7.53PM Neither of the openers Sanga and Tharanga has score a WC century. Both had mediocre 2007 WC’s but Sangakkara has been in blistering form over the last 15 months and is ranked near the top in ODI’s.

You can’t keep Warnie out of the game .He has just tweeted : Australia to win by 10 runs or 4 wickets” I don’t think it will be that close. Australia to win well.

7.38PM and I am relying on the Radio commentary because the broadcast on TV does not start till 8PM.

Sri lanka are relying on Australia’s supposed weakness against spin but they may be light on their attack,especially if they post a below par score. Spinners do well if they have runs to play with. Australia will e happy if they can limit SL to 250.

Sri lanka have won the TOSS and will bat they have included 3 spinners and Australia is unchanged from the NZ match. Ponting will want his new ball bowlers to make early inroads. SL rely heavily of Dilshan,Sanga and Jayawardene.

Welcome to this Live Blog,Russ and it is always good to have your knowledge with us. This WC is a test of the 50 overs game. It was only 20 years ago that Jayasuriya and Kalu redefined the first 15 overs. Gilchrist took it to another level and we must also give credit to Tendulkar and Ganguly. Australia have been the Kings since their loss to Sri lanka in Lahore in 1996. That is fifteen years of dominance. Is it coming to an end? I think not in the one day field.

The toss is about 10 minutes away and it partly cloudy and a sweltering 29 degrees.

Russ the elitism I speak of is the bipatite and tripartite deals the big four are fond of doing for their own “good” It is not predicated by any altruism. India and australia have demonstrated they would rather divvy the loot among themselves rather than share it around. That is why it is important to have an ICC..even though its function is at the behest of its overlords.

Tangible benefits for Associates obviously must include regular and sustained exposure to the better teams. I would welcome more Ireland and Zimbabwean players playing in grade or district compettions. There has to be a subsidy to the clubs to offset this. And i can tell you clubs would welcome the extra dollars.

I am not sure if you know but Peter Philpott spent his holidays mentoring and coaching the Sri lankan teams of the 1980’s. The ICC should subsidise good coaches to go to these new emergents. Jason Gillespie is currently in Zimbabwe but I believe it is a commerical deal outside any ICC subsidy. The Academy in Dubai has been host to Netherlands and Canada prior to the WC and there should be more of this. In manhy ways the ICC has lifted the profile of Women’s cricket and their initiatives with the Blind cricketers also warrant commendation. So it is not all bad.

Hope to see you when the game starts.

lopati,this is what is wrong with “rich” cricket boards. They have lost touch with the real fan,the millions that play for no pay and the thousands that administer voluntarily. Dining in the big end of town they look down on cask wine and murder beer with lemon.

The money given to Pakistan for the 1996 WC is still unaudited. Zimbabwe has more sets of books than the melbourne Storm.

I know a junior club in Canberra that has had to beg borrow and steal cricket gear. Cricket survives in spite of our administrators.

I am looking forward to the game so I can forget about cricket’s dark side for a few hours. The battle between Ponting and the M&M’s will be fasicnating. 3M should be the sponsors of this SL team.

Kersi,sorry to disappoint but that is my line. I am in a support Australia mode and willing Australia to get rid of the “pesky mosquito” Sri lanka’s victory,for the first time in Australia last summer,is not a true indication of their respective merits in the one day arena. Australia beat them in the semis of the 2003 WC and annhilated them in the 2007 final. I do believe Australia is the better side and it would be a travesty if Sri lanka beat us tonight.

I expect australia to emerge with distinction in this game and am looking for the top four batsmen to set the tone if they bat first and if they field first I am looking for the three firethrowers to be on target. As we found out aginst NZ a natural disaster or civil war is no reason to go easy on the cricket field. We can feel sympathy off the field but when the Umpire calls play it is “war”

sheek it is ugly and we must speak up. There are many good corporates but the corrupt get away because of the complicity of politicians and bureaucrats.

Public utilities should not be sold to corporations. As soon as Macquarie took over the tollways up went the fees. Sydney Airport is a gouge-mall. $20 for half hour of parking? Which pollie was responsible? Which Dept? Who got paid what? Were the tenders transparent? I think Fred Nile is a puritan but he got it right with the Electricity fiasco.

the carbon tax? Who stands to gain? Follow the money to get the answers.

Coming to sport do the sums. Work out the money involved and see who benefits the most. Not the players(though they are paid more than before). It is the broadcasters. You wouldn’t see it on TV if they were not making money. Unless it was on the ABC. It is time that FTA was given “essential in the national interest” sports…without dicrimination. For this privilege they have to show loss leaders like the Shield.

Not sure of the spot rates here but for the WC in India advertisers are paying upto $7000 for a ten second spot.

We all lead such busy lives that there is no time to channel the outrage we feel.The only time we have is at the ballot box and this is the only time politicians actually listen.

In the end many administrators are incompetent and this also filters through to many large clubs in all codes.

In my sport of choice the questions I have always revolve around: Is this going to help the game? Is it going to enhance the spectacle and also retain its integrity.

There has to be zero tolerance for match fixers. Their records should be forever expunged from the record books. I applaud the ICC for their stand on the three Pakis.They did not leave it to the board. So there is a will to root this out. And in this instance the BCCI and CA,ECB are in agreement and this is good to see. It is not often that I give these boards a tick of approval.

sheek,regarding the vexed potato I just wanted to fin a new word for “hot’. Trying to get away from worn and old cliches.

Players convicted of match-fixing like Butt and Azzurudhin reinvent themselves in a society that has degrees of morality. There is no absolute with middle-classes. The absolute then comes in the form of the poor and the dictator. So given a choice most will choose the middle ground and the silent majority in many case is also the duplicitous majority.

Administraotrs in india are compromised. The next elect of the BCCI is Srinivisan who owns the Chennai franchise and also has Srikanth as his brand ambassador…Srikanth then doubles as National Selector.

Not so bad but Jamie Cox is running SACa and a selector.

Lots to discuss

Russ,you are perceptive. I was being kind but then it was depressing to recount the way England and Australia used the ICC for their own benefit when they were powerful. Now we have them muttering under their breath that India is too powerful.

We could talk about this during the Live Blog tonight if you come on.

mintox,you miss an important point. Twenty20 is less demanding of technique but if this is what you teach them they will never play the long and pure form of the game. Twenty20 is not cricket. It is baseball. You ask Trent Johnston of Ireland and he will tell you he wants to play Test Cricket. I would not ne unhappy if cricket is not played in 200 countries. The subcontinent,Australia,UK.Africa and New Zealand is enough for me. Lets get twenty countries upto speed before we dream of having 50, It is cricket and I do not want to see it cheapened and brought down to the lowest common denominator.

Brett, this is Peyton Place nonsense. Lillee and Marsh placed a bet they never expected to win. It was also in broad daylight and legal. To apaway you have the IOC mixed up with the ICC and as for chastising the Pakistani players they have past and recent form. Three of their players have been banned for 10 years. All the other posters have a think about what you post and by all means have an opinion. But please ,one based on fact and not an unsubstantiated and unnamed source. The ICC is NOT investigating the Australian team. Neither is it investigating the England team. All this speculation is malicious and serves no purpose.

Ben,Ian,lets look at it from the point of view that progress has been made. At least we have the Associates and the Inter-Continental Cup. Lets selectively encourage those with a cricketing “culture” among these.
Looking back Australia actually played 4 Tests against India just after independence in 1947 and England played them in 1952. It is not as if england and australia have been derelict in their responsibilities.
Lots to talk about . why don’t you join me on the Live blog during the SL v Australia game tomorrow. You should see something on this tomorrow morning.

Viscount,guys like Vaughn make a living if the england team is successful. The cynic in me says it is an attempt by the English media to deflect criticism from a woeful performance. When the WC is 50 overs it is silly to play 40 overs in your domestic comp. Just as silly as the australians playing a 45 overs split innings mutant. Illegal betting on matches will carry on regardless of a match being fixed. In fact the money wagered on this world cup will be in excess of 3 billion and some say 4 billion dollars. This is before any match is fixed. The bookies actually lose money when the favourite wins. So logic says this match was not fixed.

Ian,you have been hammering away at the Associates and this vindicates everything you have been posting. And this had nothing to do with the luck of the Irish. The irish made their own luck and the next game against India on the 6th will be packed out. It would be good to see the Irish claim another biggie.

Jason,Ricky Ponting and his men would be thinking this England One Day side is roobish.

Brian,Ireland have actually beaten bangladesh three out of the last four occassions before their loss in this WC. Having just beaten England overnight and Pakistan in the last WC they have shown they are ahead of where Bangladesh were in the same period of their development.
As far as “importing” players go I was serious but they need to spend a three four year qualification period.

David,It just goes to show that Ireland deserve to be in the top 10. As their keeper Niall O Brien said they will let their cricket do the talking. Stirling their no 3 showed his intent when he deposited Broad’s second ball over the fineleg rope.And for good measure stroked a boundary off the next. At 5 down for 111 England had that silly smirk on their face. Every one of Kevin O Briens five 6’s erased part of the smirk and in the end England had the proverbial curried egg on their collective faces.
Take note the gang of four in the ICC. There is a new kid on the block and your cosy afternoon teas and cigars should be a thing of the past.

David,on the issue of player power is this why Nielsen is the coach of the Australian cricket team?
On the subject of betting and destabilising the Australian team it is worth noting that upto 4 billion dollars will be wagered on the WC..all illegal in India. Will it upset the Aussie team? I don’t think so. In fact it will galvanise them to play harder. All those writing off Australia’s chances fail to realise that three consistent matches in a row is what it takes to win the WC. The three most likely are South Africa India and Australia.

I agree the coach is appointed by the board. Players should stick to what they do best.

Brett,you raise an important point in that existing Test playing nations like West indies and New Zealand have been left to their own devices when intervention was called for. I would try to preserve cricket in as Russ says “existing cultures” before running off to China or USA.

Pakistan is a problem entirely of its own politics and culture.Last I knew their 10 million share from the 1996 WC was still unaudited. Till they change as a country it will oscillate from the sublime to the ridiculous. Perhaps the events in Egypt and Libya will be the catalyst for change.

Ben,the debate should be not how woeful the Assciates may be BUT what can be done to improve their skill sets. It is inevitable that players like Dockrell from Ireland will consider the prospect of playing for England. Ireland has made great strides in being able to pay their players where they are now full time professionals. There is ample evidence that they should be fast tracked to Test status.
Closer to home Dean Jones made a suggestion some months ago to “import” young Indian spinners. This has already happened with south Africa and Tahir. Australia has done this with Tennis players,weight lifters,distance runners and pole vaulters. Kepler Wessels opened the batting for australia. If someone is prepared to call Australia home and serve the qualification period I see no harm in this.
Perhaps fringe australian players can look to Ireland or Zimbabwe as a means of playing Test cricket. Many south africans play for England. Interesting times for cricket.

Brett,writing is a relief from changing nappies. With a name like Friend how could he have survived? What should a coachs brief be? Bring out the best of individual abilities for the collective good of the team. The very concept of a backs and forwards coach is already breaking up the team. One team one coach. The modern game(football,rugby league) requires a quick transition from defence to attack. Hockey under Charlesworth best exemplifies this. One coach one outcome.

This is where cricket is losing the plot. A fast bowling coach.A spin bowling coach. a batting coach and a fielding coach. Give me a break. Simpson did all thes things. What do they say about too many cooks in the kitchen?
In the end the players have to take responsibility. These are grown men who have had the best coaching all their lives. Especially at the elite level the players on the park have to take the responsibilty. It does not matter which sport we are talking about.

Brendon,impressive analysis and yet it raises questions as to the “bat for my life” Hobbs and Hutton were first choice for the piece done by Cricinfo last year for openers. Barry Richards and Gavaskar made the 2nd XI and I think these four would figure in the top openers in most discussions.
Next cab off the rank would be Sehwag and I actually rate Sehwag for the way he can define the course of a match. He also “advances” the game and I think this is important when considering greatness. How did a player influence the result of the game?

Another rarely mentioned is Hanif Mohammad. Dour but dependable. I saw him when I was very young but he was obdurate and hard to shift. Atherton? Gooch? Hayden? Greenidge? Worth mentioning as good but not great.

Brett,I would not be surprised to see 7 ODI’s. Not so much the ICC’s fault…more CA and the BCCI lining their own pockets. And if the board’s increase the payment to the players there will not be too much discontent…only the poor fans who will have to put up with this crass squeezing of the last drop.