Ok I know there are some serious cricket fans at TPG - especially from Ireland.  So what are your predictions for the upcoming World Cup about to start in the Caribbean?

How awesome would it be travelling from island to island watching the matches?  Heaven on a stick.

Australia the reigning WC have been whipped in straight games by England, before going to New Zealand and being caned 3-0 in a series there.  They're also injury ravaged with their best 4 players injured - Hayden, Ponting, Lee, Symonds.  So rightfully the Aussies will assume some underdog status.

Given that, who is likely to step up and take the crown?

I never write Australia off, and they'll be my tip.  But if they don't win, I'm backing Pakistan to surprise a few people and win the Cup in a final against South Africa.  New Zealand and England have the cattle, but lack the mental game to go all the way imho.  Kiwis are classic chokers on big occasions, whereas they thrive in nothing games.  England are easy to rattle mentally, as just underneath the surface they have a core loser mentality where they expect to lose, get their heads down early, and don't play at their potential often enough.

It'd be cool to see the Windies win, but that's fairytale stuff - they just don't have the talent at the moment.  India are just tragic away from home. 

Canada?  Ireland?  Bangladesh?  Good to have them participating, but obviously no chance.  Unlike soccer where the scores are low and anything can happen, the better sides in cricket do win through, and these minnows won't trouble the scorer.

Bring it on though - looking forward to the carnival!!

Oh COME ON!!!!

Are there NO Irishmen at TPG at all???

For those who live in caves, Ireland - a nation of non-cricketers, sent in their team of part-timers on Saturday and defeated one of the world cricketing superpowers and hot tips for the World Cup trophy - Pakistan!!

Oh it was just brilliant - amazing - insert other appropriate descriptions here - but the luck of the Irish was in.  We Aussies love the Irish, and have fairly little regard for Pakistan, so very pleased with this result.

The effigy burning has already begun, the South African coach of the team died of unknown causes the next day, and if I were a member of the Paki side, I'd be extending my stay in the Carribean!  Previous world cups have seen houses burnt down and all sorts of rioting when the Paki team has lost.  (and they call it a gentleman's sport!)

Ok I'll indulge you! I never watched the match cos generally cricket bores the life outta me but I'm sure it was exciting to watch. Feel bad that our victory was overshadowed by the death of their coach, guess he took it real bad.

Can't wait for the rugby world cup, the current Irish team is the best ever and should do well. Hopefully we draw the aussies, I hear your team is a right mess at the mo!

Well what everyone suspected has now come to light - the death of the Paki coach is being treated as suspicious, and all current players have to stay in the WI to help with the investigation!

Yes - rugby's more my game too.  Ireland have been doing really well lately...and the Wallabies are at about their lowest point.  Still, the last WC the Aussie team beforehand was dismissed as awful and also-rans...and yet managed to get to the GF, ties the scores at the end, before the one-man team kicked a field goal.  Hopefully the Wallabies can somehow surprised us again and come up with a reasonable performance.

Hey cybacat, guess this cricket ain't so bad after all!

Match fixing, Murder, players getting piss drunk and 'shaming' their nation...all the furore over freddie flintoff's drinking exploits must have had you hard-drinking aussies laughing into your tinnies ;-)

One day cricket is much more accessible for us jonny-come-lately's. Just watching Ireland get taught a lesson by the Windies here... fuck it we're through to the last 8 anyway

Reckon I have a good grasp of the rules, but I checked wikipedia to find out how the 'super 8' works, look what I found :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_8_%28round%29

'Super 8 is the second round of the Cricket World Cup tournament. The top 2 teams from each group, in the group stage, advance to the super 8 and carry their points forward from previous match against the team advancing alongside them. The "super 8" teams play the 6 other teams that advanced from the other groups. The top four teams from the "Super 8" stage progress to the semi-finals. each team will be fitted with strap ons and forced to bugger each other to the death in the event of a draw!!! '

gotta love the wags on wikipedia :-)

LetsRoque

Yes it was hardly a surprise that the cops have found the guy was murdered.  Just a matter of who.  I mean the team comes from a country of terrorists, so take your pick I guess...

...all the furore over freddie flintoff's drinking exploits must have had you hard-drinking aussies laughing into your tinnies ;-)

Freddie would make a good Aussie, although it seems he can't hold his drink.  Half a tinnie of light beer and he's fallen out of his paddleboat! 

One day cricket is much more accessible for us jonny-come-lately's. Just watching Ireland get taught a lesson by the Windies here... fuck it we're through to the last 8 anyway

Yep that's bloody brilliant seeing Ireland through, and Pakistan out.  Very disappointed to see India not make it through though - half a billion fans just reached for their remotes and turned the World Cup off...

Yeah the Wickipedia is fairly accurate about the World Cup, but I think they must've cut and pasted the last bit from the soccer (aka "football") World Cup. 

Okay, so some of you lads like soccer.  Or "football" as it is sometimes quaintly referred to although we all really know football is what they play during the game that bookends events like Prince or Justin Timberlake performing. 

But do you soccer fans have to get so out of control?  It is a curiosity.  Is the expression of male violence a need somewhat like the human need to have some level of supernatural belief permeate the daily mundane?  Is there anything to the argument that if your countrymen tend not to be warriors in the traditional sense, is it more likely you'll be ripping out one another's eyeballs in "football" stadiums?  

Over here sports fans tend to get rowdy when they WIN but it's the drunken levity of over-turning a car or two possibly accompanied by mobs of fans converging on city streets.  The players in some of our various sports may FIGHT -- hockey, football, basketball, or baseball -- but rarely is the brawl taking place in the arena. 

I just don't get it.  Care to explain???

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

Two points, Susan.

1) This thread is actually about cricket.

2) Tottenham are scum. But having said that, I express my solidarity by blaming the police anyway, particularly the ones in Rome.

And a third point...

3) At least no one was murdered like in this year's Cricket World Cup.  Now that's proper violence!

Picky, picky, Andrew!  Soccer-futbol-cricket.  Balls-balls-balls.  There's really no difference.

Susan 

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

I blame the English for being universally disliked!  *High fives cybacat*

The Italians are a bit crazy too. There is a fascist element of the Rome teams' (Lazio & Roma) supporters called 'The Ultras'. Genesis of the name probably coming from the ultra right wing political viewpoints and general violent behaviour. They are surprisingly influential in Italian football. For instance, some of their 'representatives' are known to go to midweek training and say stuff to certain players like ' ok you're crap, you won't play this sunday'. When Sunday comes, Signore Greasino Italiano este en 'gardino leavio'.

The police are fearful of them too, this is why the police were on the Manchester Utd side of the divide during the Utd v Roma game and therefore the reason why the Utd supporters were feeling the sore end of the police truncheons. In European ties the Italian Police always position themselves on the side of the opposition supporters, leaving the ultras free to taunt and throw missiles at the opposing fans. They are just too afraid to beat their own as presumably they have to live and work beside these nutters! 

Personally, being Irish and an Arsenal FC fan, I took a little joy in watching Man U & Tottenham supporters getting beat up and down the stadium by the respective Italian & Spanish cops ;-)

Well, it's a good thing no one has ever accused the Irish of being a tad wacky! Tee hee.  Geez, James, talk about Italo-phobic!

My niece was dating an Irish guy a couple years back. While home for Thanksgiving, she was telling me about him. He lived in Boston, wanted to become a cop and she liked him very much. She was a college sophomore at the time getting her degree in finance/business. I said to her, "Well, I hope he doesn't have the 'Irish curse.' She said, 'No, he doesn't. He's got a big penis.' WHAT? I had to explain to her what I meant by the Irish Curse -- alcoholism. And then to ask her how she would know anything about the size of his anatomy. The term Irish Curse has never had the same meaning to me since.

Then I looked it up and find we were both right. Sort of.

Irish Curse: also known as "The Whisky Dick", the Irish Curse is the inability to maintain an erection due to excessive consumption of alcohol.

What this has to do with the World Cup 2007, I have no real idea. But I'll just betcha there is some kind of arcane connection to be made.  Let's not forget that there is no parallel terminology for Italian stallions.

Susan

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

lol I forgot Raymond is Italian. And he was  so nice to me today . Sorry Raymond, Italians, Yanks, French, Brits & Aussies all get the same letsroque treatment!

So, the Irish curse. Can't say that i've ever had an issue at any point in my sex career! The Irish cricket team to have a certain impotency right now, but then again, the team is full of Australians!

When they gloriously beat the giants of Pakistan they were Irish, now that they are bottom of the super-8 table they're limp dick Aussies :-)

I think the English proved tonight just who has the limpest dicks.

I'm now officialy supporting the All Blacks for the remainder of this World Cup.

"When they gloriously beat the giants of Pakistan they were Irish, now that they are bottom of the super-8 table they're limp dick Aussies "

I wish I could say that I didn't see that coming...

Nah, the Aussie F-side, aka "Ireland" performed amazingly at the WC, stunning just about everyone.

Pre-world cup I had the Pakis as my hot tip to win it...so that's in line with my usual tipping prowess.

Where to from here?  It looks to me like a trans-Tasman clash in the Grand Final...but the kiwis(Black Caps) could be done by Sri Lanka before then.  Obviously I want Australia to win, but mainly because it'd be a fitting send-off for Glen McGrath, the most successful World Cup bowler ever.  I admire the kiwis though - they box well above their weight.

So long as it's not England(the eternal enemy) or Sri Lanka (for their abject cheating continuing to play their chucker), I'll be happy!!