Cricket World Cup

[El Gordo]

Let's see how long it is till the first Bob Woolmer joke appears.

Before the end of tomorrow, I suspect.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Allan Donald, a cricketer I admire greatly (and I think, generally so by all Australian cricket lovers), has something rather interesting to say about all this.

He seems to me to be strongly implying that bookmakers are involved in Bob's death. Is this just an ex-fast bowler having a dig at the shadowy side of cricket, or does he really know something? Being in the thick of the Hansie Cronje affair, he might just be saying something of significance....?

I feel a Sunday tabloid 3 page spread coming on.

Sigh.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

It's a bit sad reading all the columns and comments online about Woolmer's death. There seems to be an element of "cricket has lost its innocence" about it all, and that this World Cup will be remembered for Woolmer's murder, and the winner of the cup forgotten.

But I disagree in a sense. Cricket lost its innocence during the 80s and 90s as it became increasingly professional, and probably shed the last vestiges of its innocence with the match-fixing scandal of Hansie Cronje in 2000.

Doubtless Bob would be mortified to see the standard of cricket suffer in any way because of his death. Let's hope all the nations pull together and make the rest of the torunament memorable for the standard of cricket played. South Africa recovered admirably from the Cronje years, and are now stronger than ever. Perhaps all the ICC nations can do the same now in tribute to Bob.

[Sweder]

I rather liked the suggestion floating around yesterday that a memorial trophy be dedicated to Woolmer's memory and awarded to the 'coach of the tournament'. Not necessarily the winning coach, you understand; rather the man who does the most with least resources. You never know, Duncan Fletcher might be in with a shout

Refreshing to report not one single sick Wooolmer joke has landed in my inbox as yet. I hope it stays that way. Woolmers' family have issued a strong statement saying Bob would have wanted the tournament to continue and I have to agree. It's not simply a case of respecting the situation or the wishes of the bereaved family; there are huge implications for cancelling the event, not least for the hosts. The ICC are also aware of the likely tsunami of litigation from the television companies should they pull the plug. It's bad enough with the two largest TV audiences - India and Pakistan - likely to have no further interest after this weekend. None of these are morally defendable reasons to continue, but it's still, in my view, the right thing to do.

[Sweder]

20th over: Aus 151-1
Ponting is brilliantly caught - by an Aussie supporter in the stands. He manages to pluck the Aussie captain's six out of the air one-handed while simultaneously holding on to his refreshing cup of beverage. Best catch of the tournament by far, with minimal spillage. And Ponting follows that maximum up with a thumping boundary over Andrew Hall's head for four. That shot also brought up his 10,000th run in one-day cricket.
[SIZE="1"]BBC Sport live text[/SIZE]

Hayden has also just caned the Proteas for the fastest ever World Cup hundred - off 60-odd balls. Lets just hope the Sheilaroos are peaking too early . . .

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Woo hoo - a nice win there to the Aussies, who now seem to be finding a bit of form. I'm still putting my money on South Africa for the final though.


MLC Man (soon to be in exile).

[Seafront Plodder]

From http://www.thespoof.com

Jamaican Deputy Police Commissioner, Mark Shields, is understood to be viewing new videotape evidence that he hopes will establish the identity of the suspects in the Bob Woolmer case.

Sources in the police department are concerned that there have been a spate of murders, first in the island of St Kitts & Nevis and then a mass murder reported at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua and Barbuda. Early reports suggest that the Australian cricket team in general, and their opening batsman Matthew Hayden in particular, have been murdering opposition attacks in recent weeks and that there appears to be no way of stopping the rampage.

The "Island News" has quoted Shields as saying "I cannot believe that, in such a peaceful community, these murderous attacks are unconnected. I have decided that I must watch all future coverage of the Australian World Cup games, especially in view of their recent, apparent massacre of the West Indian bowling attack. Watching all these games will be an onerous task but as head of the department I must take full responsibility."

[Sweder]

I'd just like to say
[SIZE="5"]come on Andorra![/SIZE]

Really. I mean it :mad:

Fat Frank's out thanks to Tabloid Wayne cracking his wrist - the most productive thing Rooney's done in an England shirt for some while. Still, the ol' ring-kisser can sign a pre-nup at the Camp Nou whilst he's lounging on the sidelines.

[El Gordo]

Yeah, I'm sort of past caring too. Trouble is, if England win convincingly (as they surely will), McLaren will just get more rope to hang himself, and destroy further our chances of success. If we lose or draw, he can point to Lampard's absence as one of the reasons. Perhaps if England play brilliantly, but lose, we may get the best of all worlds.

Oh I dunno. Yeah, come on Andorra!

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

And let's not forget Australia's impressive 2 - nil win over China. They're starting to look the goods in the lead up to the Beijing too.

Meanwhile, back at the cricket... oh let's see now ... gosh, looks like Australia have won another game. Golly, guys.

And gee, aren't Andorra doing well?

[El Gordo]

And gee, aren't Andorra doing well?

At half time, I can report that Andorra are doing very well indeed, though they were always going to look good against one of the minnows of European football....

Just to put it into context, Andorra has a population of around 60,000. So England's population is about a thousand times bigger.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

I thought it was just you guys, but I see even the BBC football reporter said he couldn't bare the thought of having to which England play every week. He certainly didn't see anything positive in what was, after all, a three-nil win over Andorra. OK, a tiny nation, but you still gotta beat 'em.

Things seem to be a bit grim? What's the story people?

[Sweder]

Like our esteemed manager, Second Choice Steve, I'm imposing a media blackout on the subject. It really is that poor. On the bright side the footie boys make the cricket team look like world-beaters

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Good to see Greg Chappell finally saw the light and quit as coach of India. Let's hope that's the end of his coaching career: he really has been the grim reaper of the cricket world for several years now. The joke in local cricket circles is that if you should ever fel the icy hand of death upon your shoulder, it's probably just Greg Chappell looking for a coaching position...

Also feeling the icy hand of death is the England team, who thanks to Sri Lanka now have a rather troublesome path if they are to reach the final final finals stage. Good luck guys.

I'm still thinking it will be a South Africa -v- Australia final, but New Zealand and Sri Lanka could yet upstage them. But I think it's down to those four.

Crikey it takes a long time though, doesn't it? I'm beginning to side with SP on this one ... I could well be playing lawn bowls by the time this World Cup is concluded. Heaven forbid!

[Sweder]

"In 1968, when I was five, my parents applied to emigrate to Australia but got a flat tyre on the way to the interview and took it as an omen. As a result, I have had to endure a further 38 years of cold weather, marmite and turgid, underachieving cricket. Hayden, Ponting et al just rub it in."

Mark Harrison, Berwick Upon tweed, Test Match Special inbox.
Australia are currently 82 for 1 after 12 overs.
Against New Zealand.
Goodnight.

[Sweder]

"Watching this Australian innings reminds me of the time I hit 304 not out against my brother in 1981 off only 15 overs in backyard cricket. The knock included 18 consecutive sixes over Mrs Coates' fence. His last five overs were bowled in tears."

Damien Posterino in the TMS inbox

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Viewers may not realise that New Zealand thrashed us 3 - nil in our last one day series prior to the World Cup, so there's a bit of a score to settle, rather like the drubbing we received at the hands of England after the last Ashes series.

So it's not quite world domination yet.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

My last comments on the World Cup:

Too many minnows - although it was nice to see them, they'd be better served doing tours of the test-playing nations than being thrashed in the World Cup (except for Ireland!). Or perhaps a "second division", including such cricket-loving countries as Argentina, Fiji, Hong Kong, Namibia, USA et al.

Too many games - waaay too many. Let's sort this problem out once and for all.

Too confusing - who understood the super-8s? Not too damn many of us, that's for sure.

Too deathly quiet - if locals can't afford to go to the games, what's the point? Reminiscent of the '88 Seoul Olympics.

The response to the World Cup here in Australia perhaps best summarises the attitude to it all - massive, yawning indifference. Not because it was a boringly predictable result (especially after comprehensive losses to England and New Zealand, no-one was that confident!) - but because it was such a boring tournament. To give you an idea, the lead stories in the news centred around the rallies in Turkey, local politics and Iraq. The World Cup victory scored just ahead of local football news.

Still, it's a nice trophy.

[Sweder]

So it's not quite world domination yet.

And so it came to pass . . . trouble is, nobody noticed.
A sad epitaph for a truly world-class team.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

These spambots are getting annoying.