The funny thing is they are getting thrashed by sides who you wouldn't think are capable of winning the World Cup so what would happen if they met a top side?

As for Johnson,if it don't swing he is a pie thrower.

Also the Aussies obsession with picking an unfit Watson is as ridiculous as England playing Giles in the first 2 tests.

From what I've seen in the last few months, any of the test nation sides (bar Zimbabwe and Bangaladesh) are capable of wining this World Cup.

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http://www.myspace.com/the_world_championship

It was a good evening down the Westpac, although the wind was characteristically strong for Wellington!!

The funniest point in the game was during the interval when they lined up a couple of motorcyclists to do some Evel Knievel style stunts. After taking 45 minutes to set the whole thing up, one motorcyclist stacked it (he was fine though) and they had to cancel the show!! Very amusing!

Some awful cricket from Australia tonight - and some brilliant batting from New Zealand considering the tough batting conditions. Lou Vincent's average over the past 5 games must be very impressive.

However, this does NOT mean the wheels have come off the Aussie challenge for the World Cup - though Gilly may have to seriously consider whether he can afford to miss the first couple of games for the birth of his kid. Tough decision for him to make!

Two matches to go in the series.If New Zealand win one of them,South Africa will be the placed 1st in the ICC rankings

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Karthik Venkatesan

What we have seen in the last few months is that Australia's second string is clearly the weakest it's been for years (when one remember how good the A team was in the World Series cup back in the 90s). They simply do not have the reserve bowlers of the standard of Reifell and Fleming anymore. Martyn, who has now gone, covered up the bad displays in the Champions trophy and Hussey has bailed them out in the recent tri-nations thing.

Australia may well still win the world cup, and for me they ARE favourites, but come the next one Australia could be pretty well down the list.

It could be interesting if both Lee and Symonds fail to recover. This Aussie side was missing a few key players and look at what happened. England played for much of the CB Series missing as many key players and the Aussies laughed when we got hammered.

Similar things were said about Australia's dad's army leading into the Ashes, but those thoughts also proved a false hope.
4 years is a long time. You may wish to question Australia's depth fair enough, but considering the depth of the other 7 nations, Australia are fairly well placed in the big scheme of things.

Who ever said England and New Zealand are incapabable of winning the world cup? Certainly no-none who has an understanding of the cut-throat nature of ODI's. Often, the mere toss of the coin decides who wins.

Yes we all saw what happened when Panasar came into the test side - England copped a worse flogging. Out of the 4 or 5 first class games and three tests Panasar played in Australia, he has one solitary good game. England would have performed far better had Giles been retained.

Good. It would be nice for someone else to hold the poisoned chalice of being favorites for a change.

You stated that in the past tense - we are still laughing at 5-0 Flintoff and co. But you are right about Symonds and Lee situation being interesting. It opens some doors for other players - most importantly Clark (hopefully) being brought back into the side as a replacement for Lee

Damn straight. Write off any of the top eight nations at your peril - they all contain some damn fine players. It all boils down to which team peaks (and has some luck) at the right time. The results of the last month will not mean a hell of a lot in two months time when the WC knock-out rounds begin

New Zealand proved today what a good team they have. While one could say they were lucky not to have batted first, the wicket was still favorable for bowlers when the Aussies came on to bowl, and the fact we failed to get a single wicket highlighted how much better the Kiwis were on the day.