ICC Cricket World Cup - May/July 2019

[asprin]

I'll be rooting for NZ for one and only reason - so that I'll have some ammunition to wind @zimrahil up with

 

[asprin]

On a more serious note, don't think I've been in a situation like this before where I'll be watching as 100% neutral. No favourites, no bias. No matter who wins, the game of cricket will benefit as we will definitely have a brand new WC holder.

Congrats in advance to the winner.

 

[wasteyouryouth]

England proved yesterday why they are number one in the world. On their day nobody can touch them.

Let's just hope it's their day on Sunday. If you were making a combined XI between the two teams there's only Boult and Williamson who would get in and even then I'm not sure who for...maybe Boult for Plunkett but not sure who Kane would replace...

I'd take Boult and Ferguson. It'd be at the expense of Wood and Plunkett, although I don't think Boult for Plunkett is really a like for like replacement, he's world class bowler and a left hander but the Woakes and Archer as an opening pari has been excellent. Ferguson ahead of Wood, although Wood has had a good tournament and produced the best celebration so it'd be hard to drop him. The England bowling unit has been unflappable and performed well above the expectations many had for them. The games they've lost were a result of the batters not firing.

I think Williamson and Taylor are good enough to get in just about any side but it'd be hard to see what they'd add to this England line up other than a slightly more adaptable approach when wickets are lost up front.

 

[Villain]

I'm late to post..
Kane has been one of my favorite player, always been a fan of the guy's composed nature yet aggressive with the bat. He showed no reaction and kept his cool throughout even after he took that catch of Jadeja. He's the perfect man to lead them and I won't be surprised if they manage to beat England in the final, I expect him to perform exceedingly well even in the last one at Lord's.

NZ lost the match but we need to appreciate Kane Williamson, he's in incredible form and what a great WorldCup he's had. Always been a fan of the guy's composed nature on the field yet being aggressive with the bat. Perfect combination.

Of course as an Indian it was heartbreaking to see us lose once again during a knockout match, it's tough to move on knowing the next WC would be after 4 years. I won't blame Rohit and Kohli, you can't expect them to perform every single time and get us through. They both were brilliant in the tournament, so were our bowlers. Our middle order has been an issue since so long and it costed us the match once again, it was a dream innings from Jadeja and Dhoni did a great job as well. We could not finish it, MSD's run-out and watching him walk to the dressing room broke my heart but in the end it was about never giving up and fighting till the end, the intent to win shown by us was amazing when everyone thought it's over. I won't blame the weather for our loss, rules are for everyone. We are very proud of our team, they played amazing cricket throughout the tournament and deserved to win. Hope we can learn from the mistakes we made and fix that middle order going forward.

I remember Baz asking us Indian fans to support them back then when they played against Australia in the 2015 final and now so did Kane Williamson. Full support to NZ moving forward and good luck to England, may the best team win at Lord's.

 

[Skater]

I've written this blog about how England playing in a World Cup final on Free To Air television could get the country engaged with cricket again. I'd love it if you read it: https://kickthewhistlesite.wordpress.com/2019/07/12/cricketisbetterthanfootball/

 

[hammadahmed88]

All that discourse surrounding whether Archer should play or not, whether he'd ruin the chemistry of the 'good old boys' or not, seems so ridiculous now.

 

[Bevab]

All that discourse surrounding whether Archer should play or not, whether he'd ruin the chemistry of the 'good old boys' or not, seems so ridiculous now.

Wasn’t it a quote from Woakes that was actually taken out of context and misinterpreted which fuelled all the fire? I don’t think he/they had any real problems with Archer coming in.[DOUBLEPOST=1562990551][/DOUBLEPOST]

I've written this blog about how England playing in a World Cup final on Free To Air television could get the country engaged with cricket again. I'd love it if you read it: https://kickthewhistlesite.wordpress.com/2019/07/12/cricketisbetterthanfootball/

As long as it remains locked behind a paywall however, it isn’t going to become as popular as it once was even if The Hundred somehow turns out to be a success.

 

[Alexei.]

Final Umpires
Marais Erasmus
Kumar Dharmesana
TV Umpire: Rod Tucker
Reserve Umpire: Aleem Dar

 

[Master Khan]

I guess England fans can say "It's Coming Home" again, England Fans shouldn't get too over confident and underestimate New Zealand like India did.
I will be happy if any of these team wins (Mostly England) as we will be getting new Champions since 1996.

 

[wasteyouryouth]

Wasn’t it a quote from Woakes that was actually taken out of context and misinterpreted which fuelled all the fire? I don’t think he/they had any real problems with Archer coming in.[DOUBLEPOST=1562990551][/DOUBLEPOST]

As long as it remains locked behind a paywall however, it isn’t going to become as popular as it once was even if The Hundred somehow turns out to be a success.

I think it's great that the final will be available to all in the UK. However, even if England win and it ignites a fire for cricket it's just one match. It'll be 12 months before anyone can watch live cricket on free-to-air again and that'll be The Hundred, who knows if that'll look or feel like cricket.

We could end up with a World Cup and Ashes double, the best summer Men's cricket has had ever, and it will have had a limited impact on the public consciousness beyond those who are already cricket fans and those who can afford SKY.

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

Ashes

From how much I have followed England in last 13 months, their batting line-up in Tests is pretty fragile and even little bit of discpline from the Australian bowlers can see England in disarray and the Anderson-Broad duo doesn't look as threatening as they looked in 2015 Ashes. Winning the Ashes would be tough this time around.

 

[Yorkshireman]

COME ON ENGLAND

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

So today is the Finals of the biggest Carnival of Cricket. I would like to give my opinions about it.

Tbh I didn't see England making the Finals before the WC had started. I expected and India-Australia contest.

As we went through the tournament my opinion started to become a belief. I predicted India to play New Zealand and England to play Australia of which New Zealand and England succumbing to pressure of not Winning a WC. I also expected South Africa, West Indies & Afghanistan to struggle and Bangladesh to upset few teams in the tournament. Later I believed that Pakistan would have a poor start to their campaign leaving too much for them to do later in the tournament. So most of the things I did go right.

But it actually became a different story in the knockouts. India after having some solid opening partnerships in the tournament had fallen like pack of cards and the back to back loses that the Kiwis faced also went against India's favour because it always happens like when you lose back-to-back games you tend to perform better in knockouts against a team that hasn't lost much. There were definite chinks in the armour of Australian team but they didn't look like losing to England anyways. But the way both England and New Zealand bounced back was just amazing.

I think England despite not having a great record at Lord's will be starting as favourites due to them not being able to win the WC inspite of having team to do the task while New Zealand have always punched above their weight and they've already made it farther from what they had expected to do. I have a feeling that it's going to be England's day today.

Now looking at the lineups

New Zealand

Colin Munro
Martin Guptill
Kane Williamson
Ross Taylor
Tom Latham
Jimmy Neesham
Colin de Grandhomme
Mitchell Santner
Ish Sodhi
Trent Boult
Matt Henry

I would want Munro to come in because he is an X-factor player and could've have a huge impact once he gets going so he comes in. Due to Lord's being a hollowed turf would definitely help spinners to some extent so I am going with 2 spinners. Can't keep Trent Boult out as he is a go to player for New Zealand and Henry still remains in the team because of the spell he bowled in the last match.

England

Jason Roy
Jonny Bairstow
Joe Root
Jos Buttler
Eoin Morgan
Ben Stokes
Chris Woakes
Adil Rashid
Jofra Archer
Mark Wood
Liam Plunkett

I am going unchanged with the team as this is the team that played for England throughout the tournament and have done well for them. I am very keen to push Jos Buttler at no.4 as he can take the game away pretty quickly once he gets in and it gives him cushion of having proper batsman down the order in Morgan and Stokes. I think having Stokes at 6 allows him to play his natural game of hitting those big shots everynow and then which he can do if he comes in early in the innings where he actually have to build his innings.

That's all I've got to say

Last thing I want to add. Come on England just bring it home now !!!!!

 

[wasteyouryouth]

From how much I have followed England in last 13 months, their batting line-up in Tests is pretty fragile and even little bit of discpline from the Australian bowlers can see England in disarray and the Anderson-Broad duo doesn't look as threatening as they looked in 2015 Ashes. Winning the Ashes would be tough this time around.

I think it'll be more difficult but home advantage plays a massive part in test cricket these days.

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

I think it'll be more difficult but home advantage plays a massive part in test cricket these days.

Absolutely agreed. I don't see Australia winning it as of yet but it won't be as easy for England as it was back in 2013 & 2015