We don't need a fancy title for this one.
So it's nearly here. The first World Cup not to feature any associate nations and the first not to include all the current Test playing nations. Just the ten coming - no Ireland and no Zimbabwe.
All ten teams play each other in a round robin (45 matches) and then it's into the semi final for the top four, so there are only three knockout matches (and no bronze medal match).
The round robin format will help the hosts England, whose approach to ODIs is to maximise the batting strength. This works on most occasions but can come unstuck against crafty attacks or on unpredictable pitches. But with nine matches, England will win enough to make the semi finals.
They've been batting very well against Pakistan in the current ODI series too. So far 16 players have been used so one of them will get a phone call in the next couple of days to tell him he's not going to play in the World Cup. The Guardian think that Curran or Willey will be cut, though Denly is a possibility if they want more choice of seamers.
I expect New Zealand to make the final four; they are a fantastic one day team. And then it should really be two from India, Australia and South Africa.
And it's a shame there isn't some kind of quarter final stage because in a one off game sides like Pakistan, West Indies, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka could do over any of those I've mentioned already, but in the round robin I expect they'll all take wins off each other rather than one of them making the final four. But obviously that would have required a completely different format with more teams (the only team that has not been mentioned yet is Afghanistan).
There are also ten warm up matches to be played between now and the end of the month, so that's two games each. These are not official ODIs as teams can utilise the whole squad rather than just an XI in them.
So it's nearly here. The first World Cup not to feature any associate nations and the first not to include all the current Test playing nations. Just the ten coming - no Ireland and no Zimbabwe.
All ten teams play each other in a round robin (45 matches) and then it's into the semi final for the top four, so there are only three knockout matches (and no bronze medal match).
The round robin format will help the hosts England, whose approach to ODIs is to maximise the batting strength. This works on most occasions but can come unstuck against crafty attacks or on unpredictable pitches. But with nine matches, England will win enough to make the semi finals.
They've been batting very well against Pakistan in the current ODI series too. So far 16 players have been used so one of them will get a phone call in the next couple of days to tell him he's not going to play in the World Cup. The Guardian think that Curran or Willey will be cut, though Denly is a possibility if they want more choice of seamers.
I expect New Zealand to make the final four; they are a fantastic one day team. And then it should really be two from India, Australia and South Africa.
And it's a shame there isn't some kind of quarter final stage because in a one off game sides like Pakistan, West Indies, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka could do over any of those I've mentioned already, but in the round robin I expect they'll all take wins off each other rather than one of them making the final four. But obviously that would have required a completely different format with more teams (the only team that has not been mentioned yet is Afghanistan).
There are also ten warm up matches to be played between now and the end of the month, so that's two games each. These are not official ODIs as teams can utilise the whole squad rather than just an XI in them.
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