World Cup Monitor
Jonty almosts chokes in laughter at pressure claims
Jonty Rhodes apparently burst out laughing when told Glenn McGrath still thinks South Africa can’t handle pressure
Peter English
25-Feb-2013
Jonty Rhodes apparently burst out laughing when told Glenn McGrath still thinks South Africa can’t handle pressure. Rhodes, an assistant coach who played in four World Cups, says it’s best never to believe anything McGrath says.
"There would have been pressure on us anyway,” Rhodes told the Sydney Morning Herald. “We've been a top side in the last year. Every one of the top sides will be playing under pressure, whether they're No. 1 or six.”
Rhodes said McGrath was “being very clever”, but revealed Pollock, Gibbs, Kallis and Boucher had spoken about the near-misses of 1999 and 2003. "They were asked the question the other day in a team meeting, and they were all looking forward to putting what they have learnt in the last World Cups into practice,” he said. “It's not a case of, 'Here's another World Cup, we're damaged property'."
Full postThe case of Sherlock Holmes playing in The Netherlands
Not many World Cup teams can boast a link to Sherlock Holmes, AFP reports
Peter English
25-Feb-2013
Not many World Cup teams can boast a link to Sherlock Holmes, AFP reports. The Dutch can and they'll need all the sleuth's deductive skills if they are to unravel the world No. 1 South Africa in their opening World Cup match on Friday. Holmes' creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, was an avid cricketer and was part of the first team to tour The Netherlands in 1891.
The writer went on to play ten matches for MCC, eight of them at Lord's. He took only one wicket in his career but it was memorable - WG Grace for 110.
The first club in the Netherlands was formed in Utrecht by students from both The Netherlands and the Cape Colony in 1856. Despite those historic social and political links with their opponents, the Dutch will find it hard going to stop the South Africans.
Full postSting in the tail
England's major injury worry ahead of their World Cup opener against New Zealand is James Anderson, but two other key players were in the wars during the team's training session in St Lucia on Wednesday
Andrew McGlashan
25-Feb-2013
England's major injury worry ahead of their World Cup opener against New Zealand is James Anderson, but two other key players were in the wars during the team's training session in St Lucia on Wednesday. Paul Collingwood was stung by a bee and in the process of trying to waft it away knocked the insect towards Liam Plunkett who was also stung. However, neither player was sent for scan or x-ray.
Full postAnd the World Cup goes to...
A business solutions company in Mumbai has devised a computer model that forecasts cricket scores with apparently astounding success.
Nishi Narayanan
25-Feb-2013
A business solutions company in Mumbai has devised a computer model that forecasts cricket scores with apparently astounding success.
Fractal Analysis, a company that specialises in predictive analysis of customer behaviour for credit card companies, predicted a West Indies win in their opening match against Pakistan. In fact the computer model also predicted the exact scores of the two captains - Inzamam-ul-Haq and Brian Lara. "I can tell you the whole team in the office was jumping with joy last night when Lara got out for 37 and Inzamam for 36," Mukesh Badania, a consultant with the company told AFP.
The model is based on the theory that the outcome of every game and the performance of every player depends, to a degree, on what the player or the team has done in the past. To predict which team will win a particular match, the statistics of all one-day internationals played since 1996 are looked at to identify factors that have the maximum impact on the outcome of the match. Factors found to be relevant include the relative forms of the teams, their recent past record and their performances against each other.
"We started this a few months back and found that the predictions actually came out true," Badania added.
Full postPonting convinced Australia are still scary
Ricky Ponting has obviously not noticed how rival teams have been buoyed by Australia’s five-match ODI losing streak
Peter English
25-Feb-2013
Ricky Ponting has obviously not noticed how rival teams have been buoyed by Australia’s five-match ODI losing streak. The rest of the World – particularly Sunil Gavaskar – has celebrated Australia’s slump and some squads genuinely believe the defending champions are ready to be dethroned.
Ponting is not convinced and still thinks Australia’s recently mis-firing weapons will scare any opponent. “All the players from other teams would be fearing us more than anybody else, and hopefully through the tournament we’ll be giving teams reason to fear us,” Ponting said in the Courier-Mail. He might be right about Scotland, who Australia play in St Kitts on Wednesday, but New Zealand, South Africa and England have successfully worn away Australia’s aura over the past year.
Full postSouth Africa’s choke is no joke
As a bowler Glenn McGrath has been excellent at figuratively keeping his hand around batsmen’s throats
Peter English
25-Feb-2013
As a bowler Glenn McGrath has been excellent at figuratively keeping his hand around batsmen’s throats. Now he is already looking ahead to the side’s third group game against past chokers South Africa, an outfit he believes “doesn't handle pressure as well as Australia”.
“The fact that they are ranked No. 1 means a lot more pressure to hold that position and we'll see what happens," McGrath told AFP. "I wouldn't say they are chokers but the World Cup is the big scene and we are ready for them."
The tag makes Graeme Smith laugh, but Allan Donald and Allan Border believe there are still doubts following South Africa’s string of high-profile World Cup exits.
Full postBig man's momma says Dwayne is worth the weight
Peter English
25-Feb-2013
Allison Leverock, the mother of Bermuda’s 120kg bowler Dwayne, wants the world to stop teasing her boy and focus on his spin instead of his size. Dwayne ‘Sluggo’ Leverock picked up two warm-up wickets against England and a wide load of headlines, including 'Bermuda Pie-angle', 'Lard Before Wicket' and 'Owzfat'.
His mum is not pleased and wants everyone to know he’s shed quite a few kilos to play for Bermuda, who face Sri Lanka on Thursday in their first World Cup game. “I have been angry about it,” she said in Bermuda’s Royal Gazette. “Some of them have been very cruel.
Full postScotland spinner defies typhoid
Glenn Rogers, the Scotland spinner who was born in Australia, was stricken by typhoid in Kenya less than six weeks ago
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
Glenn Rogers, the Scotland spinner who was born in Australia, was stricken by typhoid in Kenya less than six weeks ago. He feared he would miss the World Cup and the chance to play against his country of birth. However, a course of tablets on his return to Scotland has done the trick and he is set to play against Australia in St Kitts on Wednesday. Read the full report on Fox Sports.
Full postIndia's bus breaks down
Before they could think of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Bermuda, India had to contend with another obstacle: their team bus shut down last evening on the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway in the vicinity of El Socorro Junction
Siddhartha Vaidyanathan
25-Feb-2013
Before they could think of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Bermuda, India had to contend with another obstacle: their team bus shut down last evening on the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway in the vicinity of El Socorro Junction. Kern De Freitas has all the details in the Trinidad & Tobago Express
There was some drama at St Lucia as the England and New Zealand teams snubbed an official welcome hosted by St Lucia's Governor-General last night.
Meanwhile Scotland's Majid Haq is all geed up ahead of the Australia clash on March 13.
It's 11 against 11 - if we can bowl and bat to our plans and put them under pressure we've got a chance of causing a shock. We can't afford to take any backward steps. Too many teams in the past have been beaten before going out on the park, but we aren't taking on their reputations.
No time for the World Cup in India
There might be those in India willing to sell an organ to go to the World Cup but according to an AFP report Indian fans are not very keen to watch the action in the Caribbean
Nishi Narayanan
25-Feb-2013
There might be those in India willing to sell an organ to go to the World Cup but according to an AFP report Indian fans are not very keen to watch the action in the Caribbean. Late-night starts, exam-time for students and, a media gone overboard to cheer the team have proven to be some of the turn-offs. "The ludicrous coverage by the channels - some even interviewed astrologers to forecast how India will perform - only leaves a bad taste in the mouth," said a fan quoted by AFP. Another fan disagreed with the opinion that Indian viewership would be high as people returning from office would be just in time to watch the match. "For professionals like me who work till late in the evenings, I don't think the timings are conducive to watch cricket despite the fact that I am an avid cricket lover."
Even the number of fans who wish to travel to the West Indies has dropped from the last time around when South Africa hosted the World Cup. Travel agent Raja Hoon said that the cost of travelling to the Caribbean, especially the cost of staying at hotels - charging between US$500-800 a night - had forced many people to rethink their plans. The travel industry, he said, had been forced to drop rates because of that. "There were at least 50,000 Indians who travelled to South Africa for the 2003 World Cup," Hoon. "We will be happy if 5000 make it this time. People are still waiting to see how India fares in the second round before making up their minds." Hoon, however, conceded that all that could change if India reached the semi-finals. "I am not a cricket fanatic to pray for our team, but this time I will be saying a few prayers."
Full post