2023 ODI World Cup Discussion

[Googly]

That was just bizarre how poorly England did. Almost inexplicable.
Buttler had a nightmare time of it. He's always been a bit of a talisman for them.
I see Willey replaced Sam Curran. I've always thought he had the edge on Sam as an all-rounder and has been unlucky not to have played more. Which of them gets selected going forward will be telling. Sam no longer seems to be part of their test plans. He's left with T20.
We were trying to figure out how much he must be worth (pre-tax) just by adding up what he's earned in IPL and what central red ball and white ball players get paid and he must be around the 10 mill mark.
I think he's going to have to really focus on his batting to up his game. He could have been exceptional, but as I've always said he focused on bowling. Or they made him focus on his bowling. Had he stayed in Zim he would barely have been known for his bowling, he'd have been a batsman of note.

He's definitely taking less wickets as a bowler than he used to. Although he's accurate and a canny bowler he needs swinging conditions to be really threatening. He's a clever cricketer.

[mnelson68]

Some of the batting in this tournament in particular shows just how far behind we are.

I'd say the bowling is a bigger concern

[TapsC2]

Watching Sri Lanka struggle then remembering that they were miles ahead of everybody else in the qualifiers. Concerning for us, Ireland and the West Indies.

[Googly]

Some of the batting in this tournament in particular shows just how far behind we are.

I'd say the bowling is a bigger concern

The wake up for me was Afghanistan. They've got a world class bowling attack, 2 World class opening batsmen, 2 others of real quality and 2 other decent ones.
Everyone wringing their hands about Afghanistan is nonsensical, they're way ahead of us.

[sam_ahm]

India v New Zealand 1st SF at Mumbai
Australia v South Africa 2nd SF at Kolkata

So much drama for something we already knew after first 10 days.

[ZIMDOGGY]

Some of the batting in this tournament in particular shows just how far behind we are.

I'd say the bowling is a bigger concern

I can understand the lack of depth in ZIMs batting pool. Takes a lot to be with the best in the world.
What I can’t understand Is why we only have two and a half decent pacemen in the country.
Fast bowling is largely genetic and Zim have 12 million people. More raw talent should be identified. There should be dozens of unpolished diamonds that should have been identified by now. I understand cricket isn’t as popular outside the upper middle class but I believe most know and have played it at least once in a friendly game.

[ZIMDOGGY]

Some of the batting in this tournament in particular shows just how far behind we are.

I'd say the bowling is a bigger concern

The wake up for me was Afghanistan. They've got a world class bowling attack, 2 World class opening batsmen, 2 others of real quality and 2 other decent ones.
Everyone wringing their hands about Afghanistan is nonsensical, they're way ahead of us.

They seem like a cricket mad country and have the raw numbers to back themselves.
What I don’t understand is how they appeared out of nowhere 15 years ago.

[secretzimbo]

The 4 semi-finalists are India, Australia, SA and NZ and the next three weeks are a waste of time.

Posted this three weeks and 30 pages ago

Great tournament format

[Googly]

I'd say the bowling is a bigger concern

The wake up for me was Afghanistan. They've got a world class bowling attack, 2 World class opening batsmen, 2 others of real quality and 2 other decent ones.
Everyone wringing their hands about Afghanistan is nonsensical, they're way ahead of us.

They seem like a cricket mad country and have the raw numbers to back themselves.
What I don’t understand is how they appeared out of nowhere 15 years ago.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cricket_in_Afghanistan

This was an interesting read. They've literally only been playing for 20 years.

Ya the lack of quick bowlers in Zim is strange. Even our established franchise guys can't get it much above 135.
Bilharzia and beer don't help.

[Pat_Bee]

Bet Knackerville can bang it in at 160, swinging both ways and reversing like only those Pakistani boys can. Whole new meaning to being a one man team when his green mamba is sorted.