Mike Hussey, Nathan Hauritz, Eoin Morgan ruled out of Cricket World Cup

AFTER INDIAN pacer Praveen Kumar, one of the most consistent batsman for Australia, Michael Hussey as well as spinner Nathan Hauritz and England's batsman Eoin Morgan have also been ruled out of the ICC Cricket World Cup due to injury.

Cricket Australia has confirmed that the Australian middle order southpaw Mike Hussey has been ruled out due to his hamstring injury. In the recently concluded Ashes series, Mike Hussey played some brilliant innings for his country. The 35-year-old Hussey has an impressive record in ODIs. In 151 ODIs he has scored 4469 runs with an average of 51.96. 26-year-old batsman Callum Ferguson has been drafted in the 15-member Aussies squad.

Spinner Nathan Hauritz, who is suffering from a shoulder injury has been replaced by off break bowler Jason Krejza. Krejza, who has played only one ODI, was not in the provisional Australian 30-man squad named in December. The Australian team will fly to India today, aiming for a fourth consecutive World Cup victory.

Like the Aussies, England's left-hand middle order batsman Eoin Morgan has been ruled out of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 due to a broken middle finger of his left hand. Essex all-rounder Ravi Bopara replaced Morgen in the England's 15-member squad.

Earlier on Tuesday, Indian speedster S. Sreesanth replaced injured Praveen Kumar in the Indian  squad for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. Praveen Kumar has been ruled out due to an injured elbow.

Cricket World Cup 2011: Form your opinion

Till, say, five years ago, expecting a cricketer from Bangladesh to have a wise head on his shoulders was like hoping that Pakistan would tackle terrorists with an iron hand. Wishful thinking!

Or so it was till Shakib Al Hasan emerged from the fishing hamlet of Jessore in the remote countryside of Magura. The all-rounder has outgrown the popularity and utility of stalwarts like Mohammad Ashraful — whose inconsistency has done him no favours — and the perennially-injured Mashrafe Mortaza.

Shakib, who will turn 24 during the World Cup, has, to a large extent, dictated his team’s fortunes at the big stage over the past few years. Believe it or not, but the youngster has scored a Test century, registered the best figures by a Bangladeshi to help them record their first overseas Test win, scored five ODI hundreds, led his side to a whitewash of New Zealand, besides, playing his part in bidding India goodbye in the 2007 World Cup.

The soft-spoken, forever-smiling Shakib has found his name in the ICC rankings for Test and ODI all-rounders ever since he started playing international cricket in 2006. Consistency is his forte, but no cricket expert has ever failed the ever-dependable Bangladeshi. Nor did any IPL franchise find him worthy till KKR picked him up for $425,000 in January.

And that’s where Aaron Levenstein’s definition, ‘Statistics are like bikinis. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital’, fails to paint the entire picture. The fact is that the numbers (see table) aren’t lying, at least in this case. Shakib is the only player — think beyond Kallis and Vettori — who finds a place in both lists, that of in-form batsmen and bowlers, tabulated by taking into account the respective performances over the 10 last ODIs.

The Bangladesh skipper has scored a hundred and three fifties in his last 10 games, besides picking up a staggering 24 wickets at an ‘Akramesque’ average of less than 18. Well, that’s precisely why teams must stand up and take notice of Shakib’s recent comments. “We have been playing good cricket for the last 15 months, and if we qualify for the second round, why not think of something big?” he said. And given that his boys will play a lot of games at home, Shakib may have, well, spoken like a wise man.

When you talk of batsmen — form or class — can the discussion ignore Indians? Expectedly, four of them find a place in the list of batsmen in good touch, but here’s where Levenstein wins hands down. Sachin Tendulkar didn’t score too many in his last two ODIs (in South Africa) and the last time he registered a three-figure score was in Gwalior (200*) in February 2010. Having said that, Gautam Gambhir, Yusuf Pathan and Virat Kohli have all been in fabulous form over the past 8-10 months. Each of them is well and truly in dangerous form. Bring in the Sehwags and Dhonis and the batting line-up is a bookmaker’s delight.

Dutchman Ryan ten Doeschate, with an average of over 88 and his teammate, Tom Cooper, are surprise entrants in the list which also comprises the heavily-consistent South African duo of Jacques Kallis and Hashim Amla, besides southpaw JP Duminy and West Indian Ramnaresh Sarwan.

Among bowlers, Shakib — who else — is right at the top with Aussie Ryan Harris in second spot. Lonwabo Tsotsobe’s exploits against India have propelled him to No 3, even as countryman Morne Morkel finds himself in fourth position. Graeme Swann, Stuart Broad, Thisara Perera, Wahab Riaz and Abdur Razzak also make the cut.

And not so surprisingly, there isn’t a single Indian bowler in the mix. It, however, remains to be seen if these players have already peaked or they will hit top gear sometime during the tournament. Levenstein will be watching.

Luke Woodcock in New Zealand World Cup squad

New Zealand have named uncapped allrounder Luke Woodcock in their 15-man squad for the World Cup that begins in the subcontinent on February 19. Jacob Oram, who has been battling to recover from surgery in time for the tournament, has also been included in the mix.

Woodcock, 28, made his international debut in the recent Twenty20 series against Pakistan and was rewarded for his good form for Wellington in New Zealand's domestic one-day tournament, where he is averaging 26.00 with the bat and 20.00 with his left-arm spin. He was the one unfamiliar name in a squad that included six players who competed in the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies.

Mark Greatbatch, New Zealand's head selector, backed Woodock's temperament and floated the possibility of playing three spinners - Woodcock, Daniel Vettori and Nathan McCullum.

"Luke Woodcock has worked hard for his chance after forging an impressive record with Wellington over a number of years," Greatbatch said. "He has a good head on his shoulders and his selection provides the option of playing three spinners, which could be useful in the subcontinent."

Oram has been ravaged by injury throughout his career and after a recurrence of a patella-tendon problem during the tri-series in Sri Lanka in August 2010, he opted for surgery with the sole aim of being fit for the World Cup. His big hitting and nagging medium pace made his an ever-present when fit in the New Zealand team and his inclusion was a boost ahead the World Cup.

Hamish Bennett, the 23-year-old fast bowler, was also returning from injury, having picked up a groin strain during his debut Test in India last November. He impressed by bowling around 140kph and adds pace to an attack packed with steady bowlers.

Greatbatch was relieved to have both Oram and Bennett available and felt the squad can continue New Zealand's good record in World Cups. They made the semi-finals in two of the last three tournaments.

"It's great to see the bowling attack bolstered by the return of Jacob Oram and Hamish Bennett, who have both been sidelined with injury," he said. "Jacob has been a key performer over a number of years and his experience will be invaluable at the World Cup. Hamish made a good start to his one-day career and deserves the opportunity now that he is fully fit.

"We have kept faith with the bulk of the team which played the five-match ODI series in India and believe that, despite recent one-day form, the squad is very capable and owe it to themselves and the New Zealand fans to put in a huge performance at the World Cup."

New Zealand are presently playing Pakistan at home and will play six ODIs at the conclusion of the ongoing Test series. Their coaching staff was bolstered by the arrival of Allan Donald, the former South African fast-bowler, as bowling coach.

Squad: Daniel Vettori, Hamish Bennett, James Franklin, Martin Guptill, Jamie How, Brendon McCullum, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Jacob Oram, Jesse Ryder, Tim Southee, Scott Styris, Ross Taylor, Kane Williamson, Luke Woodcock.