[themaclad]

We win toss and bowl

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

A fine day for it in the end (we've had luck on our side with the weather this tournament), and the boys made it look easy even without Roy and Morgan batting. Almost disappointed with how poor Windies were, but Root's on fire right now.

[Lord Snooty]

Wowzers!

Windies absolutely pumped by Bangladesh.

[themaclad]

Windies batted well although personal view time they said thanks Universal Boss as for Russel never fit one dimension one day slogger

[Devongone]

This IS a brilliant thread largely thanks to Ska'dForLife - WBA .......... but do you really really like the cricket? I know games develop and change, but does what we are seeing do any more than merely approximate to the actual game?

Eoin Morgan hit 17 sixes. That is a century in sixes! The reason a six was a six used to be that it was harder to score than a four. In this game we have fielder limitations to make fours more difficult, whilst bats with huge sweetspots and plenty of meat make going for a six almost a safety-first option. When even a mishit will carry the boundary all you have to do is get it over Ben Stokes and you're fine. Haven't we created the World Subbuteo Cup of Cricket?

I don't mind the big-hitting (Chris Gayle and Jos Buttler can come to tea any time) and I love the inventiveness in this type of cricket and the excellence it encourages in the field, but I'm convinced it will begin to pall if all we do is tinker with it to make several different versions testing essentially the same skill set ........ like The Hundred.

Call me an old fool if you like, because I am, but what I'd do to make a different version of the game is swap over the four and the six. I'd go for 45 overs a side as that could easily be accommodated in a day and would be good for spectators. I'd have no limit on the number of overs an individual bowler could bowl, a tired quickie in his 16th over would become vulnerable so slow bowlers would be well used, but batsmen would also have to find better ways of combating them than a wild slog. I'd allow fielders to be placed wherever the captain liked (so a six skimming the grass would be well worth it). AND I start each side on 100 runs (10 per wicket), and every time they lost a wicket they'd also lose ten of those bonus runs increasing the dilemma whether to chase runs or protect a wicket and save those runs. Additionally if a bowler succeeded in bowling a maiden he would take another OVER off the alloted total (so for instance if the opening over of an innings were a maiden the batting side would go down to 43 not 44 overs left! That would keep batsmen and fielders on their toes on the sixth ball.) AND DUCKWORTH LEWIS WOULD BE ALLOWED NOWHERE NEAR MY FORM OF THE GAME, nor would light meters, and umpires would be encouraged to swap from a red to a white ball if the light became dicey. Only if the game became physically dangerous or the captains agreed would a game be stopped and declared a draw.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Week Three Roundup

A little over halfway through the group stage, and there's now clear daylight between the four tournament favourites and the rest of the pack. New Zealand, Australia, India and England should all be semi-finalists come next month, and there's little in the way of a challenge from elsewhere. At this moment, Bangladesh are best-placed to try and nick a spot after an even better campaign than I predicted for them, while West Indies could just about do it if they won every remaining fixture (sadly, a tall order for the islanders). There's not even a sniff for South Africa, who are now going through the motions, and Sri Lanka are in a false position thanks to two abandonments that they'd almost certainly have lost otherwise. Pakistan just can't get their act together despite some brilliant individual performances, and are now nothing more than a banana skin for the favourites; and neutrals everywhere are still keeping their fingers crossed for Afghanistan to just get that one big result.

In the individual stakes, three batsmen have passed the halfway mark to breaking Sachin Tendulkar's record 673 runs in a World Cup, while two bowlers are halfway to Glenn McGrath's 26 wickets.

Leading Run-scorers

1. Shakib Al Hasan (BAN) - 384
2. Joe Root (ENG) - 367
3. Aaron Finch (AUS) - 343
4. Rohit Sharma (IND) - 319
5. David Warner (AUS) - 281


Leading Wicket-takers

1. Mohammad Aamer (PAK) - 13 [for 170]
2. Mitchell Starc (AUS) - 13 [for 249]
3. Jofra Archer (ENG) - 12
4. Lockie Ferguson (NZ) - 11 [for 158]
5. Patrick Cummins (AUS) - 11 [for 207]

[Lord Snooty]

England still vulnerable as we have the other three of that top  4 still to play.

[themaclad]

Australia beat Bangladesh have to say Warner batted excellently

[Lord Snooty]

The ghost of Malinga has come back to haunt England once more.

[themaclad]

Give them a flat deck score thousands on a wicket were you have to graft a different story, Aussies, India and Zealand next three games oops

---

In trouble now lost by 20