Best ODI tourney since '03 WC?

[brackenNY]

It's been so competitive and full of excitement. Strong teams that fancied their chances are out first round (SL, SA and India).

Some highlights already...

Smith's lionheart innings v. England
Pakistan v. India
Pak v. Aus last ball thriller
Owais Shah of all people blasting England through the semis (don't forget Morgan)

 

[Matt79]

So far. Although as an Aussie fan, I quite enjoyed the 07 WC.

 

[Glacier]

So far. Although as an Aussie fan, I quite enjoyed the 07 WC.

How? OK, a World Cups a World Cup but it was one of the most tedious, anticlimactic tournaments in history. Not to mention the low crowds turnout and how one sided most of the games were. The only thing memorable about the tournament was Gilchrist's innings.

 

[Uppercut]

Missing a bit of

for me.

 

[GIMH]

Haven't got the channels at the minute but have watched plenty at my mum's and stuff, it's been good. Stand by everything I said about ODIs and England reaching the semis doesn't change that, but I'm glad the format has come back strongly here. The fact that the CT is much-maligned but the last two have been far superior to the WC that they sandwiched says something, though I'm not sure what.

 

[Uppercut]

Far superior to the World Cup? I think nat!

 

[GIMH]

Obviously you preferred it, and understandably so. But in terms of the quality of match, definitely.

And note, you should well know that I am not one of these people who thinks India and Pakistan's early exists 'ruined' the tournament, I just think it was bloated and boring.

 

[Uppercut]

Pfft. If you don't watch major tournaments to see Ireland knock out major cricketing nations then what DO you watch them for!

Actually, the '07 WC really got me more into cricket. Not necessarily because it was good or anything, it was just all that cricket in so short a space of time. I knew it was dull cricket but didn't care.

 

[Matt79]

How? OK, a World Cups a World Cup but it was one of the most tedious, anticlimactic tournaments in history. Not to mention the low crowds turnout and how one sided most of the games were. The only thing memorable about the tournament was Gilchrist's innings.

We won every match

 

[GIMH]

You lie! I distinctly remember that when England played Kenya, Australia didn't win.

Think England just about won that one.

 

[thierry henry]

tbh I thought both the '03 and '07 World Cups were much maligned, but the '07 Cup was actually better?

1999 was the last ODI tourney universally regarded as awesome afaik

 

[aussie]

tbh I thought both the '03 and '07 World Cups were much maligned, but the '07 Cup was actually better?

1999 was the last ODI tourney universally regarded as awesome afaik

Indeed. Although i would say the first T20 WC & CT 2000 & 2004 where pretty good as well.

 

[four_or_six]

This one has been good, but I enjoyed the 2006 Champions Trophy too.

 

[_Ed_]

2004 Champions Trophy is my favourite since the 2003 WC.

This and the 2006 CT have been pretty good too though.

 

[thierry henry]

I still think people are unduly harsh on the 2007 World Cup.

The aim was to get the best 8 teams to play a round-robin, kinda like the awesome 1992 World Cup, and a more simple system (in theory) than the Super Six.

The upsets by Ireland and Bangladesh were fantastic (imo) but (in some people's eyes) killed the Super 8s by making a lot of the games easy wins over the minnows. The fact Bangladesh also beat South Africa seems to be glossed over too easily though.

Even the final was on target to be a really good, high-scoring game, until the weather struck.

I really think that external factors ruined the tournament- Bob Woolmer's death giving everything a creepy, surreal feel, the weather and light ruining the final, and of course ticket prices (as far as I could tell) bringing down the crowds and killing the atmosphere. I think if you looked at what actually happened purely in terms of the cricket played there was heaps of amazing stuff.

 

[pasag]

I still think people are unduly harsh on the 2007 World Cup.

The aim was to get the best 8 teams to play a round-robin, kinda like the awesome 1992 World Cup, and a more simple system (in theory) than the Super Six.

The upsets by Ireland and Bangladesh were fantastic (imo) but (in some people's eyes) killed the Super 8s by making a lot of the games easy wins over the minnows. The fact Bangladesh also beat South Africa seems to be glossed over too easily though.

Even the final was on target to be a really good, high-scoring game, until the weather struck.

I really think that external factors ruined the tournament- Bob Woolmer's death giving everything a creepy, surreal feel, the weather and light ruining the final, and of course ticket prices (as far as I could tell) bringing down the crowds and killing the atmosphere. I think if you looked at what actually happened purely in terms of the cricket played there was heaps of amazing stuff.

Main problem was it went on for 6 months.

 

[thierry henry]

Main problem was it went on for 6 months.

See, I don't think so.

It went on slightly longer than normal but the cricket world cup has always been a fairly lengthy tournament (well, from the 1990s onwards it certainly has, dunno about before that).

In the 1992 World Cup 9 teams played 8 games each- that's more like a season than a tournament. But everyone loved that.

 

[silentstriker]

Well, choosing between ODI tourneys....

But in seriousness, if we had more pitches with low scores like some of these games, ODIs might actually hold a passable interest for me. Really happy with the low scoring games so far. I haven't been following the tourney, but I do pop into the cricinfo commentary time to time, and when the teams are chasing a small contest, I tend to stick around for a while.

 

[pasag]

See, I don't think so.

It went on slightly longer than normal but the cricket world cup has always been a fairly lengthy tournament (well, from the 1990s onwards it certainly has, dunno about before that).

In the 1992 World Cup 9 teams played 8 games each- that's more like a season than a tournament. But everyone loved that.

Nah, it really felt like a long, long time. I agree with you that whilst it had its issues it's much maligned, but it really needs to be trimmed, time wise.

 

[pup11]

Nah, it really felt like a long, long time. I agree with you that whilst it had its issues it's much maligned, but it really needs to be trimmed, time wise.

Yeah, the scheduling and the ambience of the 2007 WC sucked, and two big teams like India and Pakistan getting knocked over in the 1st round also played a big role in making the whole thing looking stale, fortunately the ICC seems to have learned from their mistake, and have made the schedule of the 2011 WC a lot more compact.