This is my review of the eight main contenders for the 2015 cricket world cup..

AUSTRALIA

Australia look to have very good depth in their pace bowling in particular with bowlers of the calibre of Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins fighting for one spot. In the two Mitchells, Johnson and Starc, they possess two left armers who can swing the ball at high speed. They have also looked very sharp in the field during the Carlton Mid Tri-Series against India & England.  Smith, Warner and Maxwell are particularly athletic and capable of turning a game with fielding alone. Australia also now have a settled opening combination of Warner & Finch, a stable middle order anchored by Steve Smith and deep batting tail including some great finishers such as James Faulkner.

They will enjoy home conditions and are mentally strong when it comes to the pressure of a close contest.  Australia is the most successful country when it comes to world cups having once won three world cups in a row between 1999 and 2007.  The big question will be when Clarke returns in Game 2, whether it will disrupt the team dynamics.  And who will have to make way for him to create a spot in an already settled batting line up? It might well be Clarke’s last world cup before he retires from One Day Cricket so he will be really keen to end his ODI career with a big bang.  It is difficult to see any team beating Australia on their home turf.  They are very strong in all departments and should go all the way.  Look out for Glen “the Big Show” Maxwell turning it on with his creative shot play.

O’ Captain My Captain – Clarke & Smith

Strengths – Good Recent Form, Home Advantage, Fast Bowling Depth, Strong Fielding

Weaknesses – Lack of quality spin bowling without Lyon, Leadership Roulette

Ftiness Concerns – Clarke, Faulkner, Marsh

Players to Watch – Warner, Starc, Maxwell, Faulkner

Prediction – Winners

ENGLAND

England are in the process of rebuilding their team but their decision to drop Kevin Pietersen (KP) indefinitely may come back to haunt them as he was one of their few truly world class players with the ability to win matches on his own. Cook was another recent casualty but he has not been missed.  England are also flying under the radar as a result and there are low expectations for this team to progress very far.  This means, they will enjoy underdog status and could slay a few Giants along the way.  Their bowling will be led by the highly skillful James Anderson whom they are also very reliant on.

England have been Bridesmaids a few times including the last World Cup held in Australia & New Zealand back in 1992 and 1987 with Gatting’s infamous reverse sweep in the final. They will be very keen to go one better this time around and could finish higher than many people expect.  They will be well led by Eoin Morgan who will hope for the luck of the Irish.  Their main problem of late has been consistency as well as finding strong finishers in the middle to late order.  They will need to lift as a team to progress having lost a warm up game to Pakistan as well as losing the recent Carlton Mid Tri Series to Australia.

Strengths – Settled Leadership

Weaknesses – Lack of firepower in batting, Lack consistency with bowling

Players to Watch – Eoin Morgan, James Anderson

Prediction – Quarter Finals

INDIA

India have had a very disappointing summer down under and of late have been looking a bit tired and listless. The big question is whether this talented young team be able to crank it up a notch during the world cup and bring joy to their millions of fans back home. Their captain Dhoni is a very cool and experienced campaigner and India are also the reigning champions so will be extra keen to defend their trophy.  Their recent IPL experience has meant that this team will back themselves to pace through an innings before launching a final assault to chase down any total, however large. India have a number of one day specialists in this team who can transform a game.

Rohit Sharma recently clocked a one day double ton and also scored 150 in a recent warm up game.  Raina & Jadeja are one day specialists who are really good in the field as well and Dhoni is one of the best finishers in the game.  Their biggest concern will be Kohli’s lack of recent form as he will be badly needed.  After an outstanding test series, he has struggled of late and is due for a big innings.  India have also been experimenting with openers and reluctant to unleash the pace of Varun Aaron who will be well suited to these pitches. Ashwin & Jadeja will be tidy in the spin department but their pace bowling will probably leak runs.  Still, one senses that India will lift for the world cup as it means a lot to them and their fans.  They definitely have the talent to win the trophy and high expectations back home although conditions may not suit them.

Strengths – Strong Batting Order, Good Finishers, Acclimatised to conditions over summer

Weaknesses – Poor Pace Bowling, Poor Fielding, Winless Recent Record

Fitness Concerns – Jadeja, Sharma, Rohit

Players to Watch – Rohit, Kohli, MS Dhoni

Prediction – Quarter Finals

NEW ZEALAND

New Zealand have been performing very strongly at home in recent weeks and look to have a very settled line up. Historically, they have always performed well in the World Cup and they don’t look to have too many weaknesses.  They will fancy their chances to progress far in the tournament with a lot of games held at their home grounds.  It could also be the last world cup for a few of their senior players such as Vettori, McCullum, etc so they will be highly motivated.  During the warm up games, New Zealand also thrashed South Africa who albeit were missing Amla and Steyn.  This will definitely make everyone stand up and take notice.  Like Australia they look very strong across all areas with their bowling spearheaded by Boult and Southee and their batting will centre around McCullum, Williamson & Taylor.

Kane WIlliamson is one of the finest emerging batting talents in the world.  McCullum set the inaugural IPL on fire with a quickfire century and is capable of destroying any attack on his day.  One of their allrounders Corey Anderson, broke the record for the fastest hundred just over a year back, only to be surpassed by AB De Villiers recently.  During the 1992 world cup which was the last one they co-hosted, they performed really well only to be knocked out in the semi-finals by eventual winners Pakistan.  They will also be remembered for innovation such as opening the bowling with their off spinner Deepak Patel.  Martin Crowe, one of their best cricketers and now a highly respected cricket journalist was declared man of the tournament.

Strengths – Solid Team, Good form, Home ground advantage

Weaknesses – Have never progressed beyond the Semi-Finals

Players to Watch – McCullum, Williamson, Southee

Prediction – Runners Up

PAKISTAN

Pakistan had a very disrupted lead up with their main strike bowler Ajmal banned for a suspect action, Junaid Khan their main fast bowler pulling out with injury and senior player Hafeez also ruled out.  Ajmal has now been allowed to bowl but is lacking match fitness and in any case can only bowl if someone else is injured and needs to be replaced. There are some very experienced players in this team such as Misbah & Younis who will balance the youth but none with the star quality of Imran, Akram, Miandad, etc. However, nobody is too focused on Pakistan so this makes them very dangerous as they could fly under the radar.

They have good spinners in Yasir Shah and Shahid Afridi and have the ability to upset the big teams.  Their coach Waqar Younis has a good relationship with the players and has united the playing group.  They will rue not being able to put their first choice XI on the park but have never been short on talent or self-belief.  They had a poor series in NZ but have won both their warm up games.  They will have fond memories of their last World Cup in Australia as they went on to win the trophy at the MCG thanks to a bit of Wasim Akram magic in the final.  They were on the brink of being knocked out when captain Imran Khan urged the team to fight like “cornered tigers” and the rest is history.  This team also boasts the tallest person to ever play cricket, the 7 foot 1 giant Mohammed Irfan who can extract steep bounce.

Strengths – Bowling Attack

Weaknesses – Missing too many key players

Players to Watch – Umar Akmal, Yasir Shah, Shahid Afridi

Prediction – Quarter-Finals

SOUTH AFRICA

On paper, South Africa looks like one of the strongest teams at the World Cup and the absence of Silverware in their cupboards will be keenly felt.  They lack a bit of depth in middle order batting if their first choice batsmen are injured but in AB De Villiers & Amla, they boast two of the very best in the game.  AB De Villiers is probably the best batsman in the world at present and recently broke the record for the fastest century ever depositing the ball to every part of the ground with a mixture of orthodox and unorthodox strokes. Amla is very calm and technically correct with the mental ability to bat for long periods without losing concentration.

Faf Du Plessis has also proven himself several times and De Kock is starting to show the world how talented he is.  Their bowlers Steyn, Morkel, Philander and Tahir are intelligent, diverse and bowl as a pack. Dale Steyn combines raw pace with the ability to swing the ball freakishly.  Philander relies on seam and accuracy.  Morkel can extract steep bounce with his towering height.  Tahir bowls attacking leg spin that is best suited to the white ball game. Mental strength will be the only area of concern.  The dry, bouncy, bone hard conditions in Australia will suit them to a tee.  Like Spain the perennial world cup underachievers did in the 2010 Football World Cup, could it finally be their time to break the drought?

Strengths – Will relish the conditions, Strong All Round Team

Weaknesses – Ability to choke under pressure, Batting Depth

Fitness Concerns – De Kock

Players to Watch – AB De Villiers, Dale Steyn, De Kock

Prediction – Semi-Finals

SRI LANKA

Sri Lanka have had a disappointing lead up to the World Cup having been defeated convincingly by New Zealand in NZ and they also lost both their warm up games to Zimbabwe and South Africa. However, their Big three of Mahela, Sangakkara and Dislhan are highly experienced and could help Sri Lanka progress far in this tournament. Dilshan even has a modern day shot named after him, the “dilscoop” or ramp shot where he deposits the ball above and behind the keeper for six!  Their weakness has always been their bowling so they will have to rely heavily on their batting to make up for their bowling deficiencies.

Lasith “Slinga” Malinga will definitely be the spearhead and can win the match on his own when it is his day but his fitness has also been under a cloud.  His death bowling has won them many matches as he is the master of bowling yorkers ball after ball.  Their spinners will centre around the highly accurate Rangana Herath and Senanayake has also been cleared to bowled after a recent ban.  As previous winners, they know what it will take to bring home the trophy and cannot be written off.  They are strong finishers and enjoy chasing totals.

Strengths – Strong Batting Order, Acclimatised to local conditions over summer

Weaknesses – No good bowlers, Lack of depth in team

Fitness Concerns – Malinga, Matthews

Players to Watch – Sangakkara, Matthews

Prediction – Semi-Finals

WEST INDIES

It has been very disheartening to watch the West Indies self-destruct in the past few years after being such a mighty force in World Cricket during the seventies and eighties. It is difficult to see this team really challenging the stronger teams although they do have a lot of pride and won the Twenty20 World Cup a few years back.  However, Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard will really be missed and there is a lot of pressure on a very young new leader in Jason Holder.  Sunil Narine who was recently banned for a suspect action and as a recent, withdrew from the tournament to continue remedial work is also a massive loss.  Darren Sammy is probably still the spiritual leader of this team and Chris Gayle is their Talisman but they are a team of just a few individual stars who occasionally shine and the rest are newcomers or have average ability.

Their bowling is very weak with both batting records recently broken for the fastest hundred being scored against the West Indies attack.  A resurgent West Indies would have done wonders for the entertainment value of world cricket as they are a lot of fans’ second team but sadly due to politics, they have let down fans everywhere.  Fans pay good money to see the best players play and the world cup is probably their biggest stage.  However, the West Indies cricket board are continually short changing their players and fans and they will have to defy the odds to perform well as a team. In their warm ups, they nearly lost to Scotland so will have to lift significantly to progress.

Strengths – Explosive, Talented, Individual Stars

Weaknesses – Fragile Batting, Bowling ill-disciplined, Lack of Support & Leadership

Players to Watch – Chris Gayle, Darren Sammy

Prediction – Knocked out

THE REST

Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Scotland, Ireland, Afghanistan & UAE make up the rest of the teams.  It is great to see the World Cup as an opportunity to encourage second tier cricketing nations and to grow this wonderful game.  They may not win many games but they will win plenty of fans, have plenty of memorable moments and possibly cause an upset.  Bangladesh and Zimbabwe are highly experienced at this level.  Scotland and Ireland also look to be arguably as strong.

Bangladesh & Scotland find themselves in a slightly tougher draw although Bangladesh have knocked out India back in 2007 and Scotland have impressed during their warm-ups.  Ireland and Zimbabwe have a realistic chance to knock over West Indies and cause up upset by qualifying for the quarter finals.  Who can forget Kenya making the semi finals in 2003.  Ireland’s Kevin O’Brien also blitzed the fastest ever world cup ton to upset England in 2011 and they also defeated Pakistan in 2007.

On a final note, just seeing Afghanistan at the world cup is incredible – a real triumph over adversity and they will be cheered by everyone.