Expectation of the Team, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe

After passing a very bad time, Zimbabwe is determined to turn off. Prosper Utseya who is the captain of Zimbabwe Cricket Team, has declared that they will win the series.

ECB reported:

Morale in camp is soaring,” Utseya said. “All the players are raring to go. We are out to do well, and if the sky holds we want to do just that. Our preparations have gone on pretty well and I am optimistic that the boys will deliver the goods.

“The playing conditions are on our side so all we need to do is pull in one direction as a team, stick to the basics and take our chances when they come.

“The other thing that might just work in our favour is that we have retained the same team that beat Bangladesh 3-2 at the same venue last year.”

Bangladesh Captain Habibul Bashar considered that Zimbabwe team is strong and he added the series will be very competitive.

“Look at what has been happening to us since we started playing them. If they were a weak side then what would be the point in being here at all for any matches?”

"We are actually getting stronger by playing Zimbabwe and that is a good thing for both of us (Zimbabwe and Bangladesh) because we will be improving on our mistakes.

"We are ready for the fight, yes I know when Zimbabwe came to Bangladesh towards the end of last year we managed to whitewash them.

"Zimbabwe are a strong side especially at home so for us that means we have a big challenge but what we are looking for is a definite win," said Bashar.

These four match series will play at Harare in Zimbabwe from 4-10 Feb. Both captain is determine to win the series.

Match Schedule of World Cup Cricket ‘07

Opening Ceremony

Event Day Date Activity 10 Sun 11 Mar OPENING CEREMONY

Group Stage

Event Day	Date	Group A St. Kitts & Nevis	Group B Trinidad & Tobago	Group C Saint Lucia	Group D Jamaica
12	Tue 13 Mar	****	****	****	West Indies vs Pakistan
13	Wed 14 Mar	Australia vs Scotland	****	Kenya vs Canada	****
14	Thu 15 Mar	****	Sri Lanka vs Bermuda	****	Zimbabwe vs Ireland
15	Fri 16 Mar	South Africa vs The Netherlands	****	England vs New Zealand	****
16	Sat 17 Mar	****	India vs Bangladesh	****	Pakistan vs Ireland
17	Sun 18 Mar	Australia vs The Netherlands	****	England vs Canada	****
18	Mon 19 Mar	****	India vs Bermuda	****	West Indies vs Zimbabwe
19	Tue 20 Mar	South Africa vs Scotland	****	New Zealand vs Kenya	****
20	Wed 21 Mar	****	Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh	****	Zimbabwe vs Pakistan
21	Thu 22 Mar	Scotland vs The Netherlands	****	New Zealand vs Canada	****
22	Fri 23 Mar	****	India vs Sri Lanka	****	West Indies vs Ireland
23	Sat 24 Mar	Australia vs South Africa	****	England vs Kenya	****
24	Sun 25 Mar	****	Bermuda vs Bangladesh	****	****

Second Stage - Super Eight

Event Day	Date	Group A Antigua & Barbuda	Group B Grenada	Group C Guyana	Group D Barbados
26	Tue 27 Mar	D2 vs A1		****
27	Wed 28 Mar	****		A2 vs B1
28	Thu 29 Mar	D2 vs C1		****
29	Fri 30 Mar	****		D1 vs C2
30	Sat 31 Mar	A1 vs B2		****
31	Sun 01 Apr	****		D2 vs B1
32	Mon 02 Apr	B2 vs C1		****
33	Tue 03 Apr	****		D1 vs A2
34	Wed 04 Apr	C2 vs B1		****
37	Sat 07 Apr	****		B2 vs A2
38	Sun 08 Apr	A1 vs C2		****
39	Mon 09 Apr	****		D1 vs C1
40	Tue 10 Apr		D2 vs A2
41	Wed 11 Apr		****		C2 vs B2
42	Thu 12 Apr		B1 vs C1		****
43	Fri 13 Apr		****		A1 vs D1
44	Sat 14 Apr		A2 vs C1		****
45	Sun 15 Apr		****		B2 vs D1
46	Mon 16 Apr		A1 vs B1		****
47	Tue 17 Apr		****		A2 vs C2
48	Wed 18 Apr		D1 vs B1		****
49	Thu 19 Apr		****		D2 vs B2
50	Fri 20 Apr		A1 vs C1		****
51	Sat 21 Apr		****		D2 vs C2

Semi - Final Round

Event Day	Date	Semi Final 1 Jamaica	Semi Final 2 Saint Lucia
54	Tue 24 Apr	2nd vs 3rd
55	Wed 25 Apr		1st vs 4th

Final

Event Day	Date	Barbados
58	Sat 28 Apr	Final

Cricket world Cup ’07 and the Security system

The security system of World Cup Cricket ’07 will be very strong. Attorney General, Mr. Dale Marshall, discussed that more than these 400 trained police and military person would observe always.

Yahoo reported:

"Certainly we are happy to have the expert assistance of very well trained officers coming from abroad in areas of counter-terrorism activities. We want to have them available to us, but I want to assure you and the public that this is not in anyway a long term measure. The legislative arrangements would be sunset and so after Cricket World Cup they would fall away from the statute books," the Barbados Attorney-General explained as he addressed media officials at the conclusion of the tour of the airport.

He informed that the Region has already begun to reap dividends from the regional approach to law enforcement.

"The intelligence arrangements headed by Commander of Regional Forces, Colonel Antony Anderson, have already been paying off for the Region. Our intelligence networks have led to us being able to take pre-emptive action where there would have been very serious threats to the safety of Caribbean people. That has given us the encouragement that we needed to be sure that the Region was on the right track," said Mr. Marshall.

I am thinking about that will the security system effect in the fans of the world cup cricket?

Five one day match series: Last opportunity to modify both of the team

After playing the test series South Africa and Pakistan both are taking preparation for one day International. In 5 match series they both will show their highest performance which they will implement in the next Cricket World Cup in West Indies.

Angola press reported:

South Africa’s 15-man squad for the series is their probable World Cup party, while Pakistan have named a 17-man squad for the series, indicating they need to do some fine tuning ahead of the tournament in the Caribbean.

"It’s taken us two years to build our one-day team," said South African captain Graeme Smith. "We’ve been pretty consistent in one-day cricket over the last few years and we would like to carry that on going forward to the World Cup. We’re a powerful one-day team and we’re confident."

Smith said Pakistan would provide strong opposition in a battle between the second and third teams on the International Cricket Council rankings.

It is the last chance to adjust their team before world cup cricket. So both teams will take this series very serious.

Shoaib is hopeful to play in the next Cricket World Cup ‘07

Shoaib became seriously injured in the second test at Port Elizabeth earlier this month between Pakistan and South Africa. He is hoping that he will be fit for the next world cup.

Features South Africa reported

"I was willing to take injections and bowl in the second innings of the test, but doctors told me I should not take the risk of a further injury," Shoaib told reporters on Wednesday.

"I was told to return to Pakistan and recover from my injury to prepare for the World Cup which is my main target now."

The 31-year-old strike bowler, who has a history of breakdowns, was also diagnosed with fluid in his knee.

He was left out of the original squad for South Africa because of poor fitness, but said he was 80 percent fit.

In South Africa, Shoaib was involved in an altercation with coach Bob Woolmer, which was caught on television, at the start of the second day's play in Port Elizabeth.

He said the issue had been resolved.

"There was an incident and it occurred because of a misunderstanding," Shoaib said. "Woolmer didn't realise how serious my injury was and I reacted strongly to his queries. But it is now sorted out."

Shoaib was forbidden for two-year in November after testing positive for taking. After the test the result comes to his favorer it was his first test.