CRICKET WORLD CUP 2007
The much awaited Cricket World Cup starts from mid-March 2007 in West Indies. The last World Cup was held in South Africa, in 2003 and Australia is the reigning World Champion for the last 8 years.
The game will be played by 16 country teams, in 4 separate Groups, with 4 teams each in the Group stage. The top 2 teams from each group, after the initial stage, will form the Super Eights and will play to advance to the semi-final and final stages.
The first group match starts on Tuesday, 13 March 2007 at Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica, and to be played between the host country West Indies and Pakistan.
Group stage matches will conclude on Sunday, 25 March at Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad. Bangladesh and Bermuda (a remote North Atlantic Ocean Island country) will compete in this last Group game.
Super Eights’ matches start on Tuesday 27 March 2007 and will finish on Saturday 21 April, 2007. First semi-final is scheduled to be played on Tuesday, 24 April, second semi final on Wednesday, 25th and final game of the tournament on Saturday, 28 April, at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados.
Bangladesh is in Group B, with India, Sri Lanka and Bermuda. Australia is in Group A with Netherlands, Scotland, and South Africa. Host West Indies is in Group D with Ireland, Pakistan and Zimbabwe, and England is in Group C with Canada, Kenya, and New Zealand.
There will be some Warm-up matches commencing Monday 5 March 2007. Bangladesh plays a warm-up match with New Zealand on Tuesday, 6 March, again with Scotland on Thursday 8 March, 2007. Australia plays England on Friday 9 March, 2007 and this would be a match for Australia to reclaim some lost pride after the recent thrashing by England in the domestic Commonwealth Bank Cup Series.
New Zealand plays Sri Lanka in a warm up match on Friday 9 March, 2007. Pakistan meets South Africa, and India also plays a game with the host West Indies on the same day.
Detailed information on Fixtures (Schedules), Groups, Squads, and Statistics are available at www.cricinfo.com
The way the groups are formed, it is more than likely the super eights will be: Australia, South Africa, India, Sri Lanka, England, New Zealand, Pakistan and West Indies. I predict Australia, South Africa, West Indies, and India to be in the semi final. Australia and South Africa likely to be in the final, unless they have met each other in the semi.
Channel 9 and Foxtel (pay TV) will share telecast most of the games live from mid March, 2007 but live games’ Sydney TV time starts at midnight (11.30 pm). Happy viewing and good luck to your team.
Helal Morshedi
Sydney, 15 February 2007