Ahead of the upcoming World Cup Cricket 2007 the whole cricket world is getting prepared to celebrate the biggest occasion of world cricket. The highest number of teams will take part in this world cup. 16 teams will be divided into 4 groups (pools) of 4 teams each and two teams from each of the groups will go in to the Super Eight round. I will write an article on each of the groups analyzing the teams- including their strength and weakness. I will also try to asses their possibility in this world cup. Now I am going to write on Pool A where the defending world cup champion Australia, the current number one ranked ODI team South Africa, the present ICC Trophy champion Scotland and Netherlands will play.
I think that Pool A is one of the hardest groups in this world cup. Australia, the champion team of the last two world cup cricket tournaments, is one of the most favorite teams. Though they have lost their last five ODI matches, they are still regarded as a strong contender. South Africa is now, for sure, the most in form team in the world who have got a lot success both in home and abroad recently. Moreover, recently they have bagged the number one position in the ODI ranking from Australia.
Compared these two giants, the other two teams- Scotland and Netherlands- are minnows. However, Scotland is the Champion of the last ICC Champions Trophy 2005 and recently has been the runners-up in the Word Cricket League. They have some players who play in County cricket of England. Gavin Hamilton and Dougie Brown also played for England national team. In the same way, there are some English County players in the Netherlands team who can play a big role in the success of Netherlands in this world cup. The opener Bas Zuiderent, former Sussex cricketer, has a lot of potential and he was the highest run scorer (474 runs) of the last ICC Trophy 2006 with a tremendous average of 118.50.
However, it is true that Scotland and Netherlands barely have any chance to get into the super eight as they are in the same group with Australia and South Africa. Australia may have struggled in the last few weeks but the players are determined to do well. They have some potential batsmen like Michael Clark, Mike Hussey, Brad Hodge and experienced batsmen like Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist. Though in the absence of Brett Lee their bowling side is really very weak but if there is Glenn McGrath then anything can happen. I hope that you already know that Glenn McGrath is the second highest wicket taker in the world cup after Wasim Akram and highest among the players currently playing. Most probably this would be McGrath’s last world cup. So, he might be very hungry to prove his class again in his last race.
Everything is going fine with Team South Africa these days. In the last one year, they showed excellent performance in all departments of cricket. Their two strike bowlers Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini are dominating over the opponent batsmen. Shaun Pollock is now the number one ranked bowler and Makhaya Ntini is now the number 3 ranked bowler in ODI ranking. So, just imagine how strong their bowling line up is. Now, just add the name of Jacques Kallis, one of the best all rounders of all time. Moreover, some young inform players like AB de Villiers, Ashwell Prince, Justin Kemp will serve their best in the world cup.
My prediction is that South Africa will be the group champion and Australia will be second. They will go into the Super Eight round from Pool A.
What is your idea about this pool? Do you think that there would be any major upset?
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