How the teams compare in age and experience

The World Cup - a 49-match behemoth - is nearly upon us. As the players warm up for the tournament, we take a look at how the teams stack up. Which squad has the most one-day experience, and which has the least? How familiar are they with subcontinent conditions and with playing in such a high-profile event? Who's the oldest player in the competition, and how many teenagers will be battling seasoned opponents?

During their poor lead-up to the 2007 World Cup, Australia were called Dad's Army, but those old legs steamrolled everyone in the West Indies. The average age of that squad was 30.86 years, with nine players on the wrong side of 30. The average age of this one is lower, at 29.25, and only four players are over 30, but they are light on world-beating talent.

Sri Lanka are the oldest team in this tournament, with an average age of 29.87, while they were sixth oldest in 2007. They have the most players over 30 - eight - with Muttiah Muralitharan being the oldest. He will be nearly 39 by the time he retires. Bangladesh are the youngest. They don't have a single man over 30 and 11 of their players are between 20 and 24. They'll be sprightly in the field to back up their phalanx of spinners.

Canada were the oldest team in 2007 (31.37). They aren't this time but they do have the oldest player of the tournament. John Davison, who scored what was once the fastest hundred of the World Cup, will be 40 years and 286 days on February 19. Steve Tikolo, who is playing his fifth World Cup, is next at 39 years 239 days. There are only five teenagers in the tournament - Ahmed Shehzad from Pakistan, George Dockrell from Ireland, and Ruvindu Gunasekera, Nitish Kumar and Hiral Patel from Canada. Nitish Kumar is the youngest - a staggering 16 years and 274 days.

Average age of each World Cup squad (as of Feb 19, 2011)

Team	Ave Age	Min	Max	0-19	20-24	25-29	30-34	35+
Sri Lanka	29.865	21y 322d	38y 308d	0	3	4	7	1
Australia	29.257	21y 262d	36y 62d	0	1	10	3	1
England	28.976	24y 240d	34y 269d	0	1	9	5	0
India	28.675	22y 57d	37y 301d	0	4	6	4	1
Pakistan	28.674	19y 88d	36y 267d	1	2	4	6	2
Ireland	28.571	18y 212d	36y 296d	1	1	7	4	2
South Africa	28.405	21y 204d	35y 126d	0	1	9	4	1
New Zealand	28.372	20y 195d	35y 224d	0	4	5	5	1
Netherlands	27.653	21y 161d	33y 353d	0	4	6	5	0
Canada	27.595	16y 274d	40y 286d	3	2	4	5	1
Kenya	27.548	20y 314d	39y 239d	0	7	3	4	1
West Indies	27.194	20y 311d	36y 187d	0	5	7	2	1
Zimbabwe	26.585	23y 152d	34y 252d	0	5	9	1	0
Bangladesh	23.779	21y 49d	28y 249d	0	11	4	0	0

How many players in the Australian and South African squads have not played a World Cup? Ten and 11. Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, Brett Lee, Shaun Tait and Shane Watson are the only Australians with World Cup experience. For South Africa it is Graeme Smith, AB de Villiers, Jacques Kallis and Robin Peterson. Only Canada have more players without a World Cup appearance - 12.

Sachin Tendulkar is the only one from the 1992 World Cup playing in this tournament. Apart from him, there are seven who were part of the 1996 competition held on the subcontinent: Murali, Ponting, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Jacques Kallis, Bas Zuiderent from the Netherlands, and Tikolo and Thomas Odoyo from Kenya. Sri Lanka, Ireland and Kenya also have the most players from the 2007 World Cup - nine each.

World Cup players from previous World Cups (qualification: non-playing squad members excluded)

Team	1992	1996	1999	2003	2007	None	Mat
Sri Lanka	0	1	2	4	9	6	135
India	1	1	1	6	7	7	105
New Zealand	0	0	0	5	6	8	85
Kenya	0	2	3	5	9	6	85
Australia	0	1	1	2	4	10	79
West Indies	0	1	1	3	6	9	68
Ireland	0	0	0	0	9	6	65
Pakistan	0	0	3	4	5	8	58
England	0	0	0	2	7	8	58
Bangladesh	0	0	0	1	6	9	56
South Africa	0	1	1	3	4	11	55
Netherlands	0	1	0	2	6	9	28
Zimbabwe	0	0	0	1	7	7	25
Canada	0	0	0	2	3	12	20

The Indian, Sri Lankan and Pakistani players were the most experienced in ODIs at the 2007 World Cup, and their squads have the most caps this time as well, although the present aggregate of each is lower compared to four years ago.

There are six uncapped ODI players in this tournament: Pakistan fast bowler Junaid Khan, West Indies' bowling allrounder Andre Russell, South Africa legspinner Imran Tahir, Berend Westdijk from the Netherlands, and Canada's Tyson Gordon, who's played only one List A game, and Karl Whatham, who has played none.

Should Paul Collingwood play seven matches in the tournament, he will be the first England cricketer with 200 ODI caps.

Total ODI experience for each World Cup squad

Team	Mat		0	1-49	50-99	100-199	200-299	300-399	400-499	Min	Max
India	2070		0	4	2	5	3	0	1	7	444
Sri Lanka	1863		0	5	4	3	1	2	0	11	341
Pakistan	1389		1	6	3	2	2	1	0	0	312
New Zealand	1277		0	8	2	4	1	0	0	2	266
Australia	1265		0	8	3	3	0	1	0	1	352
West Indies	1041		1	9	1	2	2	0	0	0	263
England	1016		0	7	4	4	0	0	0	3	193
South Africa	953		1	9	2	2	0	1	0	0	307
Bangladesh	929		0	8	4	3	0	0	0	11	164
Zimbabwe	829		0	10	1	4	0	0	0	5	130
Kenya	822		0	7	6	2	0	0	0	5	129
Ireland	455		0	14	1	0	0	0	0	8	52
Netherlands	309		1	13	1	0	0	0	0	0	53
Canada	225		2	12	1	0	0	0	0	0	54

The table below contains teams ranked according to how many matches the players in their World Cup squads have played in the host countries. India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh obviously lead the way but New Zealand is a surprise at No. 4. Thirteen of their players have played more than five ODIs in the host nations, though a large part of that experience was gained during the last year and the results weren't encouraging.

Among the major sides, Australia and South Africa are the ones with the least experience in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Both teams contain four players with no ODI experience in these countries, and five players with not more than five matches' worth. Canada is the only team whose players have never played an ODI in any of the host nations.

Total ODI experience in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh for each squad

Team	Mat	0	1-5	6-10	11-20	21+	Max
India	1141	0	1	1	0	13	212
Sri Lanka	856	0	0	2	1	12	147
Bangladesh	513	0	0	0	5	10	85
New Zealand	265	1	1	6	2	5	50
Pakistan	254	2	3	3	2	5	58
Zimbabwe	166	2	4	3	2	4	29
Australia	160	4	5	1	2	3	60
England	156	1	5	3	3	3	32
West Indies	147	1	9	0	2	3	40
South Africa	114	4	5	2	2	2	31
Kenya	74	7	4	2	0	2	23
Ireland	18	9	6	0	0	0	3
Netherlands	5	13	2	0	0	0	3
Canada	0	15	0	0	0	0	0

Australia may have a weaker squad than they did in 2007 but the win percentage in ODIs for the players in both squads is almost the same. The men in Ponting's 2007 outfit had a success percentage of 72.8%, while Ponting's present team has 72.7%. India's win percentage in 2007 was 52% and they crashed out in the group stage. Dhoni's squad for 2011 has 58.2%.

Total ODI success for each World Cup squad

Team	Mat	W	T	NR	L	%
Australia	1265	875	9	56	325	72.7
South Africa	953	606	8	26	313	65.8
Sri Lanka	1863	1043	8	85	727	58.8
India	2070	1137	3	115	815	58.2
Pakistan	1389	744	1	35	609	54.9
Ireland	455	235	7	19	194	54.7
New Zealand	1277	599	9	88	581	50.7
Netherlands	309	147	0	12	150	49.4
England	1016	464	13	39	500	48.1
West Indies	1041	409	1	79	552	42.5
Bangladesh	929	384	0	3	542	41.4
Canada	225	74	0	5	146	33.6
Kenya	822	262	0	31	529	33.1
Zimbabwe	829	221	7	10	591	27.4