LOL, did you vote for England Arka. I voted for India! How ironic.
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Of all tyrannies a tyranny exercised for the good of its victim may be the most oppressive.... those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience
It's wonderfully wide- open for a change: NZ and England have both just beaten Oz. India and Pakistan are obviously in with a good chance, and SA seem to be the in- form team. Sri Lanka have always done well in World Cups, and the Windies have both home advantage and great one day form........All I can predict is that it won't be Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Scotland or Ireland
I agree, this world cup is going to be anyone's for the taking. With England, we can beat any side here on our day but I worry about the consistency of the team. We've had some fabulous wins but haven't really been able to string them together (apart from in the recent tri-series). Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff are going to be key men especially on the grounds with short boundaries as there's no one else really can who can take advantage and hit lots of big sixes.
Who do you think we should pick as the bowlers against the big sides ? I'd choose Anderson, Plunkett, Mahmood and Panesar. I'd leave out Lewis and Dalyrymple because Lewis hasn't got the pace and Dalyrymple hasn't got the variety and against teams like West Indies and India, they're going to get spanked all around the ground.
ultimateshedman wrote: Who do you think we should pick as the bowlers against the big sides ? I'd choose Anderson, Plunkett, Mahmood and Panesar.
I disagree. I don't thin you can select all 3 of them cos they can lose focus and then struggle to get in on a length and line. plus it weakens the batting. i know plunkett and Mahmood can string some runs together but they fail more often than not and against big sides the pressure gets to them. I think the on windies pitches you really need to score big - i reckon it'll be a batsmans world cup not a bowlers
My XI would be:
Mal Loye [he is crucical for me as he is one of the few england top order batsmen who can make use of the fielding restrictions] Michael Vaughan Ian Bell Kevin Pietersen Paul Collingwood Andrew Flintoff Paul Nixon James Dalrymple Liam Plunkett Monty Panesar James Anderson
The bulk of the bowling would bet taken up by the main 4 and daly, colly and KP can make up the rest.
RobC wrote: It's wonderfully wide- open for a change: NZ and England have both just beaten Oz. India and Pakistan are obviously in with a good chance, and SA seem to be the in- form team. Sri Lanka have always done well in World Cups, and the Windies have both home advantage and great one day form........All I can predict is that it won't be Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Scotland or Ireland
I beg your pardon...NOT....Scotland...how dare you...Scotland will win at a canter !!! With the aussies on the decline and England so erratic its obvious!