The Mania Returns - Cricket World Cup 2007

February 17, 2007 by krisdhingra
The Mania Returns - Cricket World Cup 2007
Filed under Cricket

24 days,576 hours hence India is again going to be in the grip of a nationwide mania. The ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 kicks of in exactly 24 days, and this comes about an year after the amazing Football World Cup 2006. Just like it is with any world cup this one too is expected to have a huge global television audience. The 2007 WC would see 51 matches being played amongst 16 teams, which is the highest so far in the history of World Cup Cricket. The teams that would be fighting it out in the middle would be India,Australia,England,West Indies(the hosts),South Africa,Pakistan,Bangladesh,New Zealand,Sri Lanka,Zimbabwe and the minnows this time would Ireland,Netherlands,Canada,Kenya,Scotland and Bermuda( which makes it’s debut appearence).

The Blue Billion would be represented by Rahul Dravid (captain), Sachin Tendulkar (vice-captain), Virender Sehwag Sourav Ganguly, Robin Uthappa, Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Kaarthick, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar, Munaf Patel, Irfan Pathan and Sreesanth. India is pooled in Group B along with Sri Lanka,Bermuda and Bangladesh and so most likely should sail through to the Super Eights which is where the action would be. The West Indians seemed to have prepared quite well for the Cup and it’s most certain that it’s gonna be carnival time there March 12th onwards. You can catch a glimpse of what’s in store with the World Cup theme titled “The Game of Love and Unity” composed by Shaggy and Rupee.

4 days,576 hours hence India is again going to be in the grip of a nationwide mania. The ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 kicks of in exactly 24 days, and this comes about an year after the amazing Football World Cup 2006. Just like it is with any world cup this one too is expected to have a huge global television audience. The 2007 WC would see 51 matches being played amongst 16 teams, which is the highest so far in the history of World Cup Cricket. The teams that would be fighting it out in the middle would be India,Australia,England,West Indies(the hosts),South Africa,Pakistan,Bangladesh,New Zealand,Sri Lanka,Zimbabwe and the minnows this time would Ireland,Netherlands,Canada,Kenya,Scotland and Bermuda( which makes it’s debut appearence).

The Blue Billion would be represented by Rahul Dravid (captain), Sachin Tendulkar (vice-captain), Virender Sehwag Sourav Ganguly, Robin Uthappa, Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Kaarthick, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar, Munaf Patel, Irfan Pathan and Sreesanth. India is pooled in Group B along with Sri Lanka,Bermuda and Bangladesh and so most likely should sail through to the Super Eights which is where the action would be. The West Indians seemed to have prepared quite well for the Cup and it’s most certain that it’s gonna be carnival time

The Dawn Media Group

New Zealand geared up for SL challenge

COLOMBO: New Zealand will field a full-strength team in Wednesday’s second Test against Sri Lanka after the tourists were plagued by a stomach bug in the first match.

New Zealand had 13 of their 15 players laid low by upset stomachs and viral fever during the first Test in Galle last week, which Sri Lanka won by 202 runs to take the lead in the two-match series.

Skipper Daniel Vettori said the entire squad had trained over the past two days and his players were gearing up for a better show in the final Test at the Sinhalese Sports Club here.

‘We need players with the ability to stand throughout the game,’ Vettori told reporters before Tuesday’s practice session.

‘We will decide on the line-up before the toss. It is important to get big scores. We need to get beyond the 30s and 40s we are scoring now and get those 100s.’

‘We have been selling ourselves a bit short. Hopefully, we will do a much better job here.’

New Zealand will probably make one change from the team that lost in Galle, with fast bowler Daryl Tuffey expected to replace seamer Iain O’Brien.

Vettori himself needs just two more wickets to become only the ninth player in history to achieve the all-rounder’s double of 3,000 runs and 300 wickets.

The 93-Test veteran was New Zealand’s star performer in Galle, with five wickets and knocks of 42 and 67 and is again expected to lead from the front.

‘Records definitely motivate me,’ said the 30-year-old, who has scored 3,329 Test runs and taken 298 wickets since his debut in 1997.

‘If you look back five years ago, my Test batting record was pretty embarrassing. I have been working hard on it. It’s a nice feeling now that I can contribute a lot better.’

Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara said he was wary of a New Zealand backlash, saying he had a lot of respect for their fighting qualities.

‘We are expecting a very tough response from New Zealand,’ he stated. ‘I think they are going to come back very strongly and try to win this Test, so that they have something to take back home.’

All-rounder Angelo Mathews was ruled out of the match with a hamstring strain picked up in Galle and he will be replaced by Chamara Kapugedera.

Teams (likely):

SRI LANKA
Kumar Sangakkara (captain), Tharanga Paranavitana, Mahela Jayawardene, Thilan Samaraweera, Tillekeratne Dilshan, Chamara Kapugedera, Muttiah Muralitharan, Thilan Thushara, Nuwan Kulasekara, Prasanna Jayawardene, Rangana Herath.

NEW ZEALAND
Daniel Vettori (captain), Tim McIntosh, Martin Guptill, Jesse Ryder, Ross Taylor, Daniel Flynn, Brendon McCullum, Jacob Oram, Daryl Tuffey, Jeetan Patel, Chris Martin.

Umpires: Daryl Harper (Australia) and Nigel Llong (England).

TV umpire: Kumar Dharmasena (Sri Lanka)
Match referee: Andy Pycroft (Zimbabwe).—AFP

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International Cricket Series

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International Cricket Series History

Cricket appears to have an eventful and colorful history, although the exact origins of the game are unknown. The name "cricket" may have come from the word "cric". The word cric stood for the hooked staffs carried by Shepards. These may have been the first cricket bats. Cricket in its early days in England was considered a child's game, not to be played by serious adults.
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The very first Cricket series - 1800s

The cricket fields were leveled and manicured in the 1800's. Up until this time the fields were rough and bumpy. South Africa and Australia began to play cricket seriously during this time. In the year 1844 the first international game of cricket was played in the state of New York in the United States. This match was played between the United States and Canada. Later, in 1877, England traveled to Australia for the first international test match. The match was played in Melbourne Australia. The Australians won the match by 45 runs.