I went for Australia as you can't leave them out despite their awful recent form,West Indies as they have matchwinners and are at home and England as they appear to have peaked at the right time though to be honest i could have picked another 3 or 4 if i had been allowed.

I agree that SA are a strong team, I was no way criticising them - just wondered how Rachael almost expected them to with the WC - I found strange.

Good point - but the same applies if Vaughan plays - I think the one player who turned Englands fortunes in the ODIs in Australia "Loye" will also feel hard done by, I think without him being able to stick around in the final games, England would have lost that series.
Never mentioned Flintoff - but even most England supporters have written England off even before a ball is bowled, I am not doing that, but at least I gave my reasons.
And that's true - the England batting has been poor for some while, but look at the pounding the Aussie and New Zealand bowlers took from the batsmen - I have little faith in the England batting but if Pietersen clicks, then IMO England have the bowlers to defend a total.

Fair point - I was not rating Pakistan above South Africa, my vote was a reminder that on their day - they can play one day cricket - so can Sri Lanka.

I said in my post I think this is the most open world Cup yet, would you bet against Sri Lanka on a day?.

I never said South Africa could not play on a slow pitch, I also don't rate Dalrymple or Hogg that high - thus far.
Well I have made no comments about South Africa - or negative comments about any side, I have posted possitive comments about England - someone has to.

Australia are the favourites - that was the point of my post - but by no means certain.

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Ern

Yes, but unlike 'KP', Vaughn is very much a home grown product and does not try to impose his personality on the team beyond his duties as the captain. I am sorry to keep harping back to the same topic, but you only have to look at many of the posts on this thread, elsewhere on these forums and just about anywhere else to see that everyone who gives England the slightest chance of lifting this World Cup, does so because "KP is back". He may be a good batsman, but that ethos in manifestly unfair to rest of the team.....who managed very well without him in the past few ODIs played. Oh don't say that it is not KPs fault that the media idolise him - he takes full advantage of that pseudo-glory and more. KP is not like Allan Lamb, Robin Smith or any of the other 'outsiders' who played for England before.; those guys knew their place and tried to integrate as one of the team. KP struts about like a ganglord as though he is doing rest of the team a favour by just being there; no player, however good, should be allowed to get away with that attitude. Sydney Barnes was probably the greatest bowler of all time and yet he was dropped for more tests than he played in his time because of his abrasive manner; at least Barnes was born in England.

Class, form and experience: just look at who is in the first XI....

Shaun Pollock: 274 ODIs, Current World No 1 ODI bowler, handly (for top 40) batsman.

Jacques Kallis: 247 ODIs, Former World No 1 ODI bat (now 18), former No 15 bowler (now 36).

Mark Boucher: 233 ODIs, Adequate 'keeper, World No 26 ODI Bat (poised to overtake Hayden, Fleming and Collingwood).

Herschelle Gibbs: 198 ODIs, Former World No 5 bat (now 19), awesome fielder.

Makhaya Ntini: 144 ODIs, Current World No 3 ODI bowler,

Graeme Smith: 104 ODIs, Former World No 2 ODI bat (now 9), handy bowler.

Andrew Hall: 76 ODIs, Former World No 16 ODI bowler (now 18), handy (former top 50) batsman.

Justin Kemp: 69 ODIs, top 40 bat, handy bowler.

Andre Nel: 56 ODIs, consistent World Top 20 bowler.

Dippenaar and De Villiers are also experienced top ODI 40 batsmen!

Pollock has been the best bowler in the world in both Tests and ODIs. Ntini has been outstanding. In Nel, Hall and Kallis and Smith they have awesome support - SA has surely got the best seam attack in the World Cup. The batting stacks up as well: stacks of experience, astonishing depth and more big hitting than ANY other side in the competition (no team has the depth of slogging offered by Smith, Gibbs, Boucher, Kemp and Pollock!

Now factor in the form: SA have recently destroyed Pakistan (3-1) and India (4-0) - they are on a roll!

Ok yes Australia lost five in a row, but there form through most of the commonwealth bank series was excellent. The took a half strenght side to New Zealand and were still able to be competative.

In the com bank series they won 7 out of 10 matches, England won 4 out of 10 matches and New Zealand won 2 out of 8 matches. Australia's five game losing streak started the game Symonds injured himself and it was helped along with White being dropped for Watson who was injured and had not played any cricket apart from one domestic match before playing in the finals and they experimented with Hogg who had only played one game in the series before the finals as well. It will be an interesting world cup probally the closest we have seen in a long time.

Racheal I dont know if South Africa really have the batsman to win the world cup, they have a two top class bowlers but there batting is not in the same class as Australia and India or even Sri Lanka. I dont think that South Africas hitting power is as good as Australia's, Australia still has the best batting line up in the world.

Well lets do this with Australia.

Gilchrist - Ex No.1 ranked batsman, currently No.10
Hayden - Ex No.1 ranked batsman, currently No.23
Ponting - Ex No.1 ODI ranked batsman, currently No.3
Clarke - Currenly ranked 15th in the world but his best is No.4
Symonds - Allrounder Currently No.6 ranked batsman in the world, Highest ranking of 3rd
Hussey - Currently the number 1 ODI ranked batsman in the world
White - Has only played a hand full of games ranked 127th. But his records in twenty/20 show his talent.
Johnson - New to international cricket, Currently ranked 57th, his best was 56th
Bracken - Currently ranked 8th in the world, his best was 3rd in the world.
Clark - Has only played a handful of games, Currently 46th in the world, his best has been 33rd
McGrath - Ex No.1 ranked batsman, currently No.2 in the world

Injured - Lee - Ex No.1 in the world currently 6th in the world.

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Bill Ponsford - The only one who could play in Bradman’s company and make it a duet.

This might seem so on paper, but I believe that SA have enough batting strength(as opposed to individual batsmen) to win this World Cup even if they leave out Ashwell Prince from the final XI.....which I believe they should. The make-up of the South African batting line-up at ODI level has been somewhat different from most others for the past decade. Guys like Boucher, Kemp, Pollock and Hall might not be 'specialist' batsmen in the conventional sense, bit they have enough combined batting talent between them to substantially contribute to the build-up of an ODI total. In fact, they have done; you must agree that the "late middle order" has rescued South African batting to the level of respctability or even better several times in the past few years after the main batsmen have failed. I think that is a strength and I for one believe that South Africa should play with their strength rather than compare themselves with other teams and worry about non-existent weaknesses.

Another thing; despite their record-breaking '438' win, I still believe that SA are better at setting a biggish ODI target and then trying to bowl out the opposition with their strong bowling. I don't think they are 'natural' chasers.

England will win

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Don't You think that bermuda have less chance to win a world Cup 2007?

Don't you think that England might have less chance to win worldcup 2007? According to statistics, South Africa was rated as 1st postion & England was rated as 7th position in ICC ODI championship?

Although both these teams lost yesterday, there is a difference. The England team do not look like potential World Cup winners; in fact on the bakance of probabilities, there seems to be a greater chance of England getting knocked out early than winning the cup. South Africa on the other hand, look like a good team not yet adjusted to the local conditions, which seem to be suiting the subcontinental teams. But I still think that SA will make the necessary adjustment and go on to win.