Who will be World Cup Cricket Champion?
WHAT THE PEOPLE SAY
ABOUT
The Cricket World Cup series is due to begin in England on Friday. Nine test playing nations plus Kenya, Scotland and Bangladesh will battle it out on the cricket fields. The test playing nations are the West Indies, England, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. This week, we ask the man/woman-in-the-street to give their predictions as to who will be the four semi-finalists and the eventual winner. Their predictions follow: Bernard Rodrigues - unemployed: `South Africa, West Indies, Sri Lanka - the defending champions and Pakistan will be the semi-finalists. Sri Lanka will not be bundled out early as some are saying. Sri Lanka has a tall batting line up and one of the fastest run rates in the world. They will not go out there to give up the championship without a fight. South Africa of late is an in form team. They are excellent in batting, bowling and fielding - all round performance. I have West Indies as a semi-finalist for patriotic reasons and Pakistan because I just like them. West Indies and South Africa will meet in the finals because they both have grudges against each other. That will be one of the motivating factors. Allan Donald and Brian Lara have personal grievances. Lara will go out there to put it on him. And as long as Lara leads from in front the team will follow.' Natasha Greaves - student: `West Indies, India, Australia and South Africa will be the semi-finalists. They are all strong teams with good one day sides. I think the competition will be highly competitive as is expected. Even though West Indies is my favourite side because it is my home team I do not have them as finalists. The finalists will be Australia and South Africa. They both have excellent team spirit and while I would prefer Australia to win, South Africa will edge them out in the finals.' Richard Duke: `I am not going against the West Indies. So I see them among the finalists and subsequently the winner. I see Pakistan, Australia and Sri Lanka as semi-finalists. South Africa may be a favourite but the team is surely not my favourite. As far as I am concerned South Africa will get knocked out early in the tournament. Allow me to say that Allan Donald who has been so outrageous in his crude remarks about West Indies Captain, Brian Lara, will be part of South Africa's downfall. His remarks were out of order. For the World Cup tournament, as a Guyanese, I will also miss Carl Hooper. I respect his wishes to retire and think it is honourable that he did it in the interest of giving a younger person a chance to perform. Of late, Hooper himself was not up to scratch.' Talim Latif - medical student: `I have the Windies as the winner. The recent resurgent performance of Brian Lara in the batting department will have a lot to say in the outcome. The calling back of one day specialists, (Keith) Arthurton and (Phillip) Simmonds gives the Windies a good chance as well. They have shown what they can do drawing the series here. We would have won outright in the one-dayers but we know what happened at Bourda recently. In the bowling department we have the veteran fast bowlers who can successfully manage together 20 tight overs and the 30 others being distributed. The other semi-finalists will be Australia, Pakistan and South Africa. West Indies will meet South Africa who are considered to be the favourites in the tournament. West Indies has something to regain after taking a thrashing from South Africa. West Indies knows what winning is, so this will be no surprise.' Carlos Simpson - self-employed: `The four semi-finalists will be Australia, South Africa, Pakistan and the West Indies. The ultimate winner will be the West Indies. Seasoned players like Simmonds, (Courtney) Walsh, (Curtly) Ambrose and Lara know the English conditions and will be valuable to the team. And in form, Lara will come around with a bang this time. Having lost to South Africa the West Indies cricketers will want to redeem themselves and will do so, much to South Africa's humiliation. West Indies is also beginning to play as a team. There are other good one-day sides. I like India and England so I would not be surprised if they make it to the semi-finals instead of some I have named. Even though Sri Lanka are the defending champions they will find themselves thrown out of the tournament early. Right now they are not even playing enough cricket.' Michael Narine - private sector employee: `The winner for me will be the West Indies. I never give up on them. They are a good team and now has a mix of experience, youth and raw talent. They will meet Australia in the finals and this time around they will prove that what did not happen in the Caribbean when we lost out at Bourda because of an over enthusiastic crowd, will happen at the World Cup tournament. The entire team will click. We are using a good man in the middle order and that is Ridley Jacobs, the wicket keeper. He is a consistent batsman and runs chaser. Arthurton and Simmonds will give good support in the bowling and batting department. The other semi-finalists will be Pakistan and South Africa.' Cecil Mangru - preacher/labourer: `I have West Indies as a semi-finalist and finalist. They are certain to beat South Africa in the finals this time around. West Indies has improved on its fielding which was a major cause of their failure in South Africa. Lara is now in form and he will come good. The team spirit which was lacking in South Africa is more evident and that will hold together the team to emerge victors. I don't have Australia as a semi-finalist as many might have predicted. My other semi-finalists are India and Pakistan.' Pearlene Morris - private sector employee: `West Indies will be the winner. It is not out of our grasp. I always have them as winners and I don't ever give up on them. the West Indies will meet defending champions Sri Lanka in the finals. Sri Lanka has good one day players and very high run rates. England may be underdogs but I have them to make it to the semi finals. I also have Australia as semi-finalists.' Rabindranauth Rampersaud - accountant: `The four semi-finalists will be South Africa, Australia, West Indies and Pakistan. The finalists will be Australia and South Africa. I would like West Indies to be a finalist and the eventual winner but the absence of Carl Hooper would be fatal to the team. Hooper understood English wet conditions and he was due to come off well in this tournament. Australia would defeat South Africa. Glen McGrath and Shane Warne who is beginning to see improvement from his surgery will be South Africa's downfall. In addition Australia's batting is effective down to the last.' Bishwanauth Dharmraj - sales representative: `West Indies, South Africa, Australia and Sri Lanka will be the semi-finalists. I favour West Indies to meet Sri Lanka in the finals and West Indies to emerge the champion. Our players have improved considerably from South Africa. The last test and one day series against Australia at home was the turning point and the proof of what the team is capable of. Australia is unofficially the cricket world champs and West Indies held them to a draw in both series. Had it not been for the Bourda debacle we know that we would have won the one-dayers outright. The West Indies will meet South Africa in the finals.'
|