Posted this in the OZ Wc thread:
"Symonds loss is a big blow for Oz because the balance of the team has been upset. This is on top of a McGrath who is no longer the threat he was. Their fallability has been shown by being beaten by abject no-hopers England 3 times on the trot. This demonstration will be an important psychological lift to the other teams, perhaps WI in particular who have beaten them once recently in a tight match.
Oz still have huge potential and in Ponting they have a potential matchwinner every time.
But their recent dip which is due to permanent/semi-permanent losses means this WC is far more open than many that have gone before (IMHO).
Oz are now seen to be very beatable"
Added to that, Sri Lanka look very strong and are firing well ATM.
SA can play very well but still have the capacity to blow it. Batting can be fragile and bowling is a little one dimensional. Ntini's form away from home is nowhere near his home form.
India simply seem to be in a chaotic state on the field ATM. Little consistency in either batting or bowling. The much vaunted batting line-up continues to disappoint. And they seem to choke badly when the pressure is on.
Pakistan, as was said above are unlikely to be able to string enough decent performances together to seriously challange.
NZZzzzzzzz just don't seem to be firing cohesively ATM although I suspect they will get their act together and present a difficult team to beat.
England....God Knows. Now instead of being likely to go out in the group stages, they may be the dark horse of the tourney. (They did reach the finals of the ICCCT in 2004 and nearly won it, have they rediscovered their ODI belief that got them there?) They seem to have a potent bowling attack now, but I still worry about the extras and the capacity to jettison the radar via the high-powered ejector seat. KP will win a game or 2 but fail in some others. The wickets will probably suit the nurdlers of Colly and Bell.
The wickets are something of an unkown quantity, many being newly laid.
If they play slow and a bit low SA may be disadvantaged on both batting and bowling fronts. Oz may struggle a bit more with their big strokeplayers who like pace. BLee's pace may be nullified and seen as tasty pies.
If the wickets are unsettled as a result of being newly laid then there may be a lot of gripping low-scoring matches.
I think ATM the WC is as wide open as it could be.
I'm not Welsh........Isn't it?
do you have an intrusive computer chip that assists in your humanisation, your ability to understand 'natural language' and technology-use!
