I’ve been away for the last week or so and not caught any of the cricket action. Did I miss anything? Judging by the news feeds I’ve been reading over the last few hours, it doesn’t look like it…

Is this possibly the worst World Cup in history?

Tags: Cricket, Cricket World Cup

According to Michael Vaughan, England’s World Cup campaign starts today with the must-win match against Sri Lanka. Really? Does that mean the tedium of the past couple of weeks doesn’t count?

To be honest I’ve got split loyalties over today’s game. Obviously I’m an England fan and would like to see them win but, in all honesty, they’re probably not even going to make the semi finals whereas Sri Lanka are now my tips to win the competition. In fact I’ve just gone to Totesport and placed a healthy wager that they’ll do just that. At 4/1 I couldn’t resist.

That and the fact that they’re giving away a £50 free bet

I know I said previously that I fancied New Zealand to win it but they’ve got a few injury problems and Sri Lanka are on fire at the moment. Just wish I’d gone with them when they were 8/1…

Tags: Cricket, Cricket World Cup, England, Sri Lanka

Forget limited overs cricket, this World Cup is proving to be limited attention cricket. Outside of a handful of personal achievements (step up to the plate Gibbs, Malinga and Fat Arse Hayden) and the performances of Bangladesh and Ireland in the group stages, this World Cup has not captured the headlines for the right reasons.

The cricket carnival atmosphere that used to be ever present at West Indian grounds is long gone thanks to the greed of the ICC and the ineptitude of the organising committee. The gloss of the World Cup itself has been diminished by too many ODI tournaments (the ridiculous ICC Champions Trophy anyone?) and the players themselves look all ODI’d out.

The ICC need to take a long, hard look at themselves. They’ve screwed up royally. Patrick Kidd sums it up nicely in his article over at the Times Online site:

We need an alternative World Cup, one run for cricket rather than profit.

Half hearted cricket played in front of half empty cricket stadiums is not the way it was meant to be.

Tags : Cricket, Cricket World Cup, ICC, Money Grabbing Bastards