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MARCUS HOOK'S WORLD CUP DIARY 2007 (PART ONE)

Monday 12th March: Opening ceremony
To be honest I didn't find the World Cup opening ceremony particularly inspiring. Was it me or did it appear on television as though somebody had forgotten to pay the electricity bill? I hope they aren't planning to have any day/night matches at Sabina Park. Much of the ground was shrouded in darkness. At one point I thought Paul Nixon was Darren Lehmann; which had me worried as I hadn't questioned Lehmann's inclusion in the Aussies' World Cup squad in my preview for the Oval World website. At least the dusky setting allowed us to see the fireworks in all their glory. Also, in keeping with the theme tune for this World Cup - the one that goes: "Life is a carnival" - it was nice to see an array of carnival costumes. But as for the speeches… I have never met Tony Cozier, so I don't know what the bloke's really like. He said all of the right things, but, as usual, he did not seem to be speaking with total conviction. And what of the cricketer's oath, read out by Brian Lara? I'm sure Lara will respect it, but l can think of a few characters who probably won't. It'll be interesting to see if this World Cup produces any villains. Finally, how can I get this Life Is A Carnival jingle out of my head? If it doesn't go soon I'll have to dig Nina's 99 Red Balloons out of my record collection.


The opening ceremony

Dwayne Smith celebrates capturing
the wicket of Mohammad Yousuf
 Tuesday 13th March: West Indies v Pakistan
The curtain raiser produced the result everyone, except Pakistan that is, seemed to be craving. After a slow start by the West Indies, Marlon Samuels confirmed his reputation as a clean hitter by making 63 in 70 deliveries. When he went, caught on the long-on boundary, Dwayne Smith smashed a vital 32 from just 15 balls. Smith followed that up by removing Mohammad Yousuf and then Inzamam-ul-Haq and Kamran Akmal in consecutive balls to finish with figures of 3-36. Dwayne Bravo also got in on the act by polishing the visitors off with three wickets of his own. Bob Woolmer cannot have been very pleased with Pakistan's performance, but I have to question the inclusion of Danish Kaneria in place of the suspended Shahid Afridi. Kaneria offers nothing with the bat and, with the ball, has no record to speak of in one-day cricket. Someone who does is Naved-ul-Hasan, but he was out of sorts today. That was hardly a surprise, however. Yesterday, I put money on him being the tournament's leading wicket-taker! I hope Mike Hussey, who I have backed to be the top run-scorer does better job of opening his account against Scotland tomorrow.
Wednesday 14th March: Australia v Scotland & Canada v Kenya
Scotland had the audacity to put the reigning World champions into bat today. It did not pay off, though. Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden put on 91 for the first wicket and Ricky Ponting recorded the first hundred of the tournament. It took the Aussie skipper just 85 balls and included four sixes. Mind you, he got a life on 23. Needless to say, Mike Hussey did not justify my financial investment, but his fellow Western Australian, Brad Hogg, made up for it by clubbing forty off 15 deliveries. Needing to make 335 to win, the Scots were reduced to 42-5 by Glenn McGrath. Other than Shaun Tait, all of Australia's bowlers prospered against the Scots, who were eventually dismissed for 131 with almost ten overs to go. In England's group, Kenya beat Canada in a game that will live as long in the memory as, no doubt, the edition of Relocation, Relocation that clashed with it on Channel 4. Away from the action, James Anderson broke the little finger on his bowling hand during today's fielding practise and is said to be a doubt for Friday's Group C clash with New Zealand.


Early joy for Dougie Brown, who
accounted for Gilchrist in his first
over. Unfortunately, Brown
finished with figures of 9-0-86-1

The Irish celebrate pulling off a tie
against Zimbabwe
 Thursday 15th March: Bermuda v Sri Lanka & Ireland v Zimbabwe
In my preview of Zimbabwe's World Cup chances I suggested that it would hardly be a surprise they were to slip up against Ireland. But with only 19 runs needed from 39 balls and five wickets in hand, the Zimbas appeared to be on course for certain victory. What a turn-up it was, therefore, that the game should end up a tie. Ireland began tentatively, slumping to 44-3 and then to 89-5, but thanks to an unbeaten 115 by Jeremy Bray, they gave their bowlers something to bowl at. Vusi Sibanda anchored the Zimbabwe innings and had he not trodden on his stumps in the 29th over, the eventual outcome could have been all together different. But the luck was with the Irish. Brendan Taylor was run out backing up and Gary Brent was a little unfortunate to be given leg before to one that appeared to be going down. Ultimately, though, the Zimbabweans bottled it. In today's other match Bermuda proved to be ideal warm-up fodder for Sri Lanka. Mahela Jayawardene cashed in by making 85 after being put down at slip first ball. Sri Lanka's skipper was also dropped at backward point shortly after reaching fifty. On both occasions, the portly Dwayne Leverock was the offending fieldsman. Bermuda's embarrassment carried through to their batting, which was well below par.
Friday 16th March: Netherlands v South Africa & England v New Zealand
An unbeaten fourth wicket partnership of 138 between Scott Styris and Jacob Oram handed England their tenth defeat in 13 World Cup matches against Test opposition today. Things were looking very healthy when Craig McMillan lofted Monty Panesar's second ball into the hands of Jamie Dalrymple at deep point. But from being 72 for four the Kiwis dug in. When Oram edged Plunkett through where a slip should have been posted in the 26th over and Kevin Pietersen dropped a regulation chance at short extra cover off Styris six overs later, I decided the game was as good as lost and turned over to watch Comic Relief. Looking on the positive side, it was encouraging so see Paul Nixon and Liam Plunkett put on a run-a-ball unbeaten 71 for England's eighth wicket. But if Nixon had gone early on, as he should have done, lbw to the bowling of Shane Bond, Plunkett would almost certainly have run out of partners and I would have been able to pick up Comic Relief from the start. In the other of today's matches, between South Africa and the Netherlands, Herschelle Gibbs belted six sixes in an over off the bowling of Daan van Bunge to enter the record books as the first batsman in history to hit six sixes in an over in one-day cricket. Needless to say the Proteas swept the Dutch aside with absolute ease. Between them, the South Africans clubbed the most sixes ever in a ODI innings to rack up 353 for three off forty overs, which proved to be 221 runs too many.


Herschelle Gibbs hits the fifth of his
six sixes off Daan van Bunge

William Porterfield and Niall O'Brien
during the highest partnership of
Ireland's contest with Pakistan - 47
for the third wicket
 Saturday 17th March: Bangladesh v India & Ireland v Pakistan
A day of real surprises. Having put money on India to win the World Cup, they now need to beat Sri Lanka on Friday to keep my investment alive. But the biggest surprise of all was Ireland's victory over Pakistan, which fittingly coincided with St Patrick's Day. If one were describe Pakistan's batting as cavalier it would be flattering. It was like the 1999 World Cup final all over again, as a procession of Pakistan batsmen came and went. It seemed as though the Pakistanis felt it didn't matter how badly they played, there was no way Ireland could possibly win. The rot began when Mohammad Yousuf chased a wide ball. Inzamam-ul-Haq tamely dabbed Andre Botha to slip, as did Imran Nazir. With the O'Brien brothers combining to dismiss Shoaib Malik, Pakistan were 72 for six. Kamran Akmal and Azhar Mahmood looked as if they might come to their side's rescue, but both were caught off lofted pulls. Not the sort of shots to be playing with twenty overs still to negotiate. The fulcrum of Ireland's reply was Niall O'Brien, who batted better than ever I can remember him doing for Kent. Azhar was unlucky not to have William Porterfield LBW, but the umpire was conned into giving Botha out caught at short leg off Mohammad Sami. It did not prove to be a talking point simply as Pakistan hadn't given themselves enough runs to play with. In the other game, Bangladesh's Mashrafe Mortaza took four wickets and then watched his batsmen chase down India's woeful 191 with nine balls to spare.
Sunday 18th March: Australia v Netherlands & Canada v England
Today's events were overshadowed by the news that Bob Woolmer, Pakistan's coach, was found unconscious in his hotel room and later died in hospital in Kingston, Jamaica. One can hardly believe he is no longer with us. After both of Pakistan's defeats in this World Cup he looked disappointed, but by no means apoplectic. By all accounts, however, he suffered a heart attack and is now dead at the age of just 58. The way England played today - they beat Canada, though hardly convincingly - it seems ever more likely that Duncan Fletcher is a man on his way out. Woolmer, who never fulfilled his promise as a Test player (due to him throwing his lot in with Packer and, after that, rebel tours of South Africa), was tipped to succeed Fletcher. Sadly, we will never know what heights he might have taken England to, particularly in one-day cricket. The other talking point today was the disciplinary action taken against Andrew Flintoff, who got into difficulties in a pedalo after first becoming somewhat tired and emotional. It's one thing to be drunk on an open-top bus, it's another thing to be three sheets to the wind alone on a pedalo on the sea. When I first heard about it, I was right behind Fletcher's decision to make an example Flintoff, even though other players also broke team rules. My only reservation was that England could afford to be without him for today's match, but the fact that Flintoff has also been stripped of the vice-captaincy tells us all where he stands in Fletcher's eyes. Meanwhile, Australia march on following their brutal dismantling of the Netherlands.


Paul Nixon and Paul Collingwood
congratulate one another after their
unbeaten stand of 34 off 14 balls to
round off the innings against Canada

The Zimbabwe players observing two
minutes silence, in memory of Bob
Woolmer, prior to their match against
the West Indies 		 Monday 19th March: Bermuda v India & West Indies v Zimbabwe
India did what was required against Bermuda today - firstly by posting the highest total in World Cup history and then registering the competition's biggest ever winning margin. A big win was crucial, because, assuming they beat Sri Lanka on Friday, things in Group B could well come down to net run rate. In the day's other contest, the West Indies overcame Zimbabwe with 13 balls to spare. The way Jerome Taylor and Daren Powell ran in with the new ball, it's no wonder that Ian Bradshaw can't get a look in for the West Indies. Given the quality of the opposition, it seemed as if Brian Lara opted to give Marlon Samuels an opportunity to show what he could do with the ball. On today's showing, however, Samuels still appears to be a potential weak link. The highlight of the hosts' response was Chris Gayle launching successive sixes off the first three balls of the fourteenth over. Unfortunately he could not repeat Herschelle Gibbs's exploits; but the way Tawanda Mupariwa brought things back with his last three balls was quite impressive. He and Sean Williams did enough today to suggest that the future of Zimbabwe cricket is not as bleak as it might otherwise seem. In Woolmer's absence, the wheels appear to be coming off the Pakistan machine. Inzamam announced his retirement from one-day cricket (though I don't know why he warranted the attention of three bodyguard-looking types as he got into the lift after the press conference). In addition, the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Naseem Ashraf and the national team selection committee also tendered their resignations in the wake of their country's shock defeat to Ireland.

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