Antiwhippy
the holder of the trombone
Welcome to the 2015 ICC Cricket world cup thread! The ICC cricket world cup is a once every 4 years event where teams gather together for an ODI tournament to see who will be crowned champion. This year's event will be held in Australia and New Zealand.
What to expect of the venue
Expect fast, bouncy and flat wickets. Bats will dominate, pace bowling to standout and spin to fall into the background.
Fixtures: http://www.icc-cricket.com/cricket-world-cup/fixtures
The Test Playing Nations
Australia
One of the top 3 favourites going in through form, they boast a batting lineup that goes all the way to the number 10 with firepower at the top and in the middle, as well as one of the best pace attacks in the tournament. Stability can be an issue and they probably have the worst spin attack in the tournament, but expect Australia to be strong.
South Africa
The second of the top 3 favourites, South Africa can currently boast to have 2 of the best ODI batsmen in the world: Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers. On their day those 2 can win a match for South Africa single-handedly. They also boast a bowling attack of similar strength to the Australians. The other batsmen aren't as reliable, but make no mistake, if hashim amla or de Villiers fire South Africa will be very hard to beat.
New Zealand
The final of the top 3 favourites, New Zealand will enjoy its home ground advantage alongside Australia. Features some of the most explosive batsmen in the world with Brendon McCullum and Corey Anderson, as well as the always excellent Kane Williamson. Another country with an impressive pace bowling attack.
India
Current Cup holders, but they might find the Australian conditions to be not to their liking. Still, one should never count out the Indians in ODI cricket. They boast an impressive lineup, with players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni. Definitely has one of the weaker bowling lineups, but expect their batsmen to be able to bat out most targets.
England
After the Ashes mauling of 2013-2014, the England setup looks decidedly different. While not great at ODIs traditionally, England has an exciting group of young players and there's every chance they could be dark horses.
West Indies
Plagued by board issues, controversies and players being left out of the team for dubious reasons, the West Indies come into this world cup slightly shaky. Still, on their day, they have enough firepower to challenge most teams.
Pakistan
Unpredictable as always, while Pakistan might look like a weak side this year, you can never count when they will pull out their best performance. Still, expect them to be the underdogs this year.
Sri lanka
While they might not have the greatest run in ODIs coming into the World Cup, expect Sri Lanka to step up in ICC tournaments, as they always do. Also expect performances by Sangakkara and Jayawardene, as this will be the final Cricket World Cup for these two giants of Sri Lankan Cricket.
Bangladesh
Bangladesh never fails to underwhelm ever since they entered the test arena. Still, they might pull off an upset or 2 and they still have the world's best allrounder in Shakib Al Hasan.
Zimbabwe
This is a team that has fallen off hard for awhile now. They've beaten Australia recently, but it'll be hard to imagine them pulling off any more upsets this year.
The Associates Teams
It's going to be tough for them as it always is, but Ireland and Afghanistan have real potentials to pull off some upsets. The UAE are a pretty good side too.