By Shane Warne
There is no better opportunity than the ICC Cricket World Cup to show what you can do and the way pitches are turning in the Caribbean at the moment I half wish I was out there. Only joking. I’ll watch the first half from Melbourne with matchsticks propping my eyes open and the second from under a warm blanket in Southampton.
Australia gave everybody else a leg-up by losing five games in a row. You can be a great side and still lose the odd one or two because that is the nature of one-day cricket. In this case things have to go deeper, but I am sure it isn’t a case of terminal decline.
The main issue surrounds the fifth bowler. Shane Watson and Brad Hogg have not been as effective as they would have liked. Watson has been coming back from injury and Hogg, from what I’ve seen, has been bowled pretty well without luck. Maybe the warm-up against England last week will be a turning point.
When you are not taking wickets in the middle of the innings it allows a partnership to develop and two batsmen to get themselves settled for the assault in the last ten or 12 overs. Usually they are numbers four, five or six — the strokemakers you really don’t want to see together at the death.
I am not sure that Australia have worked out their best combination for those closing overs. To me the partnership should be Shaun Tait and Glenn McGrath, with McGrath and Stuart Clark sharing the new ball. People can say they are a bit predictable. I just think they are the best two fast bowlers in the world at the moment.
Brett Lee is a big loss for the image of the tournament as well as the Australia team, but Clark is a different type of bowler who will be very difficult to face if the ball nips around or stops in the pitch. Accuracy is at a premium in those conditions and Clark and McGrath can take advantage of the early starts.
Australia could still take something from those losses against England and New Zealand. Despite missing Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke and Andrew Symonds, they still posted scores above 300. No other side has the depth to build totals like that when four of the usual top five are out.
Whatever results suggest, I don’t see any huge issues for the next seven weeks. The conditions will suit them and they have all bases covered. After 1999 and 2003 they have a great chance of completing the hat-trick. I think Sri Lanka and New Zealand will push them closest.
Again, it comes down to the pitches. Muttiah Muralidaran and Daniel Vettori are the best two spin bowlers in the competition. I’ve also been impressed with Jeetan Patel, the New Zealand off spinner. None of their bowlers have a great deal of pace except Shane Bond, who has a great one-day record.
Sri Lanka are much the same. They have always been good at fiddling overs of spin from their batsmen. I remember games where they have used five slow bowlers. In one-day cricket, Sanath Jayasuriya is a proper all-rounder who is tough to get away. Murali is a sure bet as leading wicket-taker overall.
England are my dark horses. They took a lot of confidence from the Commonwealth Bank Series but they are still outsiders because their record in the past couple of years has been poor overall. At two months including warm-ups the tournament is far too long — perhaps too long for England to keep their momentum going.
South Africa have overtaken Australia at the top of the ICC rankings but their record in pressure situations at leading competitions is there for all to see. They are disciplined to the point of being regimented. Herschelle Gibbs is their only unpredictable player, but I think you can tie him down.
It will be interesting to see how Graeme Smith handles the media. Every time he makes a big statement it backfires, so he needs to keep his mouth shut this time, if he can. They are a good side in a lot of ways and they will definitely win games, but probably not the big ones.
Players of the tournament could be Paul Collingwood, Murali and Stephen Fleming (for his captaincy as well as his batting) along with Watson and Clarke. I would not underestimate the role of Clarke’s spin. My tip as leading runscorer comes from left-field: Lou Vincent, of New Zealand.
I was saddened to hear of the recent death of Ian Wooldridge. He was one of my friends in the media and a writer I respected very highly. My best wishes go out to his family
There is no better opportunity than the ICC Cricket World Cup to show what you can do and the way pitches are turning in the Caribbean at the moment I half wish I was out there. Only joking. I’ll watch the first half from Melbourne with matchsticks propping my eyes open and the second from under a warm blanket in Southampton.
Australia gave everybody else a leg-up by losing five games in a row. You can be a great side and still lose the odd one or two because that is the nature of one-day cricket. In this case things have to go deeper, but I am sure it isn’t a case of terminal decline.
The main issue surrounds the fifth bowler. Shane Watson and Brad Hogg have not been as effective as they would have liked. Watson has been coming back from injury and Hogg, from what I’ve seen, has been bowled pretty well without luck. Maybe the warm-up against England last week will be a turning point.
When you are not taking wickets in the middle of the innings it allows a partnership to develop and two batsmen to get themselves settled for the assault in the last ten or 12 overs. Usually they are numbers four, five or six — the strokemakers you really don’t want to see together at the death.
I am not sure that Australia have worked out their best combination for those closing overs. To me the partnership should be Shaun Tait and Glenn McGrath, with McGrath and Stuart Clark sharing the new ball. People can say they are a bit predictable. I just think they are the best two fast bowlers in the world at the moment.
Brett Lee is a big loss for the image of the tournament as well as the Australia team, but Clark is a different type of bowler who will be very difficult to face if the ball nips around or stops in the pitch. Accuracy is at a premium in those conditions and Clark and McGrath can take advantage of the early starts.
Australia could still take something from those losses against England and New Zealand. Despite missing Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke and Andrew Symonds, they still posted scores above 300. No other side has the depth to build totals like that when four of the usual top five are out.
Whatever results suggest, I don’t see any huge issues for the next seven weeks. The conditions will suit them and they have all bases covered. After 1999 and 2003 they have a great chance of completing the hat-trick. I think Sri Lanka and New Zealand will push them closest.
Again, it comes down to the pitches. Muttiah Muralidaran and Daniel Vettori are the best two spin bowlers in the competition. I’ve also been impressed with Jeetan Patel, the New Zealand off spinner. None of their bowlers have a great deal of pace except Shane Bond, who has a great one-day record.
Sri Lanka are much the same. They have always been good at fiddling overs of spin from their batsmen. I remember games where they have used five slow bowlers. In one-day cricket, Sanath Jayasuriya is a proper all-rounder who is tough to get away. Murali is a sure bet as leading wicket-taker overall.
England are my dark horses. They took a lot of confidence from the Commonwealth Bank Series but they are still outsiders because their record in the past couple of years has been poor overall. At two months including warm-ups the tournament is far too long — perhaps too long for England to keep their momentum going.
South Africa have overtaken Australia at the top of the ICC rankings but their record in pressure situations at leading competitions is there for all to see. They are disciplined to the point of being regimented. Herschelle Gibbs is their only unpredictable player, but I think you can tie him down.
It will be interesting to see how Graeme Smith handles the media. Every time he makes a big statement it backfires, so he needs to keep his mouth shut this time, if he can. They are a good side in a lot of ways and they will definitely win games, but probably not the big ones.
Players of the tournament could be Paul Collingwood, Murali and Stephen Fleming (for his captaincy as well as his batting) along with Watson and Clarke. I would not underestimate the role of Clarke’s spin. My tip as leading runscorer comes from left-field: Lou Vincent, of New Zealand.
I was saddened to hear of the recent death of Ian Wooldridge. He was one of my friends in the media and a writer I respected very highly. My best wishes go out to his family
