Cricket World Cup 2011

[Cormack74]

Is not far away now.

It's about time we won this competition after reaching the final three times and losing the lot.

Don't have too much confidence after the ODI's in Oz but then again I never expected us to win the World T20 either last year.

Think a decent run is possible if we get a settled side but all the injuries aren't helping.

[Shaggy]

It's not far away now and by the time it's finished it'll be nearly Christmas!

[Cormack74]

It's not far away now and by the time it's finished it'll be nearly Christmas!

You're right the length of the competition these days is truly insane.

When I was a lad I'm pretty sure it was done and dusted in a couple of weeks.

[Cormack74]

Yup just checked on Wiki, two weeks.

[Tee]

Looking forward to this. There should be some cracking games.

England will miss Morgan IMO but should still get to the semis at least. Can't really see past India or South Africa for the winners though.

[Alex]

Starts on 19th Feb and finishes on 2nd April.

Does it really need to be that long

[Cormack74]

Just noticed that in our warm up game against Canada, their famous no 7 Rizwan Cheema has taken us for 93 off 70 balls

[Cormack74]

Not too sure about this:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/9399606.stm

Kevin Pietersen confirms opener role

Kevin Pietersen has said he and captain Andrew Strauss will open for England during the 2011 Cricket World Cup.

Pietersen will fill the problem position, one he has not occupied in 110 previous one-day internationals.

With Matt Prior failing to impress at the top of the order in Australia, England picked Pietersen to partner Strauss in the warm-up against Canada.

"I'm excited by it, the team are excited by it and I'm looking forward to it," Pietersen, 30, stated.

It is a surprising move by England and follows reports in a number of newspapers that the Surrey batsman, who has disappointed for two years in one-day internationals, will look to retire from 50-over cricket after the 14-team tournament in India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh.

Although Pietersen himself has denied the speculation, many journalists have stood by it, believing that he intends to focus on Tests and Twenty20 cricket, including the Indian Premier League.

But the big-hitting batsman, who hit two centuries in the 2007 World Cup from the middle order and made 24 from 28 balls in England's 16-run win over Canada, has put on a public show of enthusiasm ahead of the big tournament starting on Saturday.

He added: "It's a nice positive move going into the World Cup. We spoke about it going into the end of the Australia tour. We feel at the top of the innings is a really nice time to bat.

"I'll look to play my normal game. It's not a pinch-hitting role. It was put to me, and the team are right behind the decision. I'm fine. It could be nice, especially in the sub-continent. I have a nice little feeling about it."

England's overall performance produced plenty of grounds for concern with a number of players continuing the poor form they had shown in the 6-1 series defeat to Australia.

Pietersen, however, refused to dwell on the negatives.

He stated: "It was nice to get a few boys back from injury. They were tough conditions today, but some really good stuff from our lads - Stuart Broad coming back, Ajmal Shahzad coming back and Matt Prior playing beautifully in the middle of the innings.

Canada's Rizwan Cheema stunned England with 93 from 71 balls, an innings described as "wonderful" by Pietersen.

Cheema, born in Pakistan, commented: "It feels great when the ball is going out of the park. We just lost too many early wickets when we didn't get behind the ball.

"They bowled pretty well. If we'd not lost so many early, it would be a different story."

[Cormack74]

F*ck me how **** are we allowing the dutch to rack up 290 odd.

Think the boys are missing home already.

They'll be back soon enough.

[Buzzo]

Going to take a monumental innings from someone to win this one after that bowling and fielding performance.

[Buzzo]

With a fear of jinxing an England innings duly noted. KP and Strauss looking pretty commanding opening the innings. It is going to take a big knock from them to get England off and running. 72 from 12 overs a decent enough start.

[Buzzo]

Looks like this will go to the wire...!

[Buzzo]

Bell gone!

Ravi Bopara to the rescue? 52 needed from 44.

[Tee]

****, this is a tense finish!!

[Buzzo]

Colly and Bopara are going to have to take a swing or 2 soon.