It seems like it has snuck up on us, with a monster summer of cricket in the Northern Hemisphere and blockbuster ends to the footy seasons in the Southern Hemisphere – not to mention a soccer World Cup on our shore, but the ICC Cricket World Cup is already here.

Much as plenty have been distracted in our part of the world, there has been manic action everywhere else in the last six weeks as the ten teams limber up, so we’re on hand to give a run down of the ins, outts and inevitable political wranglings that dominate these tournaments.

You might well be wondering why you need a Power Rankings before a ball has been bowled, but remember: this is cricket, and there’s always a thousand balls being bowled, all the time, everywhere.

Last week we had the farce of England playing non-competitive, non-ODI status matches with their best team against India while also sending a B team into a competitive, ODI status match against Ireland. Both were rained out anyway.

Though most teams have been treating the ODI format as an unloved stepchild, that does increase the potential for entertainment at the World Cup: anything could happen, and anyone can beat anyone. Everyone, it seems, is now Pakistan.

With six weeks of action ahead, let’s see where they all stand ahead of the tournament.

1 – India 

India are at home, and teams that host the Cricket World Cup win it. Three on the trot and running in that department, so conditions definitely matter.

It helps that they’re also insanely good, with a list of global megastars from 1 to 11 and into the reserves. They were debating leaving R Ashwin out of the squad entirely, if you were wondering how deep they go.

Rohit might not be ranked as the number one ODI batsman, but he probably is, and Shubman Gill is second in the rankings, and neither of them are Virat Kohi, so you get the point.

Rishabh Pant is a loss – with him, they might have been unbeatable – and Jasprit Bumrah has been out forever, but looks well up to speed now. Mohammed Siraj, Ravi Jadeja, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Narendra Modi…they’ll all play their part.

The last might be a little weak with the willow, but he’s powerful everywhere else, and the political element of this tournament can’t be overlooked. India will get every advantage, and it isn’t particularly dubious to suggest that they have used that in other formats in the past.

Then again, they haven’t always got things right in that regard. The pitches in Tests have often turned so much as to negate their huge advantage in that area, and ODIs are even more liable for chaos.

Still, they don’t need to do any of that stuff, because the team is so good anyway. They’re undisputed favourites.

Odds: $3.25 via PlayUp

2 – England

England’s approach to retaining the World Cup they won in 2019 is a little concerning, though you see why they’ve done it.

They largely gave up on the format to focus on the T20 World Cup, which they won, and on Tests, in which they have massively improved. Fair enough.

They don’t have a single player in the top ten of the World Rankings, but that’s because they haven’t been taking it seriously.

Now, with ODIs, that means that we’ll see roughly the same team as last time, but without a peak Jason Roy and, barring injury to someone else, without Jofra Archer. 

Without their tone-setting opener and best quick, plus more years into the likes of Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali, their boring middle overs locks, it’s easy to see this as a decline.

That’s the bad stuff, however, and there’s plenty of good, too. There’s experience in spades, clutch players everywhere, with Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root and Ben Stokes all back, and the aforementioned spin twins.

The new kids aren’t bad either: Sam Curran, player of the series in last year’s T20 World Cup, and Harry Brook, current Test average 62 at a strike rate of 91, can’t get into this side at the moment. 

Oh, and they’ll be praying for/spuriously manufacturing a Reece Topley injury late in the tournament to get Jofra in.

Most of all, ODIs are where Bazball was born, and that attitude persists. They bat down to Rashid at 9, and all of them are hitters. There’s only one way to play, but history has shown that it works.

If India think providing flat pitches will laid their cause, they should be careful what they wish for.

Odds: $4 via PlayUp

3 – Australia

It’s sacrilege for Australia to go into any tournament and not be expected to win, but given the two above them, that’s very much the case. 

The batting is still there, especially Mitch Marsh and David Warner, who remains in great nick in both India and ODIs, plus there’s yer usual Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood.

But the same issues from 2019 largely remain. They have to find 10 overs out of Glenn Maxwell/someone else.

Will they score fast enough to give their bowlers a chance if pitches are flat? Will they bat deep enough if they turn? They only have one frontline spinner at a tournament in Asia.

They also get three of their hardest matches in the opening four, with India first, then the Saffers, then Pakistan fourth. 

They have to start fast. There’s a reason why they’re just a little bit down on India and England in the betting. 

Odds: $5 via PlayUp

4 – Pakistan

On the face of it, there’s a lot to love about Pakistan. They’ve got Babar Azam, the best batter in the world in the ODI rankings, and Imam-ul-Haq, the fifth best. 

They’ve got Shaheen Shah Afridi leading the attack, currently averaging 23 in ODIs at a strike rate of 26, which is really very good indeed.

Ah, but…they don’t have Naseem Shah, injured, who had an even better record and is a huge miss. Throw him in and you’re turning a top three into a top four.

They did just play very badly at the Asia Cup, too, but didn’t get to their ranking by accident. Then again, there’s absolutely no point previewing Pakistan ahead of the World Cup as they are, to their loveable credit, chaos merchants of the highest order.

They’ll lose to the Netherlands then beat India and England, because Pakistan, in case you’ve missed it, are mercurial.

Odds: $7 via PlayUp

5 – South Africa

Right, stereotypes out of the way: let’s get to South Africa. They’re rubbish at tournaments and will choke.

This lot might well be exception to the rule, though that might be because nobody expects much, therefore making choking impossible.

On paper, there’s a lot to love. The middle order of Rassie van der Dussen, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller and Aiden Markram is enough to put fear into the hearts of anyone, and they’ll stick Quinton de Kock and Temba Bavuma in to kick off, too. It’s not without reason that they stuck 416 on Australia recently.

The bowling attack still have Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi steaming in, and Keshav Maharaj is as wily as they come on potentially spinning pitches.

Yet…but yet…are they in the top three? No. Have they proven themselves over time like Pakistan have? Not really. Realistically, they’re in the middle of the pack, but could beat anyone.

If, as has been suggested, this is actually a batters’ tournament, then expect them to do well and be a threat.

Odds: $11 via PlayUp

6 – New Zealand

The Kiwis fly under the radar, because they always do. They’ve been back-to-back runner’s up despite nobody giving them a chance, but that generation is ageing fast and, even more than with England, this is their last hurrah.

Still, Kane Williamson has made a miraculous comeback from an ACL, and Trent Boult is very much among the best in the world, with left arm pace that rivals Starc and Shaheen in the global states.

One suspects that the miracle comeback might push Williamson a little too far, however, and if he were to go down, it would be curtains for the Black Caps. Tim Southee has also been injured and lacks match practice.

Off the top, they’ll go Boult, Southee and Lockie Ferguson, which is pretty vicious, but that does leave 20 overs’ worth of Ish Sodhi and Mitch Santner, and anyone good will be very pleased about that. 

The draw gives them a tough start against England, but NZ will be favourites in all of their next three, and have the added advantage of getting India, likely the least spin-friendly wicket.

On a good day they can beat anyone, but on a bad one – say, a spinning wicket in Chennai, where they face Bangladesh and Afghanistan – they could also be rolled.

Odds: $10 via PlayUp

7 – Sri Lanka 

It was all going so well. Sri Lanka were forced to qualify for this tournament, but went to Zimbabwe and absolutely wiped the floor with the competition, proving their worth and suggesting that, in fact, they might be a threat.

Then Wanindu Hasaranga got injured, depriving them of their best spinner, as did Dushmantha Chameera, their best seamer. Then they got rolled for 50 on home soil by India in the Asia Cup final. Then, the bloodletting on the back of that drubbing nearly lead to Dasun Shanaka losing the captaincy. 

Now, anything could happen. The Lankans still have the talent in there – Kusal Mendis, Charith Asalanka, Dimuth Karunaratne – and some up-and-comers, like 20-year-old Dunith Wellalage, widely-tipped as a breakout star in Hasaranga’s stead.

They’ll have no expectations at all given the upheaval, and have proven that they are far too good for the next rung down. It’s hard to see them getting to the semis – but we’d have all said that in 2019, too, before they went on a tear and nearly made it.

Odds: $23 via PlayUp

8 – Bangladesh 

The Tigers hop over the border into India with their usual combination of chaos and hope. 

In the good column, they love ODIs in Asia, and we’re about to play an entire World Cups’ worth of them, and have a few players of spectacular talent, especially Shaki Al Hasan and Litton Das, who can strike fear into the hearts of opponents. 

In the bad, there’s the absence of Tamim Iqbal from a team that really can’t afford to ditch it’s best players. He’s fallen out with just about everyone, not least Shakib, and isn’t in the squad.

Bangladesh can certainly cause bigger teams problems and, like Sri Lanka, will feel at home in the conditions. They even beat India at the Asia Cup and in a bilateral series less than 12 months ago.

They’ve never finished higher than seventh, so any improvement on that will likely be seen as a victory given the chaos, but with a fair wind, could go ever better.

Odds: $34 via PlayUp

9 – Afghanistan

Things are never simple with Afghanistan cricket. Rashid Khan is in open dispute with the national board, which doesn’t help, plus they didn’t win a game at the Asia Cup. 

But there’s reasons to be optimistic. Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman are two of the best spinners in the game and this is a tournament that might well take spin. Every team that isn’t India would take both in a heartbeat.

If they can bat well enough to give their bowlers something to aim at, then there’s no reason they can’t challenge some of the big boys, and you’d back them to be a lot better than the Dutch in friendly conditions.

Odds: $101 via PlayUp

10 – Netherlands

If ever there was a team who have already won the World Cup by qualifying, it’s the Netherlands. 

They got through the Qualifier despite missing a host of players from the English County Championship to leave three Test nations (Ireland, Zimbabwe and the West Indies) at home.

In the course of the tournament, however, they actually lost to Zimbabwe and tied the West Indies, while also losing to Sri Lanka, twice, only for results elsewhere to see them home. For context, Scotland, whom the Dutch defeated to qualify, beat all three Test nations.

The Netherlands come in with high hopes, however. Bas de Leede was the star of qualifying, with a five-fer and a hundred in the crucial win over Scotland, and they get to add in Logan van Beek, who has been on a tear in English domestic cricket, and Roelof van de Merwe, now 38, who brings elite experience from South Africa.

Winning a game might realistically be the best that they can hope for, and not getting marmalised: England fell two short of taking 500 off them in the summer of 2022, which stands as something of a cautionary tale.

Odds: $2001 via PlayUp