T20 Wc, Match 1 Options

[Stirer]

Good Grief! Not again! Always a bridesmaid, never a bride! We sail through seven T/20s without a loss; we can even lose a game or two in the early rounds and still make it to a final. But when we hit the knockout stages, we fall over. I thought we would have a tough match against SL, but not against Pak. But if we'd taken a peek at the bowling stats, we would have seen that Pak had three of the top five bowlers in the tournament (SL had the other two).

So the SA side gets to go home early - again. And again, cricket scribes everywhere will pull the "Chokers" trophy out of the cabinet and dust it off. South Africa might be ranked as the top side in the world in Tests and ODIs and be ranked as favourite for the T/20 as well, but we have yet to feature in a world stage final, let alone win it.

[PommyDave]

I felt a little robbed by the Duckworth Lewis method against the Windies.

We'd almost certainly have lost to SL anyway, but still.

[Stirer]

You're dead right PD. The T/20 format is enough of a lottery as it is. The D/L thrown in makes it more of a joke. In the shorter version of the game, they should just make room to play it out the following day.

The D/L system never takes into consideration the varying skills of the players in each team - which is something that is taken in team selection depending on which sides they are playing against. A team like South Africa, for example, doesn't have a player who has not scored a first class or a provincial/county limited overs 50; and South Africa would be targeted just as if they had a bunch of "bunnies" in the tail. (Even Dale Steyn had two such 50s that I know of).

But, we were knocked out by a better, more motivated side - fortunately without D/L playing a part. But I do remember a certain ODI semi-final in the '90s where we were knocked out by England according to the rules of the time - before D/L. Nothing's perfect.

[Stirer]

Wierd, isn't it. A team that actually lost two games in the tournament wins the trophy, and two teams that were unbeaten into the semi-finals (one in the final), go home empty handed. That's the nature of the competition.

[madclown]

everyone gets shafted by mr duckcrap loo-ist.....

but the way i look at it is that..there are really cricketing gods out there... omnipotent beings that administer ...justice.....


u get shafted today..and u get saved tomorrow....
England vs wi/ eng vs Ireland illustrate this point perfectly


WI benefited from a couple DL decisions in recent past... but it wasn't too long ago either that we were on the flip side of some... i think against england as well in ... 2006 or 2004 or something... can;t remember precisely....
we have been benefiting more than we've been losing though..which means that sometime int he near future that DL show their head... we'll should be on the flip......
provided my theory is correct...

[jamstains]

Really have to question why they took the competition to Guyana, a country where rain is virtually guaranteed !

Good to see the ICC/WI learned from the 50 over WC experiences, especially in Barbados.

Obviously good to win the competition, but even better considered that it didn't look like a fluke.

[madclown]

funny things is... up to a couple days before the tournament started... there was a severe drought in the entire caribbean! (which is why the pitches turned as much as they did)
i think thought it may have been some sort of arrangement with the islands.... this time around if u notice... there wasn't any bartering for matches...we just kind've woke up and discovered that ..ok.. this WC will be here in just 3 islands only decided to be xyz.


as the old saying goes... to many chefs spoil the broth...(especially chef ICC )
anywhoo.. i think we owe guyana something. if you notice... antigua are hosting ALOT of the SA tour matches. and guyana contributed for the WC.... retribution for the minor role both venues were made to play in the CWC 2007 perhaps?

jamaica has security issues
trinidad didn't really propose much for the CWC because of the security detail and stuff required... is a slight bit if a strain

barbados .... well its obvious... they needed t clear their name after the last farce... so they got the finals and everything [they're also perhaps the strongest economy in the caribbean going by exchange rate ...which remains USD 1:2 ... vs 1:6.3 TT or 1:89 Jamaica... so the home crowd (that loves cricket) can afford to fill the stadium (provided they're interested enough) ]
as i said antigua didn't get much action in the CWC but they gave the the SA series instead

guyana never got much action in the CWC... so they were given some WC games instead

grenada/st kitts/st lucia/st vincent
well st lucia did get some excitement being the 3rd venue.

strange though... i do believe that the universal consensus is... that the best stadium in the west indies is in st kitts? or is it grenada?
*shrug* guess they weren't interested.

perhaps the pinch of the recession has made spending a little less of an option... and after the last WC failed... its a PRETTY huge gamble.

btw.... i just have to say... i thought the barbados pitch was LOVELY... there really was something for everyone... haven;t seen a pitch like that since that famous match with AUS in 2004 when we made the world record 454 chasing and jermaine lawson got 7/84 or what was it (and subsequently reported to ICC)
i think if more pitches were like that. there would be less draws. and a rebirth in interest in test cricket


so.... was the tournament a success?
i guess this time around.. there was more of that caribbean vibe to it... which made staging a major competition in the caribbean so tempting to begin with


of course in the build up i tried to pick 4 semifinalists and went through all various combinations of 6 teams.....
its refreshing to go back now to a format i am more familiar with (and predict a 3-2 result either way) re the ODI series

i'm honestly...annoyed...and fed up of T20s... like seriously.

Really have to question why they took the competition to Guyana, a country where rain is virtually guaranteed !

Good to see the ICC/WI learned from the 50 over WC experiences, especially in Barbados.

Obviously good to win the competition, but even better considered that it didn't look like a fluke.

[jamstains]

The wicket at Barbados was exactly that which produced the great test against Aus in 2008 which I had the good fortune to attend. Something for the best batsmen and bowlers but little for the lesser players.

St Lucia, whilst a good ground, is miles from anywhere - much like the place that they're playng SA atm which Sir Viv has denounced.

[madclown]

The wicket at Barbados was exactly that which produced the great test against Aus in 2008 which I had the good fortune to attend. Something for the best batsmen and bowlers but little for the lesser players.

St Lucia, whilst a good ground, is miles from anywhere - much like the place that they're playng SA atm which Sir Viv has denounced.

meh


we don't care nomore :-/

[Nicole]

I will be rooting for Ireland no matter what!