2023 ODI World Cup | Preview Thread

England beat Bangladesh with a weakened squad (no Root, Stokes, Brook, or Hales). I actually thought Bangladesh would win 3-0. Largely poor batting from Bangladesh. The Big 4 struggling quite a bit. Only about 6 months left to get into some groove.

Kriterion_BD wrote: ↑Tue Mar 07, 2023 4:48 am

I actually thought Bangladesh would win 3-0.

Is this a joke?

secretzimbo wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 3:48 pm

Kriterion_BD wrote: ↑Tue Mar 07, 2023 4:48 am

I actually thought Bangladesh would win 3-0.

Is this a joke?

No. The series is in Bangladesh. England sent a weakened squad and even their first string bowling attack is quite mediocre with the exception of Archer. Granted Adil Rashid is much better than I thought he was, but these were also turning pitches.

😂

England's 3rd or 4th string ODI side is better than almost any. You probably could have got odds of 100/1 on Bangladesh winning 3-0.

secretzimbo wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 4:09 pm

😂

England's 3rd or 4th string ODI side is better than almost any. You probably could have got odds of 100/1 on Bangladesh winning 3-0.

India's 4th string perhaps (even then, probably not). But Australia and England don't have that sort of depth that India has.

In ODI cricket? England most certainly do. They have better ODI depth than any other team, and I include India.

Their domestic List A is still by far the highest standard List A comp in the world by some distance, and they have about 50 players that miss it each year due to international or Hundred commitments.

secretzimbo wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 4:23 pm

In ODI cricket? England most certainly do. They have better ODI depth than any other team, and I include India.

Their domestic List A is still by far the highest standard List A comp in the world by some distance, and they have about 50 players that miss it each year due to international or Hundred commitments.

Well its 2-2 now. In these conditions, Bangladesh are almost unstoppable...only 2 teams have won an ODI series in BD in the last 9 years, and it was England both times.

At any rate, this is actually a very good series for England. By leaving out their top 5 players, they ensure their next 12-15 guys get top quality experience in the subcontinent before the World Cup. Guys like Root, Stokes, Roy, et al get plenty of IPL and PSL exposure so they aren't missing anything. As a result, England may be the most well-prepared team heading into the WC in October.

Is Root still in the England ODI side?

Stokes has retired, which everyone seems to ignore.

jaybro wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 8:53 pm

Is Root still in the England ODI side?

Stokes has retired, which everyone seems to ignore.

People are expecting Stokes to come back...IDK if he will or not. But why would Root not be in the ODI side?

Kriterion_BD wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 9:58 pm

People are expecting Stokes to come back...IDK if he will or not. But why would Root not be in the ODI side?

People are presuming he will, just like they presumed AB would too, but officially he has retired.

It was more a question about Root, than a statement. It's hard to keep up with England as they play so much and use so many different players. Root hasn't played an ODI since July so I wasn't sure if he's still in their best ODI XI?

secretzimbo wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 3:48 pm

Kriterion_BD wrote: ↑Tue Mar 07, 2023 4:48 am

I actually thought Bangladesh would win 3-0.

Is this a joke?

England's A side just got smashed 3-0 in the T20s...which is obviously our weaker format. Hency why I thought we *should* have won the ODIs 3-0. Obviously cricket is played on the field and not on sheets of paper, so unexpected results can pop up.

League 2 has officially ended and in dramatic fashion. Everyone - including myself - had written Nepal off after they had only won 8 of their first 24 games...but having won 11 of their last 12. Nepal surpassed the USA and Namibia to seal automatic qualification to the WCQ!

Scotland, Oman, and Nepal finish in the top 3 of League 2.

Namibia, USA, UAE, and PNG will go to the play-off tournament that starts in 10 days time.

Did you see the crowd in Nepal today? Impressive.

I'll be rooting for Namibia in the Qualifier-Qualifier.

secretzimbo wrote: ↑Thu Mar 16, 2023 9:10 pm

Did you see the crowd in Nepal today? Impressive.

I'll be rooting for Namibia in the Qualifier-Qualifier.

I did see that crowd...it was absolutely massive.

How come Nepal aren't better at cricket? And by better I mean something like Zimbabwe or Netherlands level. It seems like it is the most popular sport in the country and they border India? Does the geography of the country make things difficult? Lack of money?

Lack of money for sure, as with all associates but especially as a poorer country.

But also I’ve read plenty about that their poor board/administration/corruption etc in their cricket board over the years too

I always found it odd how poor their cricket was given its their #1 sport. Oddly enough soccer/football was always #1 in Bangladesh except for the 1997-2010 period. Cricket is back to #2 now.

Kriterion_BD wrote: ↑Sat Mar 18, 2023 9:01 pm

I always found it odd how poor their cricket was given its their #1 sport. Oddly enough soccer/football was always #1 in Bangladesh except for the 1997-2010 period. Cricket is back to #2 now.

Interesting, I just assumed cricket would be top dog there. When you say football is number 1, is that predominately overseas football, e.g EPL?

I would guess the national cricket team is more popular than say the national BAN football team?

Also in terms of whats played on the streets by kids - would it be cricket or football?

secretzimbo wrote: ↑Sat Mar 18, 2023 9:53 pm

Kriterion_BD wrote: ↑Sat Mar 18, 2023 9:01 pm

I always found it odd how poor their cricket was given its their #1 sport. Oddly enough soccer/football was always #1 in Bangladesh except for the 1997-2010 period. Cricket is back to #2 now.

Interesting, I just assumed cricket would be top dog there. When you say football is number 1, is that predominately overseas football, e.g EPL?

I would guess the national cricket team is more popular than say the national BAN football team?

Also in terms of whats played on the streets by kids - would it be cricket or football?

It’s hard to say for sure.

Cricket was very much a niche sport in Bangladesh before the 1997 ICC Trophy (now called WC Qualifier). It was still somewhat popular but football was king, queen, and bishop. But after elevation to Test status, cricket briefly took over football until probably 2010 or so. I couldn’t tell you the exact reason but cricket seems to be less popular just from a fan perspective. It’s still a big business and the BPL is still well attended.

But back in 2008 we would have several thousand in to watch a Test match, where Bangladesh inevitably got slaughtered. Nowadays, there is hardly 500 fans in for a Test or maybe 5000 for an ODI, whereas the stadium was absolutely jam packed before.

And it has nothing to do with success because Bangladesh now are obviously a much better team than in 2010 in all 3 formats. Unless, back then wins were so rare people came in hoping for a rare chance to witness history. Who knows? Lol.

I would however say that more people watch Bangladesh cricket than Bangladesh football, but that might be because cricket gets way more attention since we play that at the highest level and are in the abyss in terms of football.

Following football in Bangladesh must be tough, the national team is completely irrelevant, even in Asia, and I can't imagine the domestic league has much going for it.

I guess in the 2000s top tier international cricket was still a novelty. I think cricket's popularity is declining in most parts of the world - the T20 hype disguises the decline, but in all honesty I think far fewer people care about cricket now than they did 20 years ago.