The highs and the lows of the 2011 Cricket World Cup.
Sensational: Kevin O'Brien's innings against England will live long in the memory
What it has proved...
That 50 overs per side on a dry pitch is far and away the best format for a one-day cricket match. The ICC president Sharad Pawar may say this World Cup has been a triumph, and it has been less sterile than the last one in the West Indies, but it has again failed to give the sport’s finest talent the right stage often enough.
What it has proved...
That 50 overs per side on a dry pitch is far and away the best format for a one-day cricket match. The ICC president Sharad Pawar may say this World Cup has been a triumph, and it has been less sterile than the last one in the West Indies, but it has again failed to give the sport’s finest talent the right stage often enough.
There have been far too few interesting matches, the majority of the 49 ending in predictably huge margins, and far too much travelling for all concerned, in far too long a period. But those games - whether high or low-scoring - between evenly matched sides have shown that a 50-over match on a dry pitch can be cricket at its best.
Best run-chase...
Ireland knocking off 328 to beat England - with not only three wickets but five whole balls remaining. What is more, Ireland had been 111 for five off 24.2 overs. Has any one-day international been won from a more hopeless position?
Ireland knocking off 328 to beat England - with not only three wickets but five whole balls remaining. What is more, Ireland had been 111 for five off 24.2 overs. Has any one-day international been won from a more hopeless position?
Worst run-chase...
South Africa not even getting close to the 222 they needed to beat New Zealand in the quarter-final and losing by 49 runs.
South Africa not even getting close to the 222 they needed to beat New Zealand in the quarter-final and losing by 49 runs.
Bravest innings...
Faced with a baying crowd in Ahmedabad, and calls for his resignation from the Australian captaincy, and handicapped by a left finger that is still a painful mess, Ricky Ponting scored a century.
Faced with a baying crowd in Ahmedabad, and calls for his resignation from the Australian captaincy, and handicapped by a left finger that is still a painful mess, Ricky Ponting scored a century.
Best individual performance...
Against England, Kevin O’Brien hit 24 off 11 balls from James Anderson, 24 off nine balls from Tim Bresnan, and 21 off 11 balls from Graeme Swann. In all, he hit 113 from 63 balls.
The best way for England to improve as a 50-over team Given the blanket ban on 50-over county cricket by the far-sighted England and Wales Cricket Board, select Kevin O’Brien, of Ireland, and Ryan ten Doeschate, of Holland.
Best Asian XI for a match against the best non-Asian XI...
Based largely on performance in this tournament, and on a typical pitch in this tournament: Sehwag, Tendulkar, Dilshan, Sangakkara (wk/capt), Yuvraj, Mathews, Afridi, Harbajan, Zaheer, Malinga and Muralitharan. 12th man: Hafeez.
Best non-Asian XI...
Based largely on performance in this tournament: Watson, Strauss, Trott, Kallis, de Villiers (wkt), ten Doeschate, K O’Brien, Lee, Vettori (capt), Swann and Steyn. 12th man: Peterson.
Best collective performance...
The umpires. The top handful really are excellent and don’t really need the technology of the Decision Review System, except to prove to everyone how good they are.
A worthy cause...
The ICC has done a commendable job in helping to de-stigmatise Aids, but the sight of a red ribbon on the shoulder of international cricketers has become too familiar. It would be just as worthy to highlight the female infanticide that now goes on in south Asia: India’s latest census reveals there are now only 914 females, even though they live longer, to every 1000 males.
Poignant reminder...
The Taj Mahal in Mumbai - the hotel of the cricket world - is fully functioning again, following the terrifying terrorist attack of November 2008. The Windsor across the park from the MCG in Melbourne, and the Hilton overlooking the Savannah in Port-of-Spain, have had their moments but this is still the place.
In addition to the players enjoying respite from fans outside, cricket administrators have been planning how to make sure no active politician ever becomes ICC president again, after Pawar.
The security is so intense traffic has been banned from the street outside, and the Gateway of India is deserted, but that allows the crows to be heard in the trees surrounding the pool. After the violence, again, birdsong.
Against England, Kevin O’Brien hit 24 off 11 balls from James Anderson, 24 off nine balls from Tim Bresnan, and 21 off 11 balls from Graeme Swann. In all, he hit 113 from 63 balls.
The best way for England to improve as a 50-over team Given the blanket ban on 50-over county cricket by the far-sighted England and Wales Cricket Board, select Kevin O’Brien, of Ireland, and Ryan ten Doeschate, of Holland.
Best Asian XI for a match against the best non-Asian XI...
Based largely on performance in this tournament, and on a typical pitch in this tournament: Sehwag, Tendulkar, Dilshan, Sangakkara (wk/capt), Yuvraj, Mathews, Afridi, Harbajan, Zaheer, Malinga and Muralitharan. 12th man: Hafeez.
Best non-Asian XI...
Based largely on performance in this tournament: Watson, Strauss, Trott, Kallis, de Villiers (wkt), ten Doeschate, K O’Brien, Lee, Vettori (capt), Swann and Steyn. 12th man: Peterson.
Best collective performance...
The umpires. The top handful really are excellent and don’t really need the technology of the Decision Review System, except to prove to everyone how good they are.
A worthy cause...
The ICC has done a commendable job in helping to de-stigmatise Aids, but the sight of a red ribbon on the shoulder of international cricketers has become too familiar. It would be just as worthy to highlight the female infanticide that now goes on in south Asia: India’s latest census reveals there are now only 914 females, even though they live longer, to every 1000 males.
Poignant reminder...
The Taj Mahal in Mumbai - the hotel of the cricket world - is fully functioning again, following the terrifying terrorist attack of November 2008. The Windsor across the park from the MCG in Melbourne, and the Hilton overlooking the Savannah in Port-of-Spain, have had their moments but this is still the place.
In addition to the players enjoying respite from fans outside, cricket administrators have been planning how to make sure no active politician ever becomes ICC president again, after Pawar.
The security is so intense traffic has been banned from the street outside, and the Gateway of India is deserted, but that allows the crows to be heard in the trees surrounding the pool. After the violence, again, birdsong.
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