Are you following the cricket world cup?

[siddharth]

Anyone following the cricket world cup?

I hope Bangladesh & Ireland win their respective matches today. It would be great fun!

 

[neutrino]

At last, someone's mentioning World Cups other than football. Oh, and it looks like, St.Patrick is already helping the Irish, and probably the Bangladeshis, too. India - 33 overs and 6 boundaries - amazing, isn't it?

 

[Gokul43201]

191 all out

I guess the only consolation is that Pak are 120/8

 

[Anttech]

191 is defendable, I am surprised that India could only muster that total, considering the batting tallent.

Scotland almost beat Pakistan a while back, when they play bad they really play bad...

 

[George Jones]

191 all out

It could have been a little worse for India. Before today, Munaf Patel had batted 7 times in ODI's for a total of 6 runs. Today, he scored 15.

I guess the only consolation is that Pak are 120/8

Pakistan finished all out for 132. Extras was their top scorer. The most unpredictable team in cricket.

Can India restrict Bangladesh to less than 191? (Currently 24/0.)

Can Pakistan restrict Ireland to less than 132?

 

[Vagrant]

191 all out! And I'm watching this match ? I have my maths board exam on 22nd, shame on me.

 

[neutrino]

I guess the only consolation is that Pak are 120/8

Make that 132 all out. I'm rooting for the Irish today. Bray is going to make at least a half-century.

considering the batting tallent.

huh?

1st Bangladesh wicket down.

 

[neutrino]

191 all out! And I'm watching this match ? I have my maths board exam on 22nd, shame on me.

You're not going to miss anything, other than maybe Bangladesh winning. Go study for the exam.

 

[Anttech]

Make that 132 all out. I'm rooting for the Irish today. Bray is going to make at least a half-century.


huh?

1st Bangladesh wicket down.

Ganguly, Tendulkar, Dravid, Singh... Are all great, India is IMO a much better batting side than Bowling.

I'm also rooting for Ireland... Since they just lost the 6 nations... poor chaps

 

[siddharth]

Can India restrict Bangladesh to less than 191? (Currently 24/0.)

They've reached 82/3. As long as they play sensibly and knock around the singles, I think they have a great chance to win. That 17 year old batsman was great (Iqbal, I think). Knocked the stuffing out of Zaheer.

 

[George Jones]

Can India restrict Bangladesh to less than 191?

No.

Can Pakistan restrict Ireland to less than 132?

No.

What a day!

 

[Curious3141]

I couldn't catch the Indo-Bangladesh match as I was out at a darker-skies star party in rural Malaysia (well, that was a wash due to cloud cover).

I was told the result by my mom as I was staggering in at 6 am after a 400 km drive without sleep. Highly disappointing result as an Indian, but kudos to Bangladesh for playing really well. I guess the better team won, and that's what matters.

 

[George Jones]

(well, that was a wash du.e to cloud cover)

I, too, try to participate in amateur astronomy, but, here on the coast of the Bay of Fundy, we often can't see the clouds for the fog!

Are the minnows on a roll? Can Canada knock off England today? I highly doubt it.

 

[neutrino]

Are the minnows on a roll? Can Canada knock off England today? I highly doubt it.

Would be nice if they did.

 

[MadScientist 1000]

Would be nice if they did.

Canada has a cricket team?

India better do good in this cup. After all, our team is the highest paid team in the world...

 

[neutrino]

Canada has a cricket team?

I'm not sure if that's a sarcastic comment, but they did play the first ever WC, back in 1975.

our team is the highest paid team in the world...

That's the problem! Too much money, both from Board of Control for Cash in India and from endorsements. They're too busy modelling for ads.

 

[klusener]

Bob Woolmer, the coach of the Pakistani cricket team, has just passed away.

Once again, we're reminded that cricket is nothing more than a simple game. The world will miss a dedicated man.

 

[neutrino]

Bob Woolmer, the coach of the Pakistani cricket team, has just passed away.

Once again, we're reminded that cricket is nothing more than a simple game. The world will miss a dedicated man.

OMG! That's a shocker...never heard that. It's a greater shock than Pakistan's defeat. He was dedicated in making Pakistan a better team.

 

[MadScientist 1000]

Bob Woolmer, the coach of the Pakistani cricket team, has just passed away.

Once again, we're reminded that cricket is nothing more than a simple game. The world will miss a dedicated man.

Dang it! I hate it when that happens!

Just another sarcastic comment.

Even though I myself am an Indian, I feel sorry for your loss. I don't think the Pakistani team will ever be the same again without Woolmer. The Pakistani team is equally good as the Indian team, and may even have more talent. Too bad we can't combine both teams under "Pak-India" and beat everyone in the World Cup.

 

[George Jones]

Yesterday, after returning from a day at the mall with my wife and daughter, I checked cricinfo for the status of Canada-England match. I can't put into words how shocked I was to read about the tragic death of Bob Woolmer.

He tried to do the impossible; a gora (Zaheer Abbas's pejorative word) coach tried to coach the uncoachable.

 

[Curious3141]

Canada has a cricket team?

India better do good in this cup. After all, our team is the highest paid team in the world...

IMHO, India are one of the most dreadfully overrated ODI teams. And I believe they can't be a truly great *team* in the near future (despite having bountiful individual talent) because the way they've gone about it is all wrong.

OK, so they're the most highly paid team. Overpaid? Probably. A lot of the money comes in from product endorsements and the like, and the players are only cashing in on the gullibility of a cricket-mad public to sell everything from wheat crackers to Pepsi. After all, the players are only human.

But there's a downside to representing such a fanatical nation. When things don't go India's way (as seems to be happening a lot these days), the mob attacks everything the players hold near and dear - Dhoni's new house got razed by an irate mob. This is not a situation peculiar to India - Pakistan faces a similar affliction - Woolmer's very sad demise was preceded by the most appalling public demonstrations calling for his head.

Can you perform at your best when you know the price for failure is unreasonably high? I don't think I could - I wouldn't ever want to be put in that situation. I can't think of more than a handful of similar examples in world sport - the death threats by gangsters made toward Colombian soccer athletes comes to mind, along with horrific stories of Iraq's former dictator's son Uday threatening the national soccer team with torture or worse if they returned empty handed . I can bet these players will tell you it's no fun playing with a death sentence hanging over their heads.

There are other downsides to having such emotional investment by the public - the basic strategic and tactical decisions in the team become highly politicised. The coach came under intense pressure and scrutiny (euphemisms for being burned in effigy) when he removed Ganguly from the captaincy (the pressure was especially intense from the skipper's native Calcutta). There abound rumours of politicians insisting on the inclusion of certain players into the national team. This forcing of the coach's hand is counter-productive to the health of the sport.

I don't know if this problem will have a real solution. For that to happen, the national attitude towards the sport will have to change - never an easy thing. Enthusiastic support for the team is a great thing, but we can do with a sheepish shrug of our collective shoulders and a wistful "It's only a game", when things don't quite go according to plan. The players need to feel secure and supported, not pressured and threatened.

 

[Anttech]

Dang it! I hate it when that happens!

Just another sarcastic comment.

Even though I myself am an Indian, I feel sorry for your loss. I don't think the Pakistani team will ever be the same again without Woolmer. The Pakistani team is equally good as the Indian team, and may even have more talent. Too bad we can't combine both teams under "Pak-India" and beat everyone in the World Cup.

You don't think that your population base of over 1 billion is enough to find a few decent cricketers

 

[neutrino]

[sarcasm]oooh! Highest total in WC! What a great team![/sarcasm]

 

[George Jones]

[sarcasm]oooh! Highest total in WC! What a great team![/sarcasm]

And The Wall had the highest strike rate (350). Of course, he only faced two balls.

 

[neutrino]

And The Wall had the highest strike rate (350). Of course, he only faced two balls.

That too?! I only watched the last over, and noticed only record for the total.

But to me the star of the show was Leverock. Unbelievable fellow...did you see the way he dived to get Uthapa out?

 

[George Jones]

Unbelievable fellow...did you see the way he dived to get Uthapa out?

I am not watching any of the matches - I follow them on cricinfo. The guy doing running commentary for the match was amazed at the catch.

Also

 

[neutrino]

Yes, that's the one!

I heard that he was prison van driver or something back in his home.

 

[Gokul43201]

10 overs are nearly up and the Candians are putting up a fight all right! George must be pleased so far.

Anttech however, can't have much to celebrate about with the Dutch easily walloping the Scots.

Tomorrow's Ind-SL game is going the be the one to watch!

 

[Anttech]

Anttech however, can't have much to celebrate about with the Dutch easily walloping the Scots.

Nope... Typical Self destruct by the Scots.

 

[siddharth]

It seems that Bob Woolmer was murdered after the loss to Ireland.

Pakistan's cricket coach Bob Woolmer was murdered in his hotel room on Sunday after the team's World Cup shock defeat to Ireland, Jamaican police say.

A post-mortem examination established that the former England player had died as a result of "manual strangulation", police commissioner Lucius Thomas said.

Full story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6482981.stm

This is very shocking.