Cricket World Cup 2015

[Alex]

28 needed from 54 balls. Taylor and Buttler have done really well here. Things are looking so much better for us with Cook out the side. The batsmen are free to play in a more aggressive style. Barring the mini collapse, we have been good today. Bowlers especially in this Tri Series.

Australia and India are no ODI slouches.

[Alex]

Infact looking at the rankings, they are 1 and 2 in the world at the moment.

[Bender]

looking like they can now win this

[Alex]

Nicely done by the middle order there. Buttler is turning into a decent player

[Bender]

Nicely done by the middle order there. Buttler is turning into a decent player

Good win ....be huge if they can beat Australia and no reason why they can't,although these quick loss of wickets needs sorting out.

[Bender]

A Very convincing Win
Australia win by 112 runs - Eng 166 all out

[Chazza]

Woakes 89-0 off 10 overs.

[Buzzo]

After an absolute humiliation by the Aussies yesterday...

Ben Stokes hits 15 sixes for England Lions in South Africa

Ben Stokes, who was omitted from England's World Cup squad, smashed an unbeaten 151 off 86 balls for England Lions against South Africa A.
The Durham all-rounder hit 15 sixes, including nine from the last 15 legal deliveries he faced.
Stokes's century lifted England to 378-6 from 50 overs in the fourth one-day match in Pretoria.
Stokes was dropped by England after the fourth of seven one-day internationals in Sri Lanka in December.
Paul Collingwood, the Durham captain and former England all-rounder who will be part of the Scotland coaching staff at the World Cup, tweeted: "He's not a bad cricketer this @benstokes38.
"One day he might win a World Cup for his country... but not this one."
Stokes enjoyed success in the Big Bash league, scoring 77 off 37 balls for Melbourne Renegades against Hobart Hurricanes.
He took 4-22 against South Africa A in the first one-dayer.
His latest eye-catching display came against an attack featuring four bowlers who have been capped by South Africa at one-day level.
England, meanwhile, struggled for consistency in the recent one-day tri-series against Australia and India.
Batsmen Moeen Ali, Joe Root and all-rounders Ravi Bopara and Chris Woakes all averaged below 30 across the five matches.
The World Cup starts on 14 February, when England face co-hosts Australia in Melbourne.

[RichC]

Just read that myself.

Looks like another selection cock up

[Buzzo]

Yeah, it is really hard to work out what the selection tactics are. There seems to be a real lack of consistency and form, that has to be from the management and coach?

[Alex]

Renamed the thread to make it clearer. Quite looking forward to this. None of the top sides are firing right at the moment, except maybe the South Africa.

No code has to be inserted here.
Its down to 6 weeks from 8 this year. Still gonna be a slog until the knock outs though.

[Alex]

Also fancy New Zealand as an outside punt.

[Alex]

KP is going to be a summariser for Test Match Special from the 1/4 final stage. Should be interesting given his obvious disdain for some on that program. Especially Swann and Agnew.

[Alex]

England blew the West Indies away this morning. Beating them with 27 overs to spare. Woakes got 5-19.

Things are ramping up nicely for this England side.

[Buzzo]

Playing the Aussies first is an absolute ******* for England. Puts a lot of pressure on the team with the attention that is likely to generate. Will be interesting.

I agree Alex, I reckon NZ are decent Dark Horses for this.