Can you believe we’re already at the quarter-final stage of the ICC World Cup? I mean, it seems that barely seven months and 439 fixtures have passed since the opening ceremony in Dhaka. How time has flown.
So far it’s been a tournament of two halves. Group A became the group of sleep – a drawn-out exposition of all that’s wrong with the World Cup, and 50 over cricket in general. One dire mis-match after another – exacerbated by the presence of three grossly uncompetitive sides: Zimbabwe, Kenya, and Canada.
But Group B has been a different story. Whisper it quietly – it’s actually been quite good, and after all the talk of ODI cricket’s terminal decline, the plucky Group B’ers have somehow breathed some excitement and tension into the long-ailing format.
Most of the credit goes to England. While the other nations have preferred to either win easily or crumble meekly, our boys took all six of their matches to the wire. We could equally have won all of them, lost all of them, or even come away with six ties.
It wasn’t just us. India and South Africa served up a classic, while yesterday’s India v West Indies clash – while on paper an emphatic result – was in truth a close, tense, and unpredictable match until the final stages. Bangladesh and Ireland played well overall, while Holland weren’t embarrassing. There’s been far more drama than we expected. And the fact that three sides were still fiercely contesting the final qualifying slot in the last few days of the group stage is testament to that.
We suggested previously that it’s anyone’s guess who’ll actually win the tournament – and that remains the case. No side is still unbeaten, and none has looked wholly convincing. All eight remaining teams have a decent chance.
As you’ll have seen, England will now face Sri Lanka in the quarter-finals. You’d have to rate the Lankans as favourites, especially as they’re at home and few of our current side have much experience against Murali. Our top order are due some big runs – but the bowling is all over the place, with Shahzad and Broad out injured, and James Anderson struggling to land it on the cut part.
Now the World Cup has finally gained some momentum, and with England being so inadvertently entertaining, I suspect that a few of us have been sucked in – and are now starting to care about England’s progress. It’s just a shame our side are so poorly placed to capitalise on their rivals’ flaws.
Thoughts?
