Cricket World Cup - the most open ever?
One of the most open World Cups in cricket history gets under way on 19 February and you'll be able to follow all the excitement on the 91Èȱ¬.
The tournament is being played across three countries - India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka - and you can make a pretty strong case for most of the teams taking part having a good chance of lifting the trophy. But equally all the favoured sides seem to be having a few things going against them.
and showed some good form in their recent one-day win over England - but are still a side with issues and have lost Mr Cricket after the injury to Mike Hussey.
may start as favourites with the advantage of playing at home - but that can also bring unbelievable pressure.
Spinner will be looking to inspire another of the co-hosts Sri Lanka to victory in his final tournament before international retirement, but they are a team in transition.
seem strong again with what looks like an interesting mix of youth and experience and players like Jacques Kallis and Hashim Amla in great form, but there is always that question mark about them winning tight matches at the climax of tournaments.
Australia are aiming to win the World Cup for the fourth consecutive time. Photo: Getty
You can even make a case for outsiders like Bangladesh. The format of the competition, with two groups of seven teams and the top four qualifying for the knockout stage, means that any side reaching the quarter-finals only has to win three matches in a row to win the trophy.
are likely to play a quarter-final at home in Dhaka and with prestigious talents like Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan you can't dismiss their chances of causing a major upset.
Not many gave remember. Equally you can't rule out teams like Pakistan or New Zealand despite both teams recent struggles on and off the pitch .
Then there is England of course. Three weeks ago people were talking confidently about their chances after the excitement of the Ashes victory - but the heavy ODI series defeat by Australia has at least dampened expectations especially with several injury concerns disrupting preparations - the loss of Eoin Morgan being a particularly huge blow.
But coach Andy Flower and captain Andrew Strauss are masters of the re-group - and England will go into the tournament still with a chance of adding the 50 over title to the Twenty20 crown they secured last year.
You will be able to hear ball-by-ball commentary on all of England's matches at the World Cup on 91Èȱ¬ Radio - but Test Match Special will have much more than just coverage of the England games.
There will be 25 commentaries on Radio 5 Live Sports Extra with 20 of the matches also on Radio Four long wave, starting with the opening game of the tournament between co-hosts Bangladesh and India.
We will then bring you the cream of the other group fixtures including such tasty looking games as India v England, Sri Lanka v Pakistan and Australia against New Zealand and then we will have commentary on all the games from the quarter final stage.
Jonathan Agnew will lead the TMS team, which includes Michael Vaughan who captained England at the last World Cup, and the former India captain who only retired from playing cricket a few days ago. Ganguly led India in the 2003 World Cup final against Australia.
We'll also be joined by two World Cup winners, India legend Sunil Gavaskar who played in the first four tournaments. He played in that shock victory over the West Indies at Lord's in 1983 and Rameez Raja who took the winning catch when Pakistan won the cup beating England in 1992
We have two other former World Cup finalists - Geoff Boycott who played at Lord's in 1979 and Ian Chappell who captained Australia in the first World Cup final in 1975 plus Vic Marks who was in the England team which reached the semi-final in 1983.
We will of course have plenty of coverage of Ireland who will be looking to repeat their giant killing antics of four years ago. Former Irish captain Alan Lewis who played 121 times for Ireland will be part of our team.
Joining Aggers with ball-by-ball commentary will be Simon Mann, Christopher Martin Jenkins, Simon Hughes and Kevin Howells and we have assembled top commentary talent from around the World including Tony Cozier, Bryan Waddle, Glen Mitchell, Roshan Abeysinghe and Shamim Chowdhury.
Five Live will also have extensive coverage with regular updates from matches and reports from across the tournament.
Alison Mitchell will bring daily news from inside the England camp, Adil Ray will be out and about finding out what is happening behind the scenes and Rahul Tandon will have all the latest news from India.
Plus Mark Pougatch will join the team from the quarter final stage to host some special programmes and Phil Tufnell will present his "World Cup Cricket Show" as part of Five Live Sport starting on the 24th February.
There will be plenty of coverage on the 91Èȱ¬ World Service with Lee James presenting special programmes from around the tournament.
91Èȱ¬ TV will have a daily highlights programme across all 37 days of the tournament with Manish Bhasin, Rishi Persad and Sonali Shah presenting from across the subcontinent.
As well as the best of each days action there will be features, interviews and analysis with a host of big name guests. You will be able to watch the programme every evening from 10pm on the red button and at various times on 91Èȱ¬ 2.
And the definitive place online for World Cup news, highlights and features will of course be at bbc.co.uk/cricket with video highlights, text commentaries, blogs, big name columns and pictures from behind the scenes. bbc.co.uk/cricket will also be the hub for the best Twitter links including , , and . Commentary will also be available online for UK listeners.
We'll have plenty of news from the opening ceremony and the warm-up matches before the first commentary at 0800 GMT next Saturday.
Hello I'm Adam Mountford and I'm the 91Èȱ¬ Radio Cricket producer. My main
responsibility is to produce Test Match Special but I also look after our cricket coverage on other 91Èȱ¬ outlets. My blog attempts to give you a flavour of life behind the scenes of the 91Èȱ¬ Cricket team. .
Comment number 1.
At 11th Feb 2011, Roger wrote:You've mentioned all of the test playing teams except West Indies! I have a sneaky feeling that they will do well in the tournament.
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Comment number 2.
At 11th Feb 2011, cric_mas wrote:I think it will be one of the most exciting one also.., with warm up matches starting from tomorrow -, the tension and fun would start to rise...
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Comment number 3.
At 11th Feb 2011, Richard Hamilton wrote:Thanks for the news Adam - I'll definitely be paying attention from the QFs onwards. Good luck with the slog getting to that stage.
I think you mean to start the second para with "There'll..." - see also third-to-last para. Sorry to be such a pedant.
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Comment number 4.
At 11th Feb 2011, FoxesofNuneaton wrote:So we get Highlights on 91Èȱ¬ TV but no fixed time....91Èȱ¬, last time you had cricket highlights you mucked them up.
Why not put the Highlights on 91Èȱ¬ One AFTER the News and NOT 91Èȱ¬2 at 00:25 or 02:35 as the next days games are hours from starting!
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Comment number 5.
At 12th Feb 2011, sportsmania wrote:I dont understand why so many people are writing Pakistan off already! They are unpredictable XI, but I have a strong case for them. They probably have the best alrounders and finishers in the game, and the bowling unit (although not 100% for obvious reasons) is still pretty formidable. If their top order gets a few runs on the board, they will suprise many.
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Comment number 6.
At 12th Feb 2011, Adam Mountford - 91Èȱ¬ Cricket Producer wrote:Re post number one from bigfan. Apologies for not naming the West Indies directly. I agree that they could have a good tournament and like several other teams if they can navigate through the group stage then they are fully capable of winning three games in a row to win a third world cup even if they start as outsiders. By the way Ian Bishop is also part of our team at the World Cup.
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Comment number 7.
At 13th Feb 2011, 18years of dominance158 wrote:Should be a close World Cup, my money is on Australia with Sri Lanka to lose just in thte final...again
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Comment number 8.
At 14th Feb 2011, hainba wrote:Adam or anyone from the 91Èȱ¬ please explain the scheduling of the highlights to me and FoxesofNuneaton.
I appreciate Sky having live and first repeat privleges BUT the games are in the morning, Sky highlights should be early evening - so WHY not have the highlights before newsnight?
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Comment number 9.
At 14th Feb 2011, David Shield wrote:The 91Èȱ¬ are doing some highlights shows before Newsnight I believe. The first England match highlights are scheduled for 10.00pm.
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Comment number 10.
At 14th Feb 2011, SportsFan wrote:It is going to be a very exciting and excellent world cup. I fancy one of the host nations or Australia to win this world cup.
I agree with the above comments (4 and 8) about the timing of the 91Èȱ¬ World Cup daily highlights. I don't understand why the 91Èȱ¬ cannot show it earlier at 10pm on 91Èȱ¬2. Sky highlights are scheduled at 8pm to 10pm daily.
Could I please get an explanation on why the highlights are shown so late at night? Also could I get an explanation on why they cannot be shown at 10pm on 91Èȱ¬2?
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Comment number 11.
At 14th Feb 2011, The Great White Duck wrote:Re: Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan, "prodigious" rather than "prestigious" talents, I'd suggest?
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Comment number 12.
At 15th Feb 2011, hainba wrote:David Shield: apologies England first game is earlier BUT
Quote from cricket page 91Èȱ¬ coverage on right hand side
Day 1 23:50
Day 2 (on day 3) 00.35
Day 3 23:20
Day 4: England game 22:00
How is anybody supposed to follow the tournament without a consistent schedule.
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Comment number 13.
At 16th Feb 2011, DrCajetanCoelho wrote:Suswagatham ! Wishing Team TMS, the fourteen participating teams, umpires, match officials, organizers, media and fans an exciting, joy-filled and a memorable Cricket World Cup 2011.
Dr. Cajetan Coelho
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Comment number 14.
At 17th Feb 2011, David Shield wrote:The 91Èȱ¬ highlights will be shown first at 10pm every night on 91Èȱ¬i and 91Èȱ¬ Online.
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Comment number 15.
At 20th Feb 2011, ronnieboy1 wrote:england to win the world cup....better side than india pakistan and sri lanka...australia may be a problem and possibly south africa...west indies no chance. englands fielding is brilliant .
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Comment number 16.
At 20th Feb 2011, newbie wrote:Why are the highlights shown at such a late time? And it's not even a fixed time! When ITV were showing the highlights for the Ashes and the One day series, they were always on at 10:00pm on ITV4. Why can't the 91Èȱ¬ do the same? The 91Èȱ¬ has 4 channels, so they could be shown on any one channel. When Pakistan toured England last year, Channel 5 were showing the highlights at 7:00pm in the evening. I would like Adam Mountford to respond to my question. It would be nice to watch the highlights at an earlier time.
When Channel 5 showed highlights last summer, I did notice alot of young kids playing cricket in local parks, streets etc. I believe that showing sports at an earlier time, will have a positive effect on young kids.
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Comment number 17.
At 2nd Mar 2011, Meryl Coach wrote:This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
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Comment number 18.
At 2nd Mar 2011, OldAnarchist wrote:I have to agree, for once at least Australia seems to be not at their absolute peak. India have the batting line up alright but the bowling attack and the fielding is a bit dodgy. Sri Lanka the same.. Pakistan this time around seem to have the most determined team.
Sad that only the West Indies is not up to scratch as yet - too inconsistent with their performance in my opinion but it's an absolute pleasure to watch Kieron Pollard bat!
Gutted that England lost today's match but well done to Ireland - in case any one thought the minnows were already out of it in this years CWC... wishful thinking! I'll bet there's at least one of them in the semi's just for some added excitement.
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Comment number 19.
At 3rd Mar 2011, David Shield wrote:Just to say that Adam Mountford is the 91Èȱ¬ radio cricket producer.
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Comment number 20.
At 4th Mar 2011, Tim wrote:I notice Cricket Highlights are after midnight on Sunday. Why does the 91Èȱ¬ keep putting coverage of England matches at stupid times ?
Whats the Freeview Red Button channel for ? No one with satellite will look at the Red Button coverage... they'll see it live on Sky.
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Comment number 21.
At 8th Mar 2011, glazier_since_57 wrote:I see the 91Èȱ¬ say on the article about Stuart Broad that England qualify for the quarter finals if they beat Bangladesh. Only 4 qualify and I believe it is possible for England and India to both finish on 7 points with SA WI and Ireland on 8. Thus they could go out on run rate. I remember this happended a few years ago, and everyone believed Engalnd had qualified but a series of odd rain affected results meant that they went out.
Other scenarious could have any number of teams on 7 points. Please 91Èȱ¬ don't count chickens yet.
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