few of their better batsmen gone ...but still 7 left ... hope they have a real go
CWC 19 Australia V Bangladesh
- Thread starter Sarge
- Start date
blimey! thatll have woken Das up 
Oufcluke34
Level: Jamie Brooks
(53 Apps, 13 Gls)
All out for around 300-320
maybe less now Das has gone?
264-4 ....8 overs left ... 118 to win
maybe a bit too much of an ask?
maybe a bit too much of an ask?
Great guts and courage being shown here from Bangladesh. They will probably fail, buts it’s been a brilliant effort. Mushfiquer showing he’s a fighter, and Mamadullah also. Tamin Iqbal had a better game with the bat opening, and was nice to see.
They need to go into Eoin Morgan mode.
You're not alone.
I'd argue that there have actually been two good games so far - New Zealand vs. Bangladesh, and New Zealand vs. South Africa. And in neither game did either team score above 250. No real surprise that the Kiwis are involved in both because I still believe they're the side with the best seam attack.....but their batting is a little suspect.
Cricket is supposed to be a contest between bat and ball. Not a game of 'who can club this perfectly spherical leather orb with practically no seam the furthest'
The other problem is that it's been clear who the best four teams are from pretty early on. Barring Pakistan suddenly bringing the good version of their team out consistently for the rest of the group stage, I think we're now in for a more-than-two-week procession to an inevitable England/Australia/India/New Zealand semis. Between now and then, all we're really going to resolve is who plays who...…..
Foley
Level: Colin Harrington
(260 Apps, 30 Gls)
I'm not sure that the ' everybody plays everybody' and then semi final and final has worked.
Many predicted from the start the likely final 4.
As Tony has suggested the final 2 weeks of the group stages will be full of pretty meaningless games.
I reckon including Ireland and a couple more of the smaller nations, having fewer group games and then having a knock out from quarter finals onwards may have been more entertaining
Many predicted from the start the likely final 4.
As Tony has suggested the final 2 weeks of the group stages will be full of pretty meaningless games.
I reckon including Ireland and a couple more of the smaller nations, having fewer group games and then having a knock out from quarter finals onwards may have been more entertaining
ZeroTheHero
Level: Les Phillips
(224 Apps, 15 Gls)
I think the likely final four would have been the same no matter the format. The problem is that there is a huge disparity between the quality and consistency of the top teams and the also-rans (cf the Womens World Cup) - adding a few more (Ireland, Holland, Namibia, Zimbabwe maybe) would just accentuate that. You're right, there are too many matches. I suspect the reason for that might be the advertising revenue every time India play!
The semi finals and final should be great fun though.
And then there's the Ashes...
Gary Baldi
Level: Paul Moody
(197 Apps, 75 Gls)
Bangladesh are missing one very good pace bowler and one very good batsmen for these conditions. They were close, but very far away.
The Aussies feel like a better version of the Windies. The 3rd pace bowler is ok, the batting has some good players, but is kind of fragile. On their day, dangerous but if you get after the spinners, the bowling depth dies.
The Aussies feel like a better version of the Windies. The 3rd pace bowler is ok, the batting has some good players, but is kind of fragile. On their day, dangerous but if you get after the spinners, the bowling depth dies.
Foley
Level: Colin Harrington
(260 Apps, 30 Gls)
Australia have three of the highest scorers in the WC to date (Finch, Warner, Smith) and 2 of the highest wicket takers ( Starc and Cummins)
But bot an awful lot more to date.
So the absolute commercial disaster for the ICC was the 2007 World Cup.
That was when they decided to invite lots of the smaller teams, play four groups of four - and then have the eight leading nations advance to a round-robin and have all the minnows go home.
Then India contrived to lose to Bangladesh (before they were good), Pakistan managed to lose to Ireland and a TV audience of 1.5b went home before the competition proper even kicked off.
Since then, I guarantee they're coming up with a format that makes sure that India & Pakistan get at least half a dozen games each!
That was when they decided to invite lots of the smaller teams, play four groups of four - and then have the eight leading nations advance to a round-robin and have all the minnows go home.
Then India contrived to lose to Bangladesh (before they were good), Pakistan managed to lose to Ireland and a TV audience of 1.5b went home before the competition proper even kicked off.
Since then, I guarantee they're coming up with a format that makes sure that India & Pakistan get at least half a dozen games each!
A word for Bangladesh - they have really come a long way in the last 10-15 years and are a properly decent side. Ok they haven't been able to cause an upset yet but given the relative funding and resources they have compared to the top nations I think they're doing alright. They hit a combined over 600 runs against us & the Aussies, so that's facing 4 bowlers of 90mph+, which in the early days might have blown them away but now they are capable of holding their own against. And they would've chased 400 the other day against the Windies! It's just a bowler or 2 they need to find and their fielding they need to improve to reach the next level. For context, they have beaten the West Indies in the last 3 ODI series they've played against them in the last 18 months. Also their fans have been great at this World Cup, turning out in numbers and bringing a sea of green to every game
Gary Baldi
Level: Paul Moody
(197 Apps, 75 Gls)
Absolutely. It highlights how reliant they are on 4 or 5 players to win games - they are a good side without question, but reliant on a minority to push the team over the line.
England and India are much more multi-faceted and less reliant on a minority.
- Year of First Game
- 1980
It also explains why the bans for Smith and Warner 'conveniently' ended just before the World Cup and The Ashes...
