The 50-over Cricket World Cup is finally here. The three T20 World Cups to date have captured the imagination of the cricketing public whilst the IPL has made overnight millionaires of six-hitters and death bowlers whilst taking the concepts of sponsor-thanking and product placement to new levels. The Ashes may still be the big prize as far as English cricketers and fans are concerned but as a whole, the 50 over Cricket World Cup is the one they all want to win.
It's hard to think of anything that went right last time out in the West Indies, because so much went wrong. The two best-supported nations - Pakistan and India - went out at the group stages and the as-yet unresolved death of Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer (the day after a shock defeat to Ireland which as good as sealed their World Cup exit) left a dark cloud over the whole event. Local fans were priced out of the tournament by greedy organisers and the host nation flopped on the killing local interest.
Pedantic organisers banned virtually every product that wasn't produced by an official sponsor from the grounds and the competition dragged on for week after week with the ill-conceived format throwing up too many dead rubbers. Even the final was a disappointment with Sri Lanka's unlikely run-chase of Australia's total being interrupted by rain and no-one really knowing what was going on; Australia were eventually declared the victors.
Thankfully, everyone seems to have learnt from their mistakes and the format looks a far better one this time with the drawn-out Super 8 stage abolished in exchange for a longer first group stage and the re-introduction of quarter-finals. There are three hosts this time (India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh); the first two will make the quarters at the very least, Bangladesh have every chance of doing the same in their favourite conditions.
Since the last edition we've lost some wonderful players to retirement: Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds, Andrew Flintoff, Brian Lara, Sourav Ganguly, Sanath Jayasuriya and Inzamam Ul-Haq to name but a few whilst suspension (Mohammed Aamer, Salman Butt and Mohammed Asif) and injury (Eoin Morgan, Fidel Edwards and Mike Hussey) have deprived us of a few more. But there are some exciting new faces playing in a World Cup for the first time: the swashbuckling Umar Akmal, big hitting duo of Yousuf Pathan and Kieron Pollard (pictured), the resourceful Angelo Matthews and the run-machine that is Hashim Amla.
This has all the makings of being a great tournament largely because no one team is head and shoulders above the competition. India are justified favourites with one of the strongest battling line-ups seen in recent years and home advantage, but the latter could work against them with the pressure of delivering in front of their own fans potentially proving their undoing. West Indies and New Zealand haven't shown enough form over the last couple of years and don't have enough class in their squads to be taken seriously as potential champions whilst England once again arrive at a World Cup exhausted after a long Ashes Tour and missing their key player in the aforementioned Morgan. But a case can be made for any of South Africa, Sri Lanka, Australia, Pakistan and even Bangladesh and that can only be good for the tournament.
Stick with us here on betting.betfair for previews of every match, diary entries from Holland's star player Ryan ten doeschate and plenty more.
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