US Plays Cricket (1 Viewer)

[Girish]

i would love to see the us take on cricket, i just can't see it happenning beyond immigrant communities.

Simon,
Imagine twenty two people on a sunny afternoon wearing whites playing cricket on a lush green ground and families cheering on the sidelines with BBQ and stuff. Someone has to market this sport properly and I am sure it will appeal to a lot of people here.
I used to have a similar view about golf till I started playing.

 

[Lew Crippen]

And there was no way they were going to, what with the possibility of rain against New Zealand. Their goal was to have a higher NRR than New Zealand.

Mission accomplished.

 

[Simon Brooke]

even if a small percentage of the us play cricket, can you imagine what numbers that will be.

girish good luck, i hope that cricket keeps growing in the us.

 

[Girish]

Well Simon, we started with a few people and have many teams now. Last year we invited Larry Gomes and Bachus for the all star game. I am sure it will gain popularity eventually.

 

[Lew Crippen]

The last of the matches with the pretenders is over and the real tournament is about to begin—Australia/New Zealand tomorrow, followed in successive days by Sri Lanka v England, South Africa v The West Indies (both teams a bit on the decline) and the biggie (from an attendance perspective) India v Pakistan.

 

[Jonathan White]

Well the Aussies hammered the Kiwis by seven wickets. Big one tomorrow for me, England v Sri Lanka. Should be a tough one, Sri Lanka are ranked 2nd in the world for ODI games.

 

[Lew Crippen]

Yep, I followed it a bit on Cricinfo. They got their target inside of 40 overs For anyn Americans still reading this thread, this is a bit like winning with 70% of your outs left and 20% of the game still to be played. The Aussies were so dominate that they just went home early.

True enough Johathan that Sri Lanka has their high ranking (and deserves it)—but they will be playing without Murali, which ought to even things out. Plus England is fresh off winning a one-day series from India.

And while England has not been outstanding at the one-day game the last couple of years, they are currently ranked second at the longer version.

So, I’m looking forward to a good, competitive match.

 

[Girish]

Honestly speaking in cricket the one day rankings don't mean a squat! Although I agree that Austarlia is the number one team at this time and they are way ahead of whoever is number two( probably India).

 

[Lew Crippen]

I’m tempted to point out that in one-day cricket India winds up second most of the time.

Current ICC rankings including the ratings:
139 Australia
123 Sri Lanka
116 New Zealand
105 Pakistan
103 India
103 South Africa
103 England
101 West Indies
61 Zimbabwe
26 Kenya
0 Bangladesh

The ratings are based on the last two years (August is the beginning of the year) plus the current year. Recent matches are given more weight than those of last year, which are given more than the oldest year (every August the oldest year is dropped so only the last two years are a part of the rankings). The other factor considered is the strength of the opposition played. That is one win over Australia is more important than several against Bangladesh. There is no bonus given for winning important matches. It counts the same to win the final of a tournament as does a win in a preliminary round. Of course, if tournament finals were given a bonus, Australia would no doubt have an even larger margin.

When India is playing well they are no doubt one of the best in the world, but until very recently they have been woefully inconsistent. This year they are 13-13 and one no result. What has really hurt them is their performance against Australia, winning only one and losing five. They have winning records this year only against Bangladesh, Kenya, Zimbabwe and the UAE (which does not count for the ICC rankings). Against quality opposition (besides the Aussies) they have losing records against Pakistan, England and Sri Lanka.

That kind of play won’t get you far in either the official rankings or in the minds of objective fans.

If I were handicapping, I’d think that Sri Lanka is a bit too high, England a bit too low and probably Pakistan and India ought to be a bit better. Zimbabwe, low as it is, is still too high. I’m not sure that the current Aussies are that much better than everyone else, but until someone can beat them in more than the odd game, it is hard to prove otherwise.

I do pick India to win the next test series against Australia.

 

[Lew Crippen]

The preliminary rounds are all complete. As expected Australia advanced from Pool A, although their margin of victory was unexpected as New Zealand should have put up a stronger fight. In Pool B, South Africa’s recent poor form continued and the West Indies advanced in what turned out to be quite a close and exciting match. Pakistan beat India in an exciting match (they won with only 4 balls left) and England advanced on a rain-affected match, as Sri Lanka could not get the runs necessary to satisfy the statistical results of this match.

Meaning that I was only one for four in my picks. So I’ll try again.

Australia over England, even though England has the home field advantage and are playing very well at the moment.

Pakistan over the West Indies, as I think they have by far (Brian Lara excepted) the better talent.

Australia over Pakistan in the finals, as Pakistan usually finds a way to not win against the Aussies.

 

[Girish]

I would say
Australia beats England in the 1st semi
West Indies beat pak
Austarlia beats West Indies in the final

 

[Jonathan White]

England to HAMMER the Aussies with Freddie Flintoff hitting another century. Its about time we beat them and today is the ideal opportunity. English cricket is on a high, we have home advantage and also the best one day playing in the world at the moment.

 

[Lew Crippen]

You could be right Jonathan--I just checked and the Poms restricted Australia to 258--a very gettable total.

England seemed to be doing a good job with the run rate after their frist 10 overs.

 

[Jonathan White]

Well we hammered them by 6 wickets with 21 balls left.

 

[Lew Crippen]

Perhaps there is hope indeed for the Ashes to return home. Oops, you never let them go in the first place, did you:

 

[Jonathan White]

Lew, they are far to fragile to be entrusted to a bunch of convicts.

 

[Nick Sievers]

Hey just because i'm not really into cricket doesn't mean I don't read this thread, Jonathan.