The Cricket world cup starts now

The never-ending tournament is about to get interesting for the Black Caps. The first game, back on March 13 seems like ages ago. In that space of time we’ve had a ton of cricket, none of which I deemed worthy of getting out of bed for.

I love upsets, so it was fantastic to see Bangladesh and Ireland/Australia C taking a few big scalps. As far as New Zealand is concerned, it’s been matches against England and the West Indies and assorted minnows. A long month indeed.

Our run into the semi finals sees us taking on Sri Lanka, then South Africa, then the Aussies. It is not outside the realms of probability that we can lose all these matches and head home with nothing.

However the team seems confident in their planning and know what they need to do. This has been many months in the planning, so most scenarios will be catered for. For example as the pitches get worse, taking two spinners is proving to be wise.

The form shown by players in the Chappell Hadlee series has been maintained, despite the continual injuries we suffer.

I can’t say with confidence that we will win it. I know we can win it, but doing it is another matter. In theory Australia should take home the cup. They know what to do in the big games – it’s second nature to them. While they have the batting lineup from hell, it’s Ponting and his captaincy that makes the real difference. So for them not to win would be huge.

I’d love to see us taking on Aussie in the final, especially if we win it. It would be a dream to see Bondy take out Hayden and Gilly with his unplayable yorker. . . . . .

Darn it all, I’m getting carried away.

First note to self: Stay rational; remember that the chances of us winning it are small. Australia and then Sri Lanka are the favourites.

Second note to self: They won the Chappell Hadlee, they can win this as well – have some faith for pity’s sake!

Third note to self: Dude, get of this emotional roller coaster, it’s tearing you up. And stop having conversations with friends who want to see Ricky Ponting fending off a Shane Bond delivery aimed for this throat, straight into the arms of Fleming.