more important, given Yuvraj’s recent inconsistent (actually, consistently piss poor) form.

Bowling

For the umpteenth time in these ICC events, India will not have a genuine quick bowler up their sleeves. Zaheer Khan technically fills that role in the absence of beanpole Ishant Sharma (he seems to have fallen off the rails), but these days Zaheer relies on good swing and seam movement. It probably won’t hurt as much on the drier, crumbly decks of the subcontinent as opposed to the harder decks in the Southern Hemisphere, but a genuinely fast bowler on a tessellated pitch can cause mayhem with a batsman’s mind and even make them feel scared. With or without a helmet, misbehaving balls can cause serious injury and probably is the ultimate test of a batsman’s technique and survival skills. Sreesanth has come in into the side to fill in for Praven Kumar. Dhoni will be hoping that the replacement doesn’t lose his marbles while on the field and that his energy is dedicated to finishing off batsmen instead of friendships with teammates.

Harbhajan Singh will again feature as India’s number one spinner but he needs to really attack the stumps if he is to be truly effective in the tournament. Containing is only ever a last resort and Harbhajan is a lot better than just a container. Remember, wickets will also bring down the run rate, so by taking wickets he is, more often than not, being economical as well. While young leg spinner Piyush Chawla has been given a run in the World Cup squad, I would like to see the dark horse, Ravichandran Ashwin get into the XI. Ashwin was a revelation last year in last year’s IPL, doing the damage alongside Australia’s Doug Bollinger and then followed that performance up in the Champions League Twenty20 in South Africa, winning the player of the tournament award. Indeed he is so valuable to the Super Kings, they actually forked out  an extra $900,000 to ensure that he stayed with Chennai.

One would also imagine that Yuvraj, Sehwag and Raina will get overs during matches (in that order), so there is a chance that a good thirty to thirty five overs could be spin only.  It would take some brave captaincy to do that, but given Dhoni’s experience as Chennai captain, he would understand the virtue of taking the pace off the ball in limited overs cricket and I would back him to trot out as many spinners as he can find, with Zaheer and Sreesanth to merely take the shine off the ball.

Verdict and road to the final.

Final (exercise caution)

India are in Group B, the ‘group of death’ of sorts. Tough assignments await in the form of South Africa and a recharged England XI. Strauss’ men should not be written off at this stage and I’ll explain why in a moment. India’s draw appears to be relatively spaced out, with games against the Associates in the middle of the group stage and a game against the Worst Innings West Indies to end their first round exploits. Since India will play the West Indies last, so they can be assured of a relatively easy in the final game of the group stage if they need to win their last match (unless Gayle and co. collectively decide to click into gear). A quarter final berth is assured and I think that India have the personnel to go all the way to the final (I’ll make a final prediction prior to the final).

Despite this, they need to ensure that everyone (including the reserves) are focused on winning matches to ensure that they have the easiest possible set of matches in the knockout phases of the tournament. In particular, India should not underestimate the power of England, despite their recent 6-1 drubbing against a weakened Australian XI. During the 2009 Champions Trophy (again, following another 6-1 belting at the hands of the Australians), England gave South Africa and Sri Lanka the shock of their lives. The two favourites, particularly amongst the cricket commentariat, were knocked out in the group stage, with their semi final places taken by the Three Lions and New Zealand. Now is not the time for complacency.

Games: 19 Feb (VS Bangladesh), 27 Feb (VS England), 6 Mar (VS Ireland), 9 Mar (VS Netherlands), 12 Mar (VS South Africa), 20 Mar (VS West Indies).

Sandru Santhana Anandaraj (@fourth_stump)
TTA’s Chief Correspondent
Follow us on Twitter @trueallrounder

(Image from Ali Jackson on Flickr via Creative Commons, you can check out his work here)

Related posts:

1. ICC Cricket World Cup Preview – Australia
2. ICC Cricket World Cup Preview – South Africa
3. ICC Cricket World Cup Preview – Bangladesh

Captain: Graeme Smith

Squad: Hashim Amla, Johan Botha, AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis , JP Duminy, Colin Ingram, Jacques Kallis, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Graeme Smith, Dale Steyn, Imran Tahir, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Morne van Wyk

Best performances: Semi finalists (2007,1999)

Key batsmen: Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis

Key bowlers: Dale Steyn, Imran Tahir

Likely XI: Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis/Colin Ingram, JP Duminy, Johan Botha, Imran Tahir, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Lonwabo Tsotsobe

Form guide: WWLLW

South Africa’s pre-World Cup ODI season began with a patchy 3-2 series win against Pakistan, and ended with an even more erratic 3-2 series win against India. Some things never change and if the Proteas are ever to discard the much bandied-about “choker” tag and add a trophy to their collection of also-ran certificates, consistency is something they will have to internalise quickly before the tournament starts.

The team is crammed with young upstarts who have tons of talent, but not much temperament, and the balance of the side, often mentioned by commentators, is indeed shaky. Arguably amongst the worst performers in the final overs of any ODI innings, whether in the field or with the bat, South Africa seem keen to prove that they’re as capable of beating themselves as they are of beating anyone else. Add to that the acknowledgement that this is one of the worst South African fielding sides since readmission and it really does seem that the Proteas have problems. And not ones of plenty, either.

On the other hand, this is a team that could prove to be a legitimate force in the tournament. With the bowling pair of Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn, who have now shown that pitch and opponent are irrelevant to their success, and the solid batting of Jacques Kallis and Hashim Amla, South Africa look to have some clear match winners who could prove instrumental to the team’s success if they peak at the right times.

That said, the World Cup squad remains puzzling. It includes a tired offspinner in Robin Peterson, a contender for the world’s most inconsistent bowler in Wayne Parnell and a much-hyped and untested secret weapon in Imran Tahir. Notable in their absence are David Miller and Rusty Theron, who have lost their places due to ill timed inconsistency and Robin Peterson, respectively. Peterson, according to Kepler Wessels, is in the World Cup squad to correct the imbalance of the team. Cynical Saffers say he’s there to correct an imbalance of a different kind.

In Rusty’s absence, the role of death bowler falls to Wayne Parnell. Parnell has played two ODIs in India. In the first, he conceded 69 runs and scored 49 with the bat to bring South Africa agonisingly close to a win. In the second, he came agonisingly close to conceding a hundred runs. In the side as a “bowling all rounder”, he can be nifty with the bat at the end of an innings, but his efforts are rendered meaningless by his hopeless inaccuracy with the ball. By far the weakest link in the SA seam attack, it is believed he will serve mainly as relief for his fellow Warrior, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, who was the leading wicket taker in the recently concluded series against India.

A little further up the order, the spinners, Messrs. Botha, Tahir and Peterson are expected to be crucial to South Africa’s success. Johan Botha has done fairly well as a restrictive bowler in the middle overs, although he has never quite matched his series performance against Australia in 2008/09. Peterson, who has only 24 wickets in 36 matches (at an average of 50.33) will be expected to slow the innings down and perhaps capitalise on the complacency of batsmen who look to go after him. But, by far, the most anticipated spin performance in the squad will come from Imran Tahir. Originally a bowler for the Nashua Titans, Tahir now plays for Kwa Zulu Natal’s Dolphins. It is unnecessary to provide his vital statistics, ESPNcricinfo’s algorithm having already shown that his is the most viewed Proteas profile. What will prove far more important is his surprise factor, and it will be interesting to see the extent to which it can be neutralised by excessive studying. It is an interesting risk, taken by a team not known for great risk taking, and if it pays off, it could lift the Proteas’ performance considerably.

The squad’s not-so-fearless leader, Graeme Smith, will undoubtedly see this World Cup as the greatest test of his leadership abilities. Due to the tenuous composition of the side, quick thinking will be essential, and it will be necessary for Smith to make quick, bold moves. Conservative and highly reactive, Smith’s captaincy has cost South Africa in tight matches where innovative fields have been required. His strategies in the Powerplays have been woeful, and South African supporters watching the past series in India live will have seen the hundreds of captain-bowler conferences out in the middle, many ending with a disgruntled bowler stalking away.

South Africa’s performance in crucial games will depend largely on the batting middle order. Too often South Africa’s batting lineup has left the bowling attack to defend small totals, and if the team is to succeed, it will need its middle order to not only build partnerships but also score at a greater run rate in the middle period of their batting innings. The strategy of seeing off threatening bowlers (such as Harbhajan Singh in the recent series) has proven ineffective and a more assertive approach may be called for in the subcontinent.

South Africa won’t be daunted by the conditions, in which customarily they have fared far better than many of their Top 8 counterparts. Although hardly masterful players of spin, the batting line up has certainly looked more steady against spin than previous teams, and it is pressure, not ability, which causes the most slip ups against spin bowling. With Steyn and Morkel fast becoming as threatening in ODIs as they are in Tests, teams would do well not to underestimate the bowling attack simply because the pitches won’t provide assistance. Spin friendly conditions will of course assist SA’s three spinners, and could bring JP Duminy into the game as a part timer renowned as a partnership breaker.

Chokers or champions? The question has been asked of South Africa countless times. And with a team that looks uncertain and doesn’t have the pressure of being favourites to win, this could be the perfect opportunity for the Proteas to settle that question either way.

Nicole Sobotker
Twitter: @paperstargirl

Feature Picture by coda under Creative Commons.

Related posts:

1. ICC Cricket World Cup Preview – Bangladesh
2. ICC Cricket World Cup Preview – Australia
3. ICC Cricket World Cup Preview – Sri Lanka