England and India feel the agony and ecstasy in equal measure

20-24 June	INDIA 471 & 364 ENGLAND 465 & 373-5	ENGLAND won by five wickets	Headingley
2-6 July	INDIA 587 & 427-6 dec ENGLAND 407 & 271	INDIA won by 336 runs	Edgbaston
10-14 July	ENGLAND 387 & 192 INDIA 387 & 170	ENGLAND won by 22 runs	Lord's
23-27 July	INDIA 358 & 425-4 ENGLAND 669	DRAWN	Old Trafford
31-4 August	INDIA 224 & 396 ENGLAND 247 & 367	INDIA won by six runs	The Oval

INDIA pipped England by six runs to secure a 2-2 draw as an engrossing five-Test series concluded in thrilling fashion at the Oval. 

At 11:56am on the 25th day of cricket in the series out of a possible 25, player of the match Mohammed Siraj breached Gus Atkinson's defences - and the Indian fielders huddled together in joy as they celebrated their closest ever win in Tests. 

In fairness, across the seven weeks as a whole, a draw was a fair result - and both sides will be left to reflect on several spurned opportunities each. 

First, the ghosts of 2022 returned to haunt the tourists as England chased down an unlikely target of 371 to take the opening match at Headingley. 

Back in the early days of Bazball in July 2022, England chased 378 for the loss of only three wickets in a rearranged match against India at Edgbaston as Joe Root (142*) and Jonny Bairstow (114*) shared a glorious unbeaten stand of 269. 

This time, the damage was done at the top of the order as Zak Crawley (65) and Ben Duckett (149) set up the pursuit brilliantly before Root (53*) and wicketkeeper Jamie Smith (44*) finished things off. 

In the second Test at Edgbaston, though, the tourists made no mistake as their new captain Shubman Gill enjoyed something of a magnum opus. 

Gill headed into the series with an underwhelming average of 35.05 - but, having already scored 147 in the first innings at Lord's, the 25-year-old propelled his team to a comprehensive victory in Birmingham with 269 and 161. 

As such, Gill became the first player to record scores in excess of 250 and 150 in the same Test - as India made 587 and 427-6 declared to thrash England by the huge margin of 336 runs. 

Yet Stokes's men then responded brilliantly in a nerve-shredding third Test at Lord's where the teams were level on first innings and the sparks really began to fly. 

In a fascinating turn of events, India's innings ended at 6.14pm, shortly before the close of Day Three, leaving England openers Crawley and Duckett with around 10 minutes of batting during which they had very little to gain and their precious wicket to lose. 

And so we entered pantomime season. 

From the fifth ball of the England innings, delivered by Jasprit Bumrah, Crawley was hit on the glove and received treatment for long enough that only a measly single over was possible, much to the annoyance of the Indians. 

“Grow some f**king balls!” screamed skipper Gill to Crawley as the Kent man indulged in his delaying tactics. 

If anything, though, Crawley's time-wasting merely served to fire up the Indian bowlers on the following day as England struggled their way to a score of 192 - and fellow opener Duckett received an aggressive send-off from Siraj for which the seamer was fined 15% of his match fee. 

Notably, that was not Siraj's last contribution to this match as India then similarly struggled on a deteriorating Day Five pitch. 

At 112-8 on the stroke of lunch, the tourists were still 81 short of their target and England looked to have the win in the bag. 

Wily Ravindra Jadeja remained at the crease, however - and the 36-year-old expertly managed the strike with tail-enders Bumrah and then Siraj. 

But the prospect of the second new ball seemed to spook Jadeja into a change of tack with runs taking on a greater emphasis as the victory line moved ever closer.  

To be fair to him, Siraj largely batted well and did his job - until suddenly he didn't. 

Facing Shoaib Bashir, who was bowling his off-spin with a broken finger sustained while batting, Siraj looked to have made another safe block from the fifth ball of the 75th over. 

As the ball hit the pitch though, some wicked back-spin took it past the unsuspecting Siraj and clunked into leg stump, removing one of the bails to bring a decidedly odd end to a fantastic match. 

Elated England thus squeaked the win by 22 runs, regaining the lead in the series at 2-1 with two matches to play - and the hosts set about pressing home their advantage after winning the toss for the fourth time out of four at the start of the Test at Old Trafford. 

However, Manchester decided not to play ball - and a slow flat pitch produced a largely mind-numbing encounter as an aggregate of 1,452 runs were scored for the loss of 14 wickets in only the second draw out of 33 matches in the Bazball era. 

Old Trafford was also the venue for the first draw which arguably cost England their greatest Ashes series comeback of all time as typical Manchester rain intervened to wipe out almost two days of play. 

Notably, all six Lancashire matches at the ground in the County Championship have also ended in draws. 

Simply put, Old Trafford might not be able to do much about the rain - but, for all the tradition at the venue, it can also do so much better. 

There were still some notable moments as Root compiled a 38th century - fourth on the all-time list - and went second on the all-time list of Test run scorers. 

For the record, the Yorkshireman finished the series with 39 tons and 13,543 career Test runs, 2,378 behind legendary Indian record-holder Sachin Tendulkar. 

But perhaps the match will be most remembered for Jadeja rejecting Stokes's handshake on a draw as he approached a fifth Test century on a ridiculously placid surface. 

Now, normally Stokes can be generally considered to have good judgement on a cricket field - and, in this matter, he was only acting in line with the ingrained tradition that a captain offers his hand after deciding victory was no longer possible. 

At the same time, Jadeja and Washington Sundar were well within their rights to bat on, especially the latter given that the pitch pretty much guaranteed him a maiden Test century. 

Indeed, this was an incident rather blown out of all proportion - compared to the rather more questionable behaviour of the India coach Gautam Gambhir as he ended up in an unsavoury row with pitch curator Lee Fortis ahead of the fifth Test at the Oval. 

Then again, it was perhaps no surprise Gambhir wanted a closer look at the first proper green-top of the series - and, under the clouds, it was equally unsurprising that England opted to bowl after winning the toss yet again despite fielding a much-changed bowling attack. 

Over the course of the series, England selected no fewer than nine frontline bowlers with only Chris Woakes appearing in all five matches. 

Even he eventually ended up as a complete wreck after sustaining a suspected dislocated shoulder on the opening day at the Oval. 

So, while not exactly helped by such docile surfaces in a sun-baked summer, the English attack without James Anderson and Stuart Broad is a major cause for concern - especially ahead of an away Ashes series. 

Jofra Archer bowled well when called upon but remains largely wrapped up in cotton wool given his horrendous injury record. 

Meanwhile, the only other genuine 90mph bowler, Mark Wood, did not feature at all as he continues to recover from a crocked knee. 

As such, it was skipper Stokes, an all-rounder, who was often the most threatening England bowler - but, having taken on 35 overs in the fourth Test, he also ruled himself out of playing the finale. 

England missed him badly at the Oval - bowling erratically and fielding worse - though the hosts were understandably damaged by a further injury, this time to Woakes, as they were left effectively with just a three-man seam-only attack. 

Indeed, at 177-2 and 229-4 in their second innings, India had the chance to bat England out of the contest entirely - but, the improving Josh Tongue earned a second Test five-for as the visitors were dismissed for 396. 

The mouth-watering target for England was 374 - historically difficult but in exactly the same ballpark as the chase at Headingley and several others in the Bazball era. 

At lunch on Day Four, the hosts were rebuilding with Root and Harry Brook at 164-3 following another under-par second innings effort of 27 from stand-in captain Ollie Pope. 

Twin centurions Root and Brook extended their partnership to 195 as Siraj had another moment to forget after stepping on the boundary rope while catching Brook at fine leg. 

In keeping with the series though, India roared back as Brook lost control of his bat while holing out shortly before tea and the returning Jacob Bethell was bowled by Prasidh Krishna shortly after. 

However, before a heavy shower and bad light brought a premature close of play, India put themselves right back in with a chance as Root feathered behind with England still 37 runs short. 

Smith, Jamie Overton and Tongue offered only limited resistance on Day Five - and Woakes, with his arm in a sling under his whites, made his way tenderly to the crease to join Atkinson. 

Then, amazingly, India - on top at last - briefly lost their nerve as Atkinson slogged Siraj for six, then Woakes managed to get to the other end off the last ball for a bye to stay off strike. 

From the next over, bowled by Prasidh, Woakes somehow defied absolute agony to run two before another single off the last again kept Atkinson on strike with seven runs needed to win. 

But Siraj, who had an extraordinary series of ups and downs, was too good for his English counterpart - and, as the ball clattered into off-stump, the Indian's rollercoaster campaign finished on a big high with a fifth career five-for in Tests. 

It ensured, of course, that India matched their 2-2 series score from 2021-22 - while the last Ashes series also finished 2-2. 

So, while England certainly make a conscious effort not to play for draws, there is a frustrating irony in the fact that their three biggest home series since 2022 have all finished level.


CENTURIES
  INDIA 12-9 ENGLAND

269	Shubman Gill	India	Second Test, Edgbaston (1)
184*	Jamie Smith	England	Second Test, Edgbaston (2)
161	Shubman Gill	India	Second Test, Edgbaston (3)
158	Harry Brook	England	Second Test, Edgbaston (2)
150	Joe Root	England	Fourth Test, Old Trafford (2)
149	Ben Duckett	England	First Test, Headingley (4)
147	Shubman Gill	India	First Test, Headingley (1)
141	Ben Stokes	England	Fourth Test, Old Trafford (2)
137	KL Rahul	India	First Test, Headingley (3)
134	Rishabh Pant	India	First Test, Headingley (1)
118	Rishabh Pant	India	First Test, Headingley (3)
118	Yashasvi Jaiswal	India	Fifth Test, The Oval (3)
111	Harry Brook	England	Fifth Test, The Oval (4)
107*	Ravindra Jadeja	India	Fourth Test, Old Trafford (3)
106	Ollie Pope	England	First Test, Headingley (2)
105	Joe Root	England	Fifth Test, The Oval (4)
104	Joe Root	England	Third Test, Lord's (1)
103	Shubman Gill	India	Fourth Test, Old Trafford (3)
101*	Washington Sundar	India	Fourth Test, Old Trafford (3)
101	Yashasvi Jaiswal	India	First Test, Headingley (1)
100	KL Rahul	India	Third Test, Lord's (2)

FIVE-FORS
  INDIA 5-3 ENGLAND

6-70	Mohammed Siraj	India	Second Test, Edgbaston (2)
6-99	Akash Deep	India	Second Test, Edgbaston (4)
5-33	Gus Atkinson	England	Fifth Test, The Oval (1)
5-72	Ben Stokes	England	Fourth Test, Old Trafford (1)
5-74	Jasprit Bumrah	India	Third Test, Lord's (1)
5-83	Jasprit Bumrah	India	First Test, Headingley (2)
5-104	Mohammed Siraj	India	Fifth Test, The Oval (4)
5-125	Josh Tongue	England	Fifth Test, The Oval (3)

Index 2023

INDEX 2023

So, good riddance 2023, you utter shitfest of a year. Whether or not life actually does begin at 40, as the cliché would suggest, it has certainly changed a lot for me in the last 12 months. RIP Dad, I miss you every day and I will always love you.

Nevertheless, it would be churlish not to admit that there have still been some highlights. My lovely niece Maya is growing up fast, always makes me smile and usually makes me laugh like a gargling drain with her antics.

I also loved my trip to Greece (except for the bit when my phone got stolen), my latest Glastonbury Festival renewal (where the Foo Fighters especially were truly epic), yet another visit to Prague (where me and my friends got to have a go at being Pilsner Urquell tapsters), a raucous weekend in Ibiza (except for the bit when my phone got stolen), and I also bimbled around a bit of Germany which I had never previously seen.

Of course, that trip to Germany derived from a serious prolonged upturn in form from my beloved Newcastle United who finished last season in the top four for the first time in 20 years.

But, to be quite honest, even Newcastle United let me down this year in the biggest games of the calendar year at Wembley in February in the Carabao Cup Final - even if the crowd in Trafalgar Square on the night before was epic - and then again against AC Milan at St James Park this month.

There have been various other weekends away in the UK which have captured the imagination: the snooker in Sheffield in April, Nottingham in May to see Team GB regain their place at the top table in international ice hockey, York for Hallowe'en, and another visit to Lindisfarne Festival in September.

Unfortunately, though, I finished the year still partly recovering from a hairline fracture to my ankle sustained at Lindisfarne after the injury suffered several setbacks, although some of them were admittedly self-inflicted.

Additionally, I have spent much of the run-up to Christmas battling an acute bout of the lurgy which has hung around for the last seven weeks and, at times, made me sound like a 40-a-day smoker.

It basically made an already exhausting year just that little bit more difficult to get through - and, despite numerous undoubted highlights, I am afraid this is a year which, for quite some time, I have been desperate to consign to the archives.

For what it's worth, this blog still gets updated with the occasional updates - and, hopefully, 2024 will provide opportunities for some write-ups on a brighter note.

An index of the posts made in 2023 can be found below:

CRICKET
Ashes 2023
16.06  Baz-ball faces its biggest Test of all in Ashes
11.07  Ashes alive after England win Headingley nail-biter
01.08  Broad signs off in style as Ashes series ends drawn
World Cup
05.10  Preview: Confident India hold all the cards
14.11  Not defending anything
19.11  Australia tear down India's cloak of invincibility

FOOTBALL
Season 2022/23
04.05  Haaland breaks goal record to send Man City back top
13.06  Manchester City complete incredible Treble
Season 2023/24
15.08  Manchester City go for four in a row
04.12  Another chance for England at Euro 2024

RUGBY UNION
World Cup
08.09  Preview: C'est le moment... peut-être
04.11  Back-to-back Boks outlast All Blacks

SNOOKER
World Championships
14.04  Snooker finds itself in a terrible fix
01.05  Belgian Bullet slays maximum man Selby

POLITICS
By elections
24.07  Another messy night

PERSONAL
Glastonbury 2023
30.06  There goes My Hero

So, take me disappearing through the smoke rings of my mind

Down the foggy ruins of time

Far past the frozen leaves

The haunted frightened trees

Out to the windy beach

Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow

Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky

With one hand waving free

Silhouetted by the sea

Circled by the circus sands

With all memory and fate

Driven deep beneath the waves

Let me forget about today until tomorrow

Bob Dylan - Mr. Tambourine Man (1965)

Australia tear down India's cloak of invincibility

CRICKET WORLD CUP

FINAL 19-Nov	INDIA	240
Ahmedabad	AUSTRALIA	241-4 43	[Head 137]    ▪️ AUSTRALIA won by six wickets

AUSTRALIA refused to read the script in India as Travis Head hit a stunning century to beat the previously unbeaten hosts and seal an amazing sixth Cricket World Cup title. 

Head smashed 15 fours and four sixes - more boundaries than the entire India team combined - on his way to 137 as the Aussies ultimately coped easily with their run chase on a difficult used pitch in Ahmedabad. 

The surface for the Final had been the subject to plenty of pre-match conjecture with India having also beaten New Zealand on a used pitch in Mumbai in the semi final.

But any attempt at influencing the result in the Final quickly backfired, or at least was neutralised, after Australia captain Pat Cummins won the toss.

Cummins elected to field, rejecting the traditional strategy in big games of putting a score on board to defend after recognising the conditions favoured the risk of making a chase. 

Notably, three of the four league matches in Ahmedabad were won by chasing sides, and so were the two Indian Premier League finals which were hosted there. 

Still, Cummins's decision could have gone very wrong - and his counterpart Rohit Sharma, with his aggressive strike rate, threatened to set the tone, just as he had pretty much all of the way through the tournament. 

But, with two balls of the first powerplay remaining, Head made his first big intervention of the day with a wonderful over-the-shoulder catch to leave India on 76-2.

The Aussies sniffed an opening - and, sure enough in the next over, the in-form Shreyas Iyer feathered Cummins behind for just four. 

India then entered into a prolonged period of introspection as Virat Kohli and KL Rahul set about a rebuilding job. 

It was a painfully slow partnership, though - and the Indian batsmen actually only scored one single boundary in 173 balls between the start of the 11th over and the end of the 39th. 

Indeed, just as Kohli might have considered upping the pace of his innings, Cummins breached his defences - and the capacity crowd in Ahmedabad fell completely silent. 

"There's nothing more satisfying than hearing a big crowd go silent," said Cummins in his pre-match press conference. 

Australia were well on their way with Rahul and new man Ravindra Jadeja continuing to find scoring difficult against an incredibly well-drilled, tigerish fielding side. 

Jadeja was next to go, edging behind a thin nick off Josh Hazlewood to Josh Inglis who took five catches behind the stumps, and wickets thereafter fell regularly. 

Twice, Mitchell Starc struck from round the wicket, inducing edges from Rahul and Mohammed Shami, to leave India on 211-7 and in danger of failing to use their allocated 50 overs. 

Suryakumar Ashok Yadav seemed to lose his ability to farm the strike with the tail - and it was only really the scrambled efforts of final pair, Kuldeep Yadav and Mohammed Siraj, who ensured the home side faced all of the balls available to them. 

Australia had completed the first part of job consummately then - but now also still had to hold their nerve with the bat.

In a frenetic start, Jasprit Bumrah immediately got the ball to swing and the very first delivery was edged by David Warner... through the slips to the boundary.

The second over, bowled by tournament leading wicket taker Shami, was no less eventful - and had the following outcomes in successive balls: a wide, a wicket, a bye, five wides, a four off the bat, a bye, and a leg bye. 

During the chaos, with the ear-splitting atmosphere in Ahmedabad having resumed at full volume, Shami took his 24th scalp of the tournament by removing Warner - and the Indians' urgent necessity for quick wickets appeared to outweigh the Aussie desire to see the match settle down. 

Indeed, at the end of the seventh over, Australia had been reduced to 47-3 after Mitchell Marsh swiped wildly to a wide delivery from Bumrah. 

And, in his next over, the rapid paceman was judged by umpire Richard Illingworth to have successfully trapped Steve Smith lbw with a slower ball. 

Smith, incredibly, walked off despite his reputation for reviewing just about any lbw decision against him - and, more incredibly still, replays showed that the ball had hit Smith's pads outside the line of off-stump. 

It felt, at the time, like a match-defining error. However, Head ensured it was nothing of the sort. 

Naturally aggressive, the Adelaide big-hitter toned down his approach somewhat as he set about turning over the strike with his new partner in the middle Marnus Labuschagne, while hitting the occasional boundary to avoid getting bogged down. 

The pair compiled a steady partnership bringing up their century stand off 119 balls to bring the runs required target below 100 with 24 overs still available. 

By this stage, Head had accelerated his innings to better than a run per ball - no mean feat on that strip - and, with a scampered single in the 34th over, he duly became the seventh man to hit a century in a World Cup Final. 

Head actually would have been run out on 99 with a direct hit - and immediately made the Indians pay by smashing the next ball from Jadeja through midwicket for six. 

Later, with his work just about done, Head could not resist another aggressive thrash at a wide ball from Siraj - but, for once, he could only direct it at chest height to Shubman Gill at deep midwicket for the simplest of catches. 

It mattered not, though. From the next delivery, with 42 balls still to spare, Australia confirmed yet another Cricket World Cup Final victory as new man Glenn Maxwell ran two after guiding another short ball from Siraj into the same gap at midwicket along the ground. 

To a man, the Indian players - all in stunned silence - collapsed to their knees in defeat.

It was not meant to end like this for India - after all, Sharma's men had crushed all-comers up until the Final. 

India triumphed easily in all nine group games and had gained revenge in the semi finals against New Zealand for their defeat to the same team at the same stage four years earlier. 

When batting first, the Indians had won by an average of 175 runs - and they were equally adept at chasing, winning by an average of 6.4 wickets with an average 64.4 balls remaining. 

But, at the Final in the stadium named after him, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi watched on impassively - powerless, for once, to intervene as Head and Labuschagne nudged Australia towards their target. 

By contrast, for the champions, this was a great victory forged by typical true Aussie grit. 

Defeat in their opening two group games against India and South Africa had actually left the eventual winners briefly bottom of the table. Thereafter, though, Australia won each of their remaining nine matches. 

Steadying the ship with comfortable victories over Sri Lanka and Pakistan, and a record-breaking 309-run thumping of Netherlands, the Aussies continued to find the route to the Final rather bumpy. 

In their Trans-Tasmania clash, Australia squeezed past New Zealand by just five runs in a tightest match of the whole tournament - then, against England, the bowlers managed to defend a modest total of 286, winning by 33 runs.

The early struggles meant, even with their improved form, the Aussies could not be certain of their place in the knockout stage - and next up was a match against surprise package Afghanistan who remained in with a chance of the top four. 

Chasing 292, Australia fell to 49-4 and 91-7 as the Afghans sensed their biggest scalp yet in what was a tournament of great success for them. 

But Maxwell - who had earlier blitzed his way off 40 balls to the fastest century in World Cup history against the Dutch - produced an astonishing knock, scoring a massive 88.6% of the runs in an unbeaten eight-wicket partnership of 202 with captain Cummins, to finish on 201 not out. 

Ultimately in the Final, though, it was opener Head who proved yet again to be the key man on the big day as he continued his annus mirabilis.

Already with player of the match performances against India in the World Test Championship Final in June and against South Africa in the World Cup semi final under his belt, it was not Warner or Smith who was the Australian danger man in this Final. Maxwell was barely required. 

Instead, it was Head - an unusually understated and immensely underrated Aussie left-hander - who left a sixth world title for his country never in doubt. 

Not defending anything

AHEAD of the Cricket World Cup, England captain Jos Buttler stated plainly: "We're not defending anything" - and, on that note, he has been proven to be entirely correct.

Buttler intended his words to mean that England would attack this tournament head on - but, in reality, his team stumbled for the last five-and-a-half weeks from one miserable defeat to the next.

The campaign began back on 5 October with a heavy reverse to New Zealand, the side who they had squeezed past by the barest of margins in the Final at Lord's four years earlier.

And, although a thumping victory over Bangladesh in the second match gave little indication of what was to follow, England were brought quickly back down to earth following a historic 69-run defeat to Afghanistan.

From that point onwards, it got much worse. South Africa took the English bowling attack to the cleaners as the 2019 champions came within a single run of conceding 400 for the first time ever in a One Day International.

In response, England collapsed under scoreboard pressure and ultimately finished 229 runs behind on 170 all out.

Five days later in Bangalore, England's humiliation was complete as they succumbed by eight wickets to an erratic Sri Lanka side after being bowled out for 156 in 33.2 overs while a literal vulture circled the ground.

That left 16.4 overs unbowled in that innings - 100 balls exactly. A screeching irony if ever there was one.

One hundred balls one week - one hundred runs the next; it felt as if the cricket gods were actively haunting English cricket with the number 100.

England next went down against India by that margin despite an improved bowling display which restricted the hosts to 229-9.

It proved more than enough, though, as a brittle batting line-up wilted once again.

Ben Stokes attempted to hit his way into some form but was out for a duck off the 10th ball of a torturous innings.

Yet, remarkably, given their sheer collective incompetence, England had not officially been eliminated as a result of their fifth defeats out of six.

However, Australia were more than happy to hammer the final nail in the holders' coffin - and eventually did, as England failed to chase down a modest target of 287, despite the efforts of Stokes who played a far more measured innings.

That left rock-bottom England with two dead-rubbers against Netherlands and Pakistan - although the importance of these fixtures was rather randomly increased mid-tournament.

Confirmation came from the International Cricket Council (ICC) that only the top eight would qualify for the 2025 Champions Trophy, an announcement which caught several teams - including England - by surprise.

It is unclear exactly when the ICC had decided this and the cynic will find it difficult to believe the decision was nothing other than an attempt to give some sort of meaning to matches which would have been otherwise quite meaningless.

Ultimately, England finished seventh to avoid that indignity, comfortably beating Netherlands by 160 runs before making it back-to-back wins against Pakistan where they belatedly showed some signs of being back to their best to compile a score of 337-9.

Pakistan, and neighbours Afghanistan, were the only teams in the final round of matches with a technical chance of breaking into the top four.

However, both had been left with an almost impossible task to finish above New Zealand on net run rate after the Black Caps made light work of Sri Lanka.

Certainly then, there can be no doubt that the best four teams - India, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand - have made it through to the knockout stage.

Pretty much everyone, though, had identified at least three of the sides since the end of matchday four back in mid-October.

Indeed, a lack of overall drama has been reflected by a scarcity of close finishes throughout the competition - with the two biggest World Cup wins in terms of runs both occurring during this edition.

By contrast, only one match has been won by less than a 20-run margin and only one match won by a chasing team more than seven wickets down.

Moreover, the fact that those two matches - Australia v New Zealand and South Africa v Pakistan - occurred within 24 hours of each other has left long stretches in the schedule with a tedious lack of jeopardy or excitement.

Nevertheless, there have been some outstanding individual performances - especially with the bat.

Leading run-scorer Virat Kohli engineered his first century of the tournament against Bangladesh by retaining the strike - then, against South Africa on his 35th birthday, he drew level with his idol Sachin Tendulkar on 49 ODI tons, equalling the all-time record.

Quinton de Kock was the second most prolific player, scoring four centuries against Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Australia and New Zealand in what he has stated will be his last World Cup.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the scale, in his first ever senior international tournament, 23-year-old New Zealander Rachin Ravindra has already made three tons against England on his World Cup debut, Australia and Pakistan.

The Australians have dominated in terms of producing the biggest individual scores with Glenn Maxwell hitting a mammoth unbeaten 201 off 128 balls to save the five-time champions from perilous positions of 49-4 and 91-7 against the doughty Afghans.

For good measure, Mitchell Marsh then smashed 177 not out off 132 balls in the Aussies' very next match against Bangladesh for the second highest score of the tournament.

It has been undoubtedly a much more difficult competition with the ball, in general - but it is yet another man in Canary Yellow, spinner Adam Zampa, who leads the way with 22 wickets.

Having said that, Mohammed Shami has easily been the pick of the bowlers in the group stage.

The veteran seamer took 16 wickets at an average of under 10-a-piece in just five matches - including 5-18 against Sri Lanka and 5-54 against New Zealand - as India successfully bowled out seven of their nine opponents on their way to a perfect nine wins out of nine.

At the risk of being accused of sour grapes though, this has sadly not been a well-organised or well-delivered tournament by the ICC, the Indian cricket board (BCCI) or the Indian authorities.

For a start, the organisers were still rejigging the match schedule and venues as late as 9 August, leaving travelling fans with no hope of making advance plans.

Pakistan supporters found it particularly difficult to gain visa access to their neighbouring country - and, against Australia, the few who had made it were even stopped from cheering on their side by police in the stadium.

Beyond the India matches which all had raucous atmospheres of course, crowds otherwise - while not low - have looked sparse in some of the more cavernous grounds.

Sometimes it makes you wonder if the people in charge actually want One Day International cricket to fail - and there is certainly plenty of concern for the future of the format.

Nevertheless, by far the biggest opprobrium in this regard should be reserved for the players and teams who have disrespected the 50-over game - and, as defending champions, England especially have charges to answer for their desperate performances.

Even before the start of the tournament, muddled thinking was evident with World Cup-winning opener Jason Roy told he was in the squad before being discarded at the last minute for Harry Brook because of concerns over a back injury.

Such worries did not seem to be considered when it came to Stokes after he dramatically reversed his decision to retire from ODIs and slotted back into the 15-man selection despite not being fully fit himself.

Worse was to follow. Spooked by the prevalence of T20 franchise leagues around the world, the ECB offered multi-year deals to centrally-contracted players for the first time.

Remarkably though, the deals were signed off right in the middle of a tournament with the very same players who were making a complete mess of their trophy defence - all with the sole exception of David Willey.

To his credit, Willey - who was far from the worst performer - continued to steam in and the left-arm seamer was rewarded on his final appearance against Pakistan with his 100th ODI wicket.

Understandably though, the 33-year-old has now retired from international cricket - and the decision not to offer him a deal was undoubtedly the final straw.

Rumours abounded of disharmony in the camp - rumours which were denied by Australian head coach Matthew Mott who merely watched on gormlessly as his team was routinely dismantled.

Mott - who had previously led an all-conquering Aussie women's team which barely needed coaching to beat their modest competition - seemed to lack any idea how to turn things around when England's hitherto talented batting unit began to falter.

Instead, the Aussie made few public statements and seemed to have even fewer ideas, shirking all responsibility as his side sank ever deeper into the quicksand.

Furthermore, the question must be asked that, if it was still such a happy camp, then how were England playing quite this poorly?

Some of it can be explained by a lack of practice with the holders playing only 42 matches in the 50-over format between their triumph and this tournament compared to 88 games between 2015 and 2019.

Additionally, some of those matches were played at the exact same time as England were also contesting a Test series, resulting in a lack of cohesion between the all-format players and the white-ball specialists.

Put simply though, some of England players in India are just too old and have been badly exposed by the intensity of a long, drawn out World Cup.

In the defeats to Sri Lanka, India and Australia, England did not field a single player aged under 30 - and it was really quite sad to see this golden generation fail over and over again.

Hopefully, once the dust settles, the players in this squad can be remembered for what it achieved rather than what it became - but, contracts or not, this really should be the end of the line for the majority, at least in ODI cricket.

That should include Buttler who has struggled to step up as Eoin Morgan's successor and has even seen his batting form crumble to the extent that he averaged an abysmal 15.33 at this World Cup.

Yet, ECB managing director Rob Key has backed Buttler and Mott with the former included by the latter in the next white-ball squad for a tour of the Caribbean next month.

For now, though, England must watch on as India, New Zealand, South Africa and Australia squabble over a prize which was so hard-won but sadly also so easily given away.

GROUP STAGE TABLE

		W	L	NRR	Pts	Results
(Q)	INDIA	9	0	2.57	18	WWWWWWWWW
(Q)	SOUTH AFRICA	7	2	1.26	14	WWLWWWWLW
(Q)	AUSTRALIA	7	2	0.84	14	LLWWWWWWW
(Q)	NEW ZEALAND	5	4	0.74	10	WWWWLLLLW
5	PAKISTAN	4	5	-0.20	8	WWLLLLWWL
6	AFGHANISTAN	4	5	-0.34	8	LLWLWWWLL
7	ENGLAND	3	6	-0.57	6	LWLLLLLWW
8	BANGLADESH	2	7	-1.09	4	WLLLLLLWL
9	SRI LANKA	2	7	-1.42	4	LLLWWLLLL
10	NETHERLANDS	2	7	-1.83	4	LLWLLWLLL

GROUP STAGE RESULTS

01 Thu 05-Oct	9:30	ENGLAND	282-9	▪️ NEW ZEALAND won by nine wickets
Ahmedabad		NEW ZEALAND	283-1 36.2
02 Fri 06-Oct	9:30	PAKISTAN	286 49	▪️ PAKISTAN won by 81 runs
Hyderabad		NETHERLANDS	205 41
03 Sat 07-Oct	9:30	AFGHANISTAN	156 37.2	▪️ BANGLADESH won by six wickets
Dharamshala		BANGLADESH	158-4 34.4
04 Sat 07-Oct	9:30	SOUTH AFRICA	428-5	▪️ SOUTH AFRICA won by 102 runs
Delhi		SRI LANKA	326 44.5
05 Sun 08-Oct	9:30	AUSTRALIA	199 49.3	▪️ INDIA won by six wickets
Chennai		INDIA	201-4 41.2
06 Mon 09-Oct	9:30	NEW ZEALAND	322-7	▪️ NEW ZEALAND won by 99 runs
Hyderabad		NETHERLANDS	223 46.3
07 Tue 10-Oct	6:00	BANGLADESH	227 48.2	▪️ ENGLAND won by 137 runs
Dharamshala		ENGLAND	364-9
08 Tue 10-Oct	9:30	PAKISTAN	345-4 48.2	▪️ PAKISTAN won by six wickets
Hyderabad		SRI LANKA	344-9
09 Wed 11-Oct	9:30	AFGHANISTAN	272-8	▪️ INDIA won by eight wickets
Delhi		INDIA	273-2 35
10 Thu 12-Oct	9:30	AUSTRALIA	177 40.5	▪️ SOUTH AFRICA won by 134 runs
Lucknow		SOUTH AFRICA	311-7
11 Fri 13-Oct	9:30	BANGLADESH	245-9	▪️ NEW ZEALAND won by eight wickets
Chennai		NEW ZEALAND	248-2 42.5
12 Sat 14-Oct	9:30	INDIA	192-3 30.3	▪️ INDIA won by seven wickets
Ahmedabad		PAKISTAN	191 42.5
13 Sun 15-Oct	9:30	AFGHANISTAN	284 49.5	▪️ AFGHANISTAN won by 69 runs
Delhi		ENGLAND	215 40.3
14 Mon 16-Oct	9:30	AUSTRALIA	215-5 35.2	▪️ AUSTRALIA won by five wickets
Lucknow		SRI LANKA	209 43.3
15 Tue 17-Oct	9:30	SOUTH AFRICA	207 42.5	▪️ NETHERLANDS won by 38 runs
Dharamshala		NETHERLANDS	245-8 43
16 Wed 18-Oct	9:30	AFGHANISTAN	139 34.4	▪️ NEW ZEALAND won by 149 runs
Chennai		NEW ZEALAND	288-6
17 Thu 19-Oct	9:30	BANGLADESH	256-8	▪️ INDIA won by seven wickets
Pune		INDIA	261-3 41.3
18 Fri 20-Oct	9:30	AUSTRALIA	367-9	▪️ AUSTRALIA won by 62 runs
Bangalore		PAKISTAN	305 45.3
19 Sat 21-Oct	6:00	NETHERLANDS	262 49.4	▪️ SRI LANKA won by five wickets
Lucknow		SRI LANKA	263-5 48.2
20 Sat 21-Oct	9:30	ENGLAND	170 22	▪️ SOUTH AFRICA won by 229 runs
Mumbai		SOUTH AFRICA	399-7
21 Sun 22-Oct	9:30	INDIA	274-6 48	▪️ INDIA won by four wickets
Dharamshala		NEW ZEALAND	273
22 Mon 23-Oct	9:30	AFGHANISTAN	286-2 49	▪️ AFGHANISTAN won by eight wickets
Chennai		PAKISTAN	282-7
23 Tue 24-Oct	9:30	BANGLADESH	233 46.4	▪️ SOUTH AFRICA won by 149 runs
Mumbai		SOUTH AFRICA	382-5
24 Wed 25-Oct	9:30	AUSTRALIA	399-8	▪️ AUSTRALIA won by 309 runs
Delhi		NETHERLANDS	90 21
25 Thu 26-Oct	9:30	ENGLAND	156 33.2	▪️ SRI LANKA won by eight wickets
Bangalore		SRI LANKA	160-2 25.4
26 Fri 27-Oct	9:30	PAKISTAN	270 46.4	▪️ SOUTH AFRICA won by one wicket
Chennai		SOUTH AFRICA	271-9 47.2
27 Sat 28-Oct	6:00	AUSTRALIA	388 49.2	▪️ AUSTRALIA won by five runs
Dharamshala		NEW ZEALAND	383-9
28 Sat 28-Oct	9:30	BANGLADESH	142 42.2	▪️ NETHERLANDS won by 87 runs
Kolkata		NETHERLANDS	229
29 Sun 29-Oct	8:30	ENGLAND	129 34.5	▪️ INDIA won by 100 runs
Lucknow		INDIA	229-9
30 Mon 30-Oct	8:30	AFGHANISTAN	242-3 45.2	▪️ AFGHANISTAN won by seven wickets
Pune		SRI LANKA	241 49.3
31 Tue 31-Oct	8:30	BANGLADESH	204 45.1	▪️ PAKISTAN won by seven wickets
Kolkata		PAKISTAN	205-3 32.3
32 Wed 01-Nov	8:30	NEW ZEALAND	167 35.3	▪️ SOUTH AFRICA won by 190 runs
Pune		SOUTH AFRICA	357-4
33 Thu 02-Nov	8:30	INDIA	357-8	▪️ INDIA won by 302 runs
Mumbai		SRI LANKA	55 19.4
34 Fri 03-Nov	8:30	AFGHANISTAN	181-3 31.3	▪️ AFGHANISTAN won by seven wickets
Lucknow		NETHERLANDS	179 46.3
35 Sat 04-Nov	5:00	NEW ZEALAND	401-6	▪️ PAKISTAN won by 21 runs DLS
Bangalore		PAKISTAN	200-1 25.3
36 Sat 04-Nov	8:30	AUSTRALIA	286 49.3	▪️ AUSTRALIA won by 33 runs
Ahmedabad		ENGLAND	253 48.1
37 Sun 05-Nov	8:30	INDIA	326-5	▪️ INDIA won by 243 runs
Kolkata		SOUTH AFRICA	83 27.1
38 Mon 06-Nov	8:30	BANGLADESH	282-7 41.1	▪️ BANGLADESH won by three wickets
Delhi		SRI LANKA	279 49.3
39 Tue 07-Nov	8:30	AUSTRALIA	293-7 46.5	▪️ AUSTRALIA won by three wickets
Mumbai		AFGHANISTAN	291-5
40 Wed 08-Nov	8:30	ENGLAND	339-9	▪️ ENGLAND won by 160 runs
Pune		NETHERLANDS	179 37.2
41 Thu 09-Nov	8:30	NEW ZEALAND	172-5 23.2	▪️ NEW ZEALAND won by five wickets
Bangalore		SRI LANKA	171 46.4
42 Fri 10-Nov	8:30	AFGHANISTAN	244	▪️ SOUTH AFRICA won by five wickets
Ahmedabad		SOUTH AFRICA	247-5 47.3
43 Sat 11-Nov	5:00	AUSTRALIA	307-2 44.4	▪️ AUSTRALIA won by eight wickets
Pune		BANGLADESH	306-8
44 Sat 11-Nov	8:30	ENGLAND	337-9	▪️ ENGLAND won by 93 runs
Kolkata		PAKISTAN	244 43.3
45 Sun 12-Nov	8:30	INDIA	410-4	▪️ INDIA won by 160 runs
Bangalore		NETHERLANDS	250 47.5

SEMI FINAL RESULTS

SF1 Wed 15-Nov	8:30	INDIA	397-4	▪️ INDIA won by 70 runs
Mumbai		NEW ZEALAND	327 48.5
SF2 Thu 16-Nov	8:30	SOUTH AFRICA	212 49.4	▪️ AUSTRALIA won by three wickets
Kolkata		AUSTRALIA	215-7 47.2

CENTURIES

201* Glenn Maxwell (Australia) v Afghanistan 

177* Mitchell Marsh (Australia) v Bangladesh
174 Quinton de Kock (South Africa) v Bangladesh 

163 David Warner (Australia) v Pakistan
152* Devon Conway (New Zealand) v England

140 Dawid Malan (England) v Bangladesh

137 Travis Head (Australia) v India FINAL
134 Daryl Mitchell (New Zealand) v India SF

131* Muhammad Rizwan (Pakistan) v Sri Lanka

131 Rohit Sharma (India) v Afghanistan

130 Daryl Mitchell (New Zealand) v India

129 Ibrahim Zadran (Afghanistan) v Australia

128* Shreyas Iyer (India) v Netherlands

126* Fakhar Zaman (Pakistan) v New Zealand

123* Rachin Ravindra (New Zealand) v England

122 Kusal Mendis (Sri Lanka) v Pakistan

121 Mitchell Marsh (Australia) v Pakistan

117 Virat Kohli (India) v New Zealand SF
116 Rachin Ravindra (New Zealand) v Australia

113 Abdullah Shafique (Pakistan) v Sri Lanka

111 Mahmudullah (Bangladesh) v South Africa

109 Quinton de Kock (South Africa) v Australia

109 Heinrich Klaasen (South Africa) v England

109 Travis Head (Australia) v New Zealand
108 Rassie van der Dussen (South Africa) v Sri Lanka

108 Sadeera Samarawickrama (Sri Lanka) v Pakistan
108 Rachin Ravindra (New Zealand) v Pakistan
108 Charith Asalanka (Sri Lanka) v Bangladesh

108 Ben Stokes (England) v Netherlands

106 Aiden Markram (South Africa) v Sri Lanka

106 Glenn Maxwell (Australia) v Netherlands

105 Shreyas Iyer (India) v New Zealand SF
104 David Warner (Australia) v Netherlands
103* Virat Kohli (India) v Bangladesh

102 KL Rahul (India) v Netherlands

101* Virat Kohli (India) v South Africa
100 David Miller (South Africa) v Australia SF
100 Quinton de Kock (South Africa) v Sri Lanka

FIVE-WICKET HAULS

7-57 Mohammed Shami (India) v New Zealand SF
5-18 Mohammed Shami (India) v Sri Lanka
5-33 Ravindra Jadeja (India) v South Africa
5-52 Mitchell Santner (New Zealand) v Netherlands

5-54 Shaheen Shah Afridi (Pakistan) v Australia

5-54 Mohammed Shami (India) v New Zealand
5-80 Dilshan Madushanka (Sri Lanka) v India

Cricket World Cup preview: Confident India hold all the cards

• CRICKET WORLD CUP •

• 2023 •

INDIA ICC ODI ranking 1 • ODI record since CWC19 W40 L22 NR6 Win% 64.5 
Coach Rahul Dravid (since November 2021)
Squad Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav
Best performance Winners 1983, 2011
• Hosts and favourites India have hit top gear in the run-up to the Cricket World Cup, breezing to an eighth Asia Cup triumph by bowling Sri Lanka out for 50 before chasing the target without loss in 37 balls, before defeating Australia 2-1 in a bi-lateral series. Those recent achievements have elevated the Indians to number one in the ODI rankings, making them only the second side after South Africa in 2012 to top the standings in all three formats of the game concurrently - and head coach Rahul Dravid, a legendary player in his own right, has benefited from the strong return to form of KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer, and the return to fitness of key bowler Jasprit Bumrah. Experienced heads Virat Kohli and Ravi Ashwin, a late selection for the injured Axar Patel, are actually the only two members of the squad who were part of the team which won the trophy when it was last on home soil in 2011 so there remain legitimate questions over whether this current vintage can cope with the almost ridiculous level of pressure exerted by the most vociferous supporters in world cricket. All things being equal, though, India have the talent - and, indeed, the form - to make reality reflect the rankings by winning the World Cup for a third time.
• Prediction Winners 

PAKISTAN ICC ODI ranking 2 • ODI record since CWC19 W24 L12 T1 Win% 64.8
Coach Grant Bradburn (since May 2023)
Squad Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Wasim
Best performance Winners 1992
• Pakistan have already overcome their first obstacle at this Cricket World Cup - obtaining visa access to neighbours India, following a predictable stand-off between the two adversaries. Of course, Pakistan did not help matters by delaying the naming of their squad - but, then again, the Indians have not exactly been the most organised of hosts either with the match schedule and venues still being rejigged as late as 9 August. One of the nine amended games was the India v Pakistan match which was moved forward by 24 hours to 14 October to avoid a clash with a religious festival in Ahmedabad - and, in their first encounter on Indian soil since the T20 World Cup in 2016, the visitors will be desperate to improve their horrific ODI World Cup record against their greatest rivals. It currently reads played seven, lost seven - and it has undoubtedly contributed to the Falcons' extremely modest overall record at the tournament in the 21st century, with only one semi final appearance coming in the last five editions. With the ferocious pace of Shaheen Shah Afridi leading the attack, this tournament represents an extremely good chance for Pakistan to make a return to the top table; however, the Falcons' batting will need to improve if they want to double their number of World Cup titles on 19 November.
• Prediction Semi finals

AUSTRALIA ICC ODI ranking 3 • ODI record since CWC19 W25 L20 NR1 Win% 55.5
Coach Andrew McDonald (since April 2022)
Squad Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa
Best performance Winners 1987, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2015
• Five-time champions Australia have endured an uncharacteristically indifferent build-up to the Cricket World Cup, falling to a 3-2 series defeat to South Africa from 2-0 up before a further 2-1 series defeat in India. At one stage in that sequence, the Aussies lost five matches in a row and conceded more than 300 runs in four of the defeats, including a mammoth 416-5 against the Proteas. Notably, in that match, spinner Adam Zampa recorded the joint worst ever figures by a bowler in One Day International cricket to finish on 0-113 - and the most pertinent reason to bring this fact up is that Zampa is the Baggy Greens' only frontline spinner in a strangely imbalanced squad. Instead, the selection from Andrew McDonald is full of bits-and-pieces players - and Australia look set to rely perhaps more heavily than ever upon the batting prowess of Steve Smith, scoring power of Glenn Maxwell and the bowling ferocity of Mitchell Starc. The fast-bowler warmed up nicely for the tournament with a hat-trick against Netherlands in a washed out game - and, while there have been better Australia teams in the past, the Baggy Greens will no doubt remain as doggedly competitive in seeking a record eighth appearance in a World Cup Final.
• Prediction Runners-up

SOUTH AFRICA ICC ODI ranking 4 • ODI record since CWC19 W21 L16 NR5 Win% 56.7
Coach Rob Walter (since February 2023)
Squad Temba Bavuma (c), Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen, Lizaad Williams
Best performance Semi finals 1992, 1999, 2007, 2015
• South Africa head into this Cricket World Cup looking to make amends for their poor display four years ago in England when their best performances came all too late. By the time the Proteas thumped Sri Lanka by nine wickets and then squeezed past Australia by 10 runs, a low confidence outfit had already been eliminated following three defeats and a washout in their first four games. There is far more confidence in the South African camp for this edition - and Rob Walter's squad warmed up for the tournament with a fine comeback from 2-0 down to win a five-match One Day series against Australia thanks to some stunning contributions with the bat from Heinrich Klaasen and Aiden Markram. In support of that, Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi will provide plenty of threat with the ball, but the loss of the excellent Anrich Nortje on the eve of the tournament to a back injury really is a devastating blow - and, indeed, it is a lack of sufficient depth could prove costly for the Proteas in their chase for a place back in the top four.
• Prediction Group stage

ENGLAND ICC ODI ranking 5 • ODI record since CWC19 W23 L16 NR6 Win% 58.9
Coach Matthew Mott (since May 2022)
Squad Jos Buttler (c), Moeen Ali, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes
Best performance Winners 2019
• Defending champions England have been on quite the journey since winning by the barest of margins on that gloriously sunny July day at Lord's over four years ago. The subsequent drop in the rankings to fifth place has rather laid bare the fact that it has not been exactly the most comfortable of rides - and, certainly, a lot has changed in the intervening period. England have a new specialist white-ball coach, Australian Matthew Mott, while Jos Buttler took over the captaincy reins from Eoin Morgan upon the Dubliner's retirement in June last year. Furthermore, England have been extremely experimental with 28 different players used in 15 matches between February 2021 and February 2022 alone - while, at the same time, the domestic 50-over competition has been reduced to reserve status in favour of The Hundred, a risible format played nowhere else in the world. Then, in July last year, England Test captain Ben Stokes announced bombshell news as he retired from One Day International cricket, citing the congestion in the calendar for his decision. But, although ultimately the honour of defending a World Cup proved too tempting for Stokes who reversed his decision, a niggling knee injury and a far less experienced squad have contributed to the feeling that the 32-year-old may have been more prudent to stick with his original decision.
• Prediction Group stage

NEW ZEALAND ICC ODI ranking 6 • ODI record since CWC19 W26 L16 NR3 Win% 61.9
Coach Gary Stead (since August 2018)
Squad Kane Williamson (c), Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitch Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Will Young
Best performance Runners-up 2015, 2019
• Still hurting, New Zealand arrive in India for the Cricket World Cup determined this time to go one better than four years ago when they lost only on a little-heard, and now discarded, boundary count regulation. It was, in fact, a second successive World Cup Final defeat for the Black Caps following a heavy loss to fellow co-hosts Australia in the 2015 edition - but, understandably, it is the tracing paper-thin margin of the 2019 reverse which remains an open wound for many of this squad. With Gary Stead still at the helm, the Kiwis are the only team to have retained the same coach between the two tournaments - and, led by skipper Kane Williamson and spearheaded by veteran bowlers Trent Boult and Tim Southee, no fewer than nine of the players have taken part at an ODI World Cup before. New Zealand are chock full of experience then - but, with a country from the Big Three of Australia, England and India awarded hosting rights yet again, Stead's men will need to break something of a glass ceiling to achieve their ultimate ambition.
• Prediction Semi finals

SRI LANKA ICC ODI ranking 7 • ODI record since CWC19 W30 L26 NR2 Win% 53.5
Coach Chris Silverwood (since April 2022)
Squad Dasun Shanaka (c), Kusal Mendis, Kusal Perera, Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dushan Hemantha, Maheesh Theekshana, Dunith Wellalage, Kasun Rajitha, Matheesha Pathirana, Lahiru Kumara, Dilshan Madushanka
Best performance Winners 1996
• Sri Lanka failed to qualify directly for the Cricket World Cup for the first time requiring the fall-back route of the ICC Qualifier. In fairness, the qualification competition contributed to a confidence-boosting record sequence of 13 successive One Day International victories - but little else really could be garnered from winning a group otherwise featuring Scotland, Oman, Ireland and United Arab Emirates. At least the Lions did not suffer the same fate as fellow former winners, the West Indies, who failed to qualify at all. However, far more Sri Lankan hope derives from the performance of the team at home in the Asia Cup where wins over Bangladesh twice, Afghanistan and Pakistan sent Chris Silverwood's side all the way to the Final. There, though, old habits came creeping back as a fired-up India team destroyed the top and middle order - and, at one stage, Sri Lanka were 12-6 before eventually being bowled out for just 50. A subsequent warm-up defeat to Afghanistan has also given little sign of that the 1996 champions are anywhere near consistent enough to threaten a place in the knockout stage - and even matching their sixth-placed finish from four years ago might be a stretch.
• Prediction Group stage

BANGLADESH ICC ODI ranking 8 • ODI record since CWC19 W30 L21 NR3 Win% 58.8
Coach Chandika Hathurusingha (since January 2023)
Squad Shakib Al Hasan (c), Mushfiqur Rahim, Litton Das, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mehedi Hasan, Towhid Hridoy, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Hasan Mahmud, Nasum Ahmed, Mahedi Hasan, Tanzim Hasan, Tanzid Hasan, Mahmudullah
Best performance Quarter finals 2015
• The build-up to this Cricket World Cup for Bangladesh has been dominated by an escalating war of words between the two most notable cricketing figures in the country with skipper Shakib Al Hasan and his omitted predecessor Tamim Iqbal trading barbs. Officially, Tamim had been left out of the squad because of doubts over fitness after his well-publicised struggles with a back injury. However, Shakib has since accused opener Tamim of being "childish" and not a team player after he is said to have refused to bat in the middle order. At this point, the whole thing is a rather unseemly mess ahead of a tournament in which the Tigers should be looking to take advantage of relatively familiar conditions. Instead, recent form at the Asia Cup in August and September was nothing special - and, beyond all-rounder Shakib repeating his 2019 feat of scoring more than 600 runs and taking a five-for at the same tournament, there is precious little else to suggest Bangladesh make it into the top four. After all, even four years ago, Shakib's stunning contributions were only good enough for an eighth-placed finish.
• Prediction Group stage

AFGHANISTAN ICC ODI ranking 9 • ODI record since CWC19 W15 L14 NR2 Win% 51.7
Coach Jonathan Trott (since July 2022)
Squad Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Abdul Rahman, Naveen ul Haq
Best performance Group stage 2015, 2019
• Played nine, lost nine - Afghanistan certainly found life tough four years ago at the Cricket World Cup in England. This edition in India at least should provide conditions slightly more to the liking of the Afghans - and, while they should expect to win anyway on 3 November against the lower-ranked Netherlands, there is enough talent in this squad to cause much more of a stir. Spinners Rashid Khan and Mujeeb ur Rahman and all-rounder Mohammad Nabi are standout figures - but, as a whole, this Afghanistan outfit remains rough around the edges and suffers from a lack of regular match practice. That, in itself, should not really come as much of a surprise - opponents are understandably unwilling to tour the landlocked central Asian nation, especially since the Taliban regained control in August 2021, so matches are difficult to organise. Consequently, the team has been effectively consigned to perennial minnow status - despite the best efforts of former England batter Jonathan Trott, who currently finds himself in the rather unexpected position of Afghanistan head coach.
• Prediction Group stage

NETHERLANDS ICC ODI ranking 14 • ODI record since CWC19 W8 L24 T1 NR3 Win% 24.2
Coach Ryan Cook (since May 2022)
Squad Scott Edwards (c), Max O'Dowd, Bas de Leede, Vikram Singh, Teja Nidamanuru, Paul van Meekeren, Colin Ackermann, Roelof van der Merwe, Logan van Beek, Aryan Dutt, Ryan Klein, Wesley Barresi, Saqib Zulfiqar, Shariz Ahmad, Sybrand Engelbrecht
Best performance Group stage 1996, 2003, 2007, 2011
• Netherlands belied the lowly 14th-placed ranking to make it into this 10-team Cricket World Cup - but Scotland will still be kicking themselves now that it is not them instead. Defending 277 in a winner-takes-all match, the Scots looked on course to make a fourth finals appearance when the Dutch were reduced to 163-5. But Durham all-rounder Bas de Leede had other ideas - and, having taken 5-52 with the ball, he finished on 123 not out with the bat as the Flying Dutchmen smashed 22 off the 41st over and 20 off the 42nd to win in pretty comfortable style in the end. Certainly, the Dutch fully deserve another shot at taking on the world cricketing elite having earlier held their nerve to beat two-time former winners West Indies in a Super Over with the men from Caribbean missing out altogether for the first time. Nevertheless, de Leede's audacious semi finals target looks especially fanciful, considering the Dutch lost 17 international matches in a row while taking part in the ICC Cricket World Cup Super League against the same elite opponents as they will face over the next five weeks.
• Prediction Group stage