Gibbs sticks it to the Dutch
In a game reduced to 40 overs, South Africa still managed to score over 350 against The Netherlands - and in the game there was a first as well - the first world cup over with 6 6’s! Herschelle Gibbs was the player who did the magnificent feat, and van Bunge the rather unlucky bowler. I’ve never even managed to hit 6 6’s in stick cricket!
edit: I’ve found the youtube video so if you havn’t seen this magnificent feat, follow this link to see it!
I was right to assume that England hadn’t scored enough runs, and the depth of the New Zealand batting line up was telling, even after England had taken 3 early wickets. It was a rather dull run chase from NZ, and England looked rather uninspired towards the end. They will have to raise their game a lot if they’re to cause a problem or two in the super eights (that’s if they get there!!).
World Cup Initial Thoughts
The start of the world cup coincided with a bout of man flu, so apologies for a lack of incisive, witty and brilliant commentary on the start of the world cup!
It has given me a chance to lie on the sofa and watch quite a bit of cricket though, although some of it has already been forgotten. The West Indies did well in the opener, although Pakistan didn’t really turn up to the party, so I’m not sure how either of these teams will do later in the tournament. There was a great finish between Ireland and Zimbabwe in the closest game yet. Zimbabwe looked like they were cruising to victory, but some tight bowling at the end meant it ended in a tie. It was a great finish to the game as Ireland held on when they had no right to, so congratulations to them.
Australia demolished Scotland as expected, although you think Ponting could look happier than he did after scoring a century. Mind you, he didn’t want the “minnows” there so maybe he’s just treating it as a way to up his average. Sri Lanka also annihilated Bermuda, and to be honest these sorts of games don’t hold much for anyone. Its not a great spectacle of cricket for the neutrals, and the supporters of both teams are probably just waiting for the inevitable.
Mid-way through the England-New Zealand game at the moment, and England have somehow scrambled to over 200 having had a mid order collapse (how very obvious..). Whether its enough or not could be difficult, and I’m not too confident, but at least we’ve given ourselves a chance. KP was a bit silly getting out to a nothing shot when we’d just lost Collingwood, and it looked like he realised that so I’m not going to get too high and mighty at this moment in time.
Anyway, bring on the second half of this game, and lets hope for some more close finishes like Ireland’s game! Let me know your thoughts so far on the world cup by leaving a comment!
Google World Cup Image
Google often change their logo on the homepage to indicate certain events, and today I notice that it is the turn of the cricket world cup!
Well, I’m not sure how a cricketer looks like an “o”, but hey, any publicity from such a widely viewed site is great for cricket!
Second Round of Warm Up Games
Well I did say I wouldn’t be too bothered if we lost to Australia, and we did! The second round of warm up games involving the eight teams realistically in with a shot of the World Cup took place on Friday, and with the opening ceremony this evening and the first group game on Tuesday, its time to start getting excited about what should be an excellent tournament!
Going back to the England game, it was good to see Vaughan and Bell get some good runs, and although we then capitulated a bit to end up all out for under 200, the warm up game did its job i reckon. The players won’t go into the World Cup thinking themselves unbeatable - so will hopefully rise to each game. The pitch itself looked like one where it was difficult to “get in”, but once you were then you could pounce on the bad balls being bowled. I was a little concerned to see Monty Panesar only something like the 7th bowler used, well behind Dalrymple. Please, this better only be temporary, as if Monty is underused in the World Cup I can see the stick Duncan Fletcher getting from the media will be even worse than during the Ashes series. Monty is a genuine world class bowler in the making, and like many in the media have said, we only have him and Freddie in that mould. To under use either of them would be suicidal - and if that happens expect to see me say it!
Having said that I really don’t think we will win the World Cup - we’ve got some good players, but there aren’t enough of them who will together put a string of performances together. I look at some of the teams though I can see a lot of talent, but not the stand out team that will win the cup. Teams like India have such good players, but the ability to self-destruct. South Africa don’t seem to be on top of their game, and Sri Lanka also have the quality but not the consistency. West Indies may be the home side, but that appears to be more of a hindrance than a help - they were bowled out for just 85 by India!
I think this means that I will resist betting on the tournament for the moment, but i’ll just watch it and enjoy it! I have put together a fantasy team on the Sky Sports website which will also help keep me interested - I’m going to try and win the xbox 360 on offer (to go with the one I already have!). Its free to enter so if you want some more interest in the cup I recommend it!
Anyway, bring on the World Cup - lets hope for some big scores, close games and great cricket!
Brian Lara Cricket 2007 Demo Review
The demo for Brian Lara International Cricket 2007 was released yesterday, and I’ve had a bit of a play so I thought I’d let you know my thoughts!
You can download it from the codemasters site for the PC, or on the marketplace on xbox Live for the xbox 360, which is where I got mine. Its quite a big download, but it didn’t take nearly as long as I thought to download, so if you want a taste of the game then it’s worth the wait.
Once you start the game, the loading screens show you the instructions, but far too fast to see them all! So the first game was spent trying all the buttons and trying to remember what they do! You play as England, against Australia, in a 3 over a side game. Yeah, its not long, but its only a taster to make people want to buy the game! It is supposedly only 90% finished, and there are things missing such as commentary, but the essence of the game is all there.
So what is it like? Anyone who has played previous Brian Lara games will feel right at home, as the game keeps to the same winning formula of the previous versions. Think of this game as an update of the old versions with a couple of new features, better graphics and you’re thinking along the right roads. There is only one level of the game, which to an experienced Brian Lara fan will be a little easy, so hopefully this is just due to the level of play. Sixes and fours can still be hit quite regularly, and they go quite a long way if you time them right with the “advance down the track” new option. Its not all easy though, especially for someone who hasn’t played any previous version for a while. I particularly like being able to use the”defend” shot a bit better, as you can angle it into the gaps and get singles where previously it would just pat the ball back to the bowler.
When bowling there are some nice touches - such as automatic switching of fields for different batsmen if you want - and the bowling speeds seem more realistic and consistent than before. One annoyance is the fact that everytime you throw the ball to the ‘keeper he takes the bails off and appeals, even if the batsman has been stood there for an age. Just a small bug I’m sure, one that will be ironed out before the full release. I couldn’t quite get to grip with pressing the right button at the right time to take a catch but this is probably due to my ineptitude more than anything!
Overall it is a great update to the series, and the demo has definitely re-enforced my decision to pre-order the game. It’ll be good to tackle a whole game and tournament, and the multiplayer game will be even better (getting to beat my mates!).
The best prices for this game I’ve found are the following:
xbox 360 £39.99 from Game or Amazon
PS2 £29.99 from Game or Amazon
PC £17.99 from Amazon
Go pre-order it now!
World Cup Warm Up Games
The first two days of warm up games have been and gone without much surprise, except for NZ losing to Bangladesh. Personally I don’t read too much into these games anyway as there is none of the intensity of the games that mean anything.
Still, its good to see cricket back on the TV, at a time when my indoor nets are starting as well so helping me get in the mood for cricket! The English media seems to have gone crazy for 20 stone Bermuda spinner Dwayne Leverock - and he is a talking point! It isn’t often that you see an international cricketer quite that big - i mean David Boon looks positively thin against him!
But the amount of talk about him shows that these warm up games are nothing to get too excited about. Even Friday, against the Aussies, I’m not too bothered if we win or lose. Yes really! I’m all for momentum going into the World Cup definately, but it won’t be the end of the world if we do lose. I think you can tell I was in Australia seeing us get beaten 5-0 with a comment like that!
What team will England choose for the first game? Well it looks like Strauss will be sitting on the sidelines, and that a couple of bowling positions are up for grabs. It won’t be looking too different to my England team I posted about earlier in the month though. Yes, I am free if you want me ECB!!
