The third largest sporting event in the world will be on display in the Caribbean from March to April. Cricket’s mega event will be played across nine Caribbean countries namely, Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana, Grenada, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, St. Lucia, Antigua & Barbuda and St. Kitts & Nevis. It will be the first time that an event of this magnitude will be on display in the Caribbean and cricket lovers across the world are looking forward to enjoy forty-eight days of competitive cricket, the Caribbean sunshine, culture and the warm hospitality of its people.
The tournament opening ceremony will be staged at the Greenfield Stadium in Trelawny, Jamaica, on March 11; while the first game bowls off March 13 at Jamaica’s cricketing Mecca, Sabina Park, between the hosts, West Indies against Pakistan. The final will conclude the event on April 28 in Barbados, at the Kensington Oval, one of the oldest cricket ground in the Caribbean.
Defending Champions
World champions and favourites Australia are looking to make it two successive world cup victories. Their recent form have seen them “whitewash” England in the Ashes series and their dominance in the tri nation series between England and New Zealand have been good and will look to maintain it during the competition. Captain Ricky Ponting is in immaculate form and is ready to lead his troops in defense of their title.
Host Nation
Hosts West Indies will be banking on their advantage of home soil to lift the cup for a third time. On their recent tour of India they lost the series 3-1 and are looking to make amends in the tournament. Windies star batsman, Brian Lara is depending on the likes of Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Dwayne Bravo and Marlon Samuels to make good contributions towards the team success in the competition.
Perennial contenders’, England, have recently concluded their tour of Australia where they lost the Ashes series 5 – 0 but they bounced back from their poor test match performance to beat their arch rivals 2 – 0 in the best of three ODI final in the CB cup. New Zealand also has been in good nick leading up to the world cup as well. They defeated Australia 3 – 0 in an ODI series in New Zealand. South Africa who is now the no. 1 ODI cricket team in the world has been showing good progress in their quest for winning the coveted title, as they defeated Pakistan in their build up to the world cup.
Asian Giants
The likes of India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan are the three giants of Asian cricket with Bangladesh improving as time progresses are looking to make spirited challenges for the cup. All teams have been making steady strides towards the cup, while Pakistan form has fluctuate but their prospects of making it to the second phase of the tournament is highly fancied by the analysts.
Minnows
Seven minnows have qualified for the 2007 version of the competition. They are namely Kenya, Zimbabwe, Netherlands, Ireland, Scotland, Canada and Bermuda. Kenya the more experience of all the minnows will be looking to repeat their 2003 performance by reaching the semi-finals. While the other minnow teams will be trying to improve their performance or even look to create upsets by defeating one of the more prominent teams in world cricket.
