Play starts at 1330 GMT

The ground has been changed from the abandoned test match one at sabrina park. The capacity has been increased and I think the ground has been relayed several times in the past few years.
Sabrina park was where a certain BC Lara scored 365 not out V England.

Squads (from cricinfo)

West Indies (likely) 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 3 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 4 Brian Lara (capt), 5 Marlon Samuels, 6 Dwayne Bravo, 7 Dwayne Smith, 8 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 9 Ian Bradshaw, 10 Jerome Taylor, 11 Corey Collymore.

Pakistan (likely) 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Imran Nazir, 3 Younis Khan, 4 Mohammad Yousuf, 5 Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), 6 Shoaib Malik, 7 Kamran Akmal (wk), 8 Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, 9 Yasir Arafat, 10 Mohammad Sami, 11 Umar Gul.

Weather

http://weather.yahoo.com/forecast/JMXX0002.html

Looks like a cloudy but mainly dry game, very humid so perhaps the ball will seam around.

I feel like a kid getting all excited at the prospect....

Post your thoughts, ideas, score updates and so on here

We are excited too, but let us get a few things straight. First off, it is Sabina Park and not 'Sabrina'. It was Sir Gary Sobers who scored 365 not out there in 1958 and it was against Pakistan not England. Brian Lara overtook it in 1994 at Antigua by scoring 375 against England and he was then out.

Its Sabrina the teenage witch.....


I stand corrected!

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I have a dream.... (Martin Luther King)

I'm really can't wait to get home and watch the first game...a fine performance (reflective of old) by the West Indies will kick off the World Cup with style. They have the talent, its just matter of them putting their hand up.

Good Luck West Indies!!

What have the press over that side been saying about the 'pitches'? Are there any fears that the pitches won't suit the home team??

Oops! Sorry, Jenko, but there's another point to correct: play starts at 1430GMT, not 1330, at least according to Cricinfo.

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Money won't buy you friends. But it gets you a better class of enemy.
Spike Milligan

Thats where the match is. I believe West Indies has the edge. Lets see what happens.

So, finally the world cup has started

Well, unlike a lot of people I think the west indies have a real chance this time around, ok they are inconsistant but they have plenty of potential match winners. Gayle, Lara, Chanderapaul, Bravo, Powell, Taylor

Ok not the greats of the past but if they fire, they have the potential.

It shows how long it's been since I posted on these forums..


My apologies for the errors.

__________________
I have a dream.... (Martin Luther King)

Well, We are about to begin. Having looked at the 2 sides, with Pakistan bowling first, I have to put my money on Pakistan. I think that this will be a good game. A key battle IMO is Gul vs the West Indies openers. If Gul removes 1 or both of them early, West Indies might struggle. WI have potential in the middle order but we have seen their middle order collapse far too often. The openers are key here.

I am really disappointed to see Rana start for Pakistan. He has been awful recently and surely Sami could have started. Perhaps Naved can prove me wrong. I just hope that he does not take the new ball, cause Gayle will have him for breakfast.

Let the games begin. Mr Nutt. Where are you. Come and support your team

Rana's bowling is getting plaudits... not least because he's confronted with a 7-2 field.

Low points of the World Cup to date (that will take some beating): Kaneria gifting four overthrows with a bizarre lob over the 'keepers head and Sarwan's imitation of Courtney Walsh's batting as he tried to play himself in.

ps. early entry for "drop of the tournament" from Younis Khan....