ICC World Cup 2015 Discussion Thread

[Meet]

Pool A: England, Australia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, New Zealand, Qualifier 2 and Qualifier 3
Pool B: South Africa, India, Pakistan, West Indies, Zimbabwe, Ireland and Qualifier 4

Venue cities: Adelaide, Auckland, Brisbane, Canberra, Christchurch, Dunedin, Napier, Nelson, Hamilton, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, Wellington

Fixtures

Opening match will take place between Sri Lanka and New Zealand at Christchurch. Its interesting to see Christchurch hosting WC matches and that too the opening one. What do you think? Is it good enough to be a host ground?

 

[vaibhavtewatia]

ICC World Cup 2015 : World Cup final returns to Melbourne | Cricket News | ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 | ESPN Cricinfo

Will be good to have more ICC events down under in future, FTP doesn't suggest so though. As expected, Melbourne bags the The Final.

ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 - Australia and New Zealand | Official Website

When was the last time a match was played in Christchurch?

 

[CG123]

ICC World Cup 2015 : World Cup final returns to Melbourne | Cricket News | ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 | ESPN Cricinfo

Will be good to have more ICC events down under in future, FTP doesn't suggest so though. As expected, Melbourne bags the The Final.

ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 - Australia and New Zealand | Official Website

When was the last time a match was played in Christchurch?

The major earthquake was February 2011, so I think it would've been 2010. Because of that they lost all of their Rugby World Cup matches (in 2011), so I guess it's a nice touch that the opening match will get played there.

I know it's a fair way off, but I'd be interested to know what the prices are going to be like compared to what they were for the RWC. I'm definitely keen for NZ - Aus, but I assume that's going to be priced outside my range.

I get the feeling that all of these games verses qualifiers are going to struggle to pull crowds, unless they pretty much give away tickets. Like no offense to whoever it ends up being, but Qualifier (Q2) v Qualifier (Q3) in Dunedin...

It's kind of strange how they've done it as well, giving three group games to each of the seven venues. Only one or two to Napier and Nelson would've been the way to go imo, and give a 4th group game to the bigger places.

 

[Gaurav_7]

Moved the posts to the appropriate thread. And, we can use this thread for the WC 2015 discussion.

 

[Aalay]

I know it's a fair way off, but I'd be interested to know what the prices are going to be like compared to what they were for the RWC. I'm definitely keen for NZ - Aus, but I assume that's going to be priced outside my range.

I think this is the best place to find about tickets.

http://www.icc-cricket.com/cricket-world-cup/fixtures

 

[SaiSrini]

Pool B seems relatively easier than Pool A, even though the likes of India, SA and Pak are in Pool B. For example, once India get past SA and Pak, things should start getting easier for them with the likes of WI, Zimbabwe, Ireland and the qualifier.

Also this format will ensure that the best teams have the best chance of making it to the knockout stage (same as in WC 2011). That's what a World Cup should be all about. It should be about the best team. An upset or two should not let ordinary teams move ahead of more consistently better teams. Its more like test cricket. The more days you play, the better team often comes through.

 

[sifter132]

^You are right, the format ensures the best 8 teams should make it. But it takes a whole month to find out that Bangladesh, Ireland and Zimbabwe still aren't good enough! Champions Trophy is still a more interesting format to me. Not as prestigious as a World Cup obviously, but the World Cup is more bloated.

I know it's a fair way off, but I'd be interested to know what the prices are going to be like compared to what they were for the RWC. I'm definitely keen for NZ - Aus, but I assume that's going to be priced outside my range.

I'm interested to know as well. I'm sure sure a World Cup will be as big a crowd puller as the organisers might assume ie. a lot more non-Aus/NZ matches going on. They will have to adjust their prices accordingly.

 

[Cricketman]

Need to find a way to get to Adelaide on Feb 15!

 

[SaiSrini]

Need to find a way to get to Adelaide on Feb 15!

I am thinking about that too. I haven't watched a single cricket match in a stadium so far. And I want my first one to be a big memorable one. I have to find a way too. Travel from the US to Australia for this game.

 

[vaibhavtewatia]

I think ICC could have opted for matches in the Basin Reserve too. One of my favourite stadium, more like a park though, but it is beautiful. Such a shame we wouldn't have even a single game there
So they were like only one stadium from the state, and obviously, Westpac wins the race in Wellington!

 

[cricket_icon]

My worry is that it will be yet another very long, drawn out world championship. There's also a tonne of mismatches, most prominently in pool A.

Then again we're guaranteed another Pak/India confrontation

The ODI game has been wide open for a while now and I believe any team can be ranked as number one, with India having the best claim thus far. In Australia the pitches have grown flatter over the years and I see their being some big scores but NZ, mainly because of the environmental conditions will help the new ball bowlers, the likes of Jimmy, Irfan, Junaid, Steyn and co. should enjoy it.

Btw when is the starting date?

 

[sifter132]

^Feb 14, 2015 is the first games - 2 on opening day.

Odd that the first 2 days have 2 games each, then we go into the 1 game per day drudgery, until the weekends where they will be 2 games per day.

17 of the 42 pool games feature a qualifiying team. Another 13 games feature Bangladesh, Ireland or Zimbabwe. Only 12 of the 42 pool games are between the top 8 teams. So yes, the potential for mismatches is pretty frequent. The top teams don't have much to play for either, since the quarterfinals are knockouts, therefore it doesn't matter really if you top the group or scrape in, you have just as much probability of winning the World Cup. Not a fan...

I liked the 1992 World Cup, 9 teams playing each other once, then straight to semis, or the 1999 World Cup, super 6s so you knew a couple of the top teams will get knocked out early and everyone will have to play hard from the start. Plus the super 6s tried to reward you for doing well in the first phase by having points carry over.

 

[SaiSrini]

Wonder how test cricket fans/T20 dislikers seem to favor shorter league formats and favor tournament upsets of big teams based on a game or two?

 

[Satan666]

I am thinking about that too. I haven't watched a single cricket match in a stadium so far. And I want my first one to be a big memorable one. I have to find a way too. Travel from the US to Australia for this game.

Well there is something called a passenger airplane which is pretty convenient for long distance travelling.

Jokes apart I hope you make it to MCG also. Might be there meself!

 

[sifter132]

Wonder how test cricket fans/T20 dislikers seem to favor shorter league formats and favor tournament upsets of big teams based on a game or two?

Well it's just a matter of when you want your upsets to occur. ICC ideally wants to keep all the big teams in til the quarterfinals, and then they don't mind upsets. Fair enough I guess, it just makes the first month not very interesting in my book. The other extreme was 2007, when you only got 3 games in the group stage and if you lost 1 you were in deep trouble - India and Pakistan suffered that year. That was a bad idea too.
That's why I like somewhere in the middle, more group games but less teams going to the finals to make the group matches a bit more important. It's easier to do this without finding games for all the minnows though...I think T20 World Cup should be for minnows, keep only the best 10, maybe 12 teams in 50 over World Cup.