The Aussies are not invincible - afterall 
THE DAILY JANG](http://www.jang-group.com/jang/feb2007-daily/18-02-2007/update.htm#19)
But still there’s a W I D E gap between #2 and #3 with 126 and 111 points respectively.
Tight world cup ahead 
and the pathetic decision making abilities of PCB](http://www.jang-group.com/jang/feb2007-daily/18-02-2007/sports.htm) 
Re: Austrailia slides down to # 2 spot, Saffies at # 1
New Zealand’s win has lifted them to 111 points and they only trail third-placed Pakistan on decimal points. If they complete a clean sweep against Australia, they will move ahead. 
http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/nzvaus/content/current/story/280788.html
Re: Austrailia slides down to # 2 spot, Saffies at # 1
At one point there was “wide” gap between 1st and 2nd, so shouldn’t be too long before these gaps are filled 
Re: Austrailia slides down to # 2 spot, Saffies at # 1
^
yeah pak will keep on sliding down n down n down n down n finally will meet their brothers the zimbabweans at the bottom of the list…
Re: Austrailia slides down to # 2 spot, Saffies at # 1
south africa has a pretty damn good chance of winning the world cup this time around.they have beaten australia at home recenlty 3-2.australia's bowling and batting would nt be the same without lee and symonds.
Re: Austrailia slides down to # 2 spot, Saffies at # 1
John Buchanan's recent arrogant comments "we aren't being challenged" have come back to haunt him. The silly shi***** deserves it!
Re: Austrailia slides down to # 2 spot, Saffies at # 1
http://www.abc.net.au/sport/content/200702/s1850786.htm
Australia now the hunter: Hussey
Acting Australian captain Mike Hussey says he and his team-mates are disappointed at having lost their world number one ranking in one-day cricket to South Africa.
Sunday’s Chappell-Hadlee series defeat to New Zealand means Australia have slipped out of top position for the first time since the rankings were introduced in October 2002.
The Black Caps won game two in Auckland yesterday by five wickets, achieving the victory target of 337 with eight balls to spare.
Hussey says Australia is now determined to regain top spot.
“I guess now we become the hunter, we’ve been the hunted for so long,” he said.
“I guess we need to keep working hard and we need to hunt that number one position back.”
Hussey said he was not concerned by Australia’s form heading into next month’s World Cup, claiming they will bounce back.
He has refused to criticise Australia’s bowlers after their failure to successfully defend a big score.
“We need to get better at it (bowling at the depth), there’s no question about that and we’re exploring every avenue to do that and we’ll keep working at it and we’ll be fine,” he said.
One-day rankings
Re: Austrailia slides down to # 2 spot, Saffies at # 1
Pakistan should get ready to HUNT the # 9 or # 10 spot
if they dont quickly get out of the Dope/Woolmer/Shoby/Asif mess
Because I think you all know - that even if you score 500+ runs in a 50 over match, you still need a BOWLER who can bowl out the opponents. Thats the basic fundamental rule of the game - getting the opponents OUT
Someone up there at PCB has to use some braincells - very soon
Re: Austrailia slides down to # 2 spot, Saffies at # 1
This is Australia’s first four-game losing streak since 1997.
We want World Cup, Pollock
Alex Brown in Auckland
February 19, 2007
http://www.smh.com.au/news/news/we-want-world-cup-pollock/2007/02/18/1171733612271.html
Not content with seizing one of Australian cricket’s prize possessions, the No.1 limited-overs ranking, the South Africans have set their sights on procuring another - the World Cup.
The Proteas’ veteran paceman, Shaun Pollock, has vowed his side will not be satisfied until they have the World Cup in their keep, completing an erosion of Australia’s one-day reputation that began with their world-record run chase at the Wanderers last year.
“It would obviously be great for us to get that No.1 ranking, but the only thing anybody is going to remember is who wins the World Cup,” Pollock told the Herald yesterday. "We have got ourselves into a position where we think we can make a strong challenge for it.
“It is always something we have strived for, to become the best in the world. I think the Test ranking is more important than the one-day ranking, because there is no real world championship of Test cricket. So, to us, the World Cup is our major goal in the one-day game.”
The Proteas’ rise to first place on the limited-overs table this week hardly happened by chance. Australia’s dire form of late has coincided with a powerful South African surge that began with a series victory over Ricky Ponting’s men last year, capped by that unforgettable win at the Wanderers.
“It definitely gave us a lot of belief,” Pollock said. "That was a game in which we faced so much adversity, set a target of 430-odd. To come through from the position we were in gave the boys a lot of confidence. But I think more importantly was the fact that that win gave us the series.
“To win a series against the best team in the world at the time was a tremendous boost for us. If we had won that last game but still lost the series 4-1, I don’t think it would have had the same effect on us. To get the series win after a tough tour to Australia was fantastic.”
The South Africans have won 13 of their past 16 completed games, including a series sweep of India and a recent 3-1 victory over third-ranked Pakistan. Their batting, led by the revived Graeme Smith, has been brisk and consistent, while their bowlers have proved miserly and, at times, destructive; none more so than Pollock.
Twice in his past six 10-over spells, the veteran right-armer has conceded fewer than 20 runs. In his latest outing against Pakistan, at the batsman-friendly Wanderers last week, Pollock claimed the stunning match figures of 5-23 against a batting line-up that included the prolific Mohammad Yousuf and enigmatic Inzamam-ul-Haq.
Following that performance, Pollock (920 rating points) surged to third in the ICC all-time one-day international bowlers rankings, bettered only by Joel Garner (940)* and Richard Hadlee** (923) *
The form spike could not have come at a better time for Pollock. Having lost the South African captaincy at the conclusion of a calamitous 2003 World Cup campaign, the affable paceman now has the chance to lift his teammates in the corresponding tournament four years later.
“There was disappointment in 2003, but we have a very different side now with a lot of new faces,” he said. “We have never won a World Cup, so that is more motivation than trying to erase memories of 2003.”
Pollock, though, is wary of short-selling Australia, despite their dire four-game losing streak.
“You have to put it into context,” he said. “They’ve had a bad run recently, but they haven’t suddenly become a bad team. Injuries haven’t helped them. They’ve still got quality players, and I have no doubt that they will be very competitive at the World Cup.”
Clearly, South Africa’s taste of the No.1 limited-overs ranking this week hasn’t proved overly intoxicating.
Re: Austrailia slides down to # 2 spot, Saffies at # 1
You wish 
… check out where your favorites England and India are i.e. below Pakistan
Re: Austrailia slides down to # 2 spot, Saffies at # 1
^
i have no fav teams…:halo: i only support cricket the game…:k:
waise bhi india/eng have better chances of winning games at the WC than your beloved teampak which for now can’t even figure out how to hold a bat for 10sec without getting out 10times in 10secs…
Re: Austrailia slides down to # 2 spot, Saffies at # 1
Is that lying thru teeth or tongue?
Re: Austrailia slides down to # 2 spot, Saffies at # 1
yes Pak is much better team than Aus and Zimbabwe :p
Highest **ODI totals by SA**
438-9 (49.5 overs) South Africa v Australia Johannesburg 2005/06
418-5 (50 overs) South Africa v Zimbabwe Potchefstroom 2006/07
392-6 (50 overs) South Africa v Pakistan Centurion 2006/07
363-3 (50 overs) South Africa v Zimbabwe Bulawayo 2001/02
354-3 (50 overs) South Africa v Kenya Cape Town 2001/02
329-6 (50 overs) South Africa v Zimbabwe Durban 2004/05
328-3 (50 overs) South Africa v Netherlands Rawalpindi 1995/96
326-3 (50 overs) South Africa v Australia Port Elizabeth 2001/02
Re: Austrailia slides down to # 2 spot, Saffies at # 1
Defending big scores a World Cup worry
Bowlers create headaches for Australia
Brydon Coverdale
There is one bright spot in the darkness of Australia’s recent run of poor one-day form: their batting will be boosted by the return of the rested Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist and Michael Clarke for the World Cup. They can take no solace from their bowling situation.
Australia’s inability to defend 336 at Auckland on Sunday was the latest in a worrying series of big targets they have proved incapable of protecting. New Zealand’s impressive effort was the second-highest successful run-chase in ODI history and was nestled between two other Australian failures from the past 14 months.
In their second-last match before they travel to the World Cup, it should be a major concern for a team that has had its bowling line-up largely settled since at least the Champions Trophy in October. Only Shaun Tait has been added for his ability to bowl fast, inswinging yorkers at the death but he is yet to demonstrate that skill at international level.
Big scores could be common in the West Indies, where the small grounds will encourage the sort of boundary-clearing strokes that led to a combined 20 sixes at Eden Park on Sunday. Unless Australia’s attack can remember how to bowl some tight, containing overs in the middle or closing stages, their one-day crown will be in danger of slipping even further.
Glenn McGrath and Nathan Bracken, two of their most reliable performers, have been below par in 2006-07. Both suffered at the destructive hands of Jacob Oram at Perth as New Zealand came agonisingly close to overhauling Australia’s 343. The pair was also part of the four-man pace attack that could not break the partnership between Paul Collingwood and Ian Bell after England were in desperate trouble in the first CB Series final at Melbourne.
Bracken has picked up wickets here and there but his consistency in breaking top-order partnerships with the swinging white ball has fallen away. McGrath has not rediscovered the joy of his Test farewell and his ageing body has been unable to produce the metronomic accuracy that formerly demanded respect from batsmen the world over.
Mitchell Johnson has left behind the form that earned him the prize wickets of Brian Lara, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar at the DLF Cup in September. When he plays, he is now targeted by batsmen who want to belt him out of the attack.
As Ross Taylor and Peter Fulton reeled in the target at Auckland, what Australia needed was a string of miserly overs that ballooned the required run-rate close to ten an over. Tait, McGrath, Bracken and Shane Watson all threatened to do it but there was always a loose ball just around the corner that let the batsmen relieve the pressure with a boundary.
Australia have missed Andrew Symonds and his habit of tearing through overs of offspin as their fit slow-bowling options, Brad Hogg and Cameron White, went for a combined 87 from ten overs. White is, at this stage, not going to the West Indies but Hogg needs to regain the form that made him such a useful part of Australia’s 2003 World Cup squad.
He has had limited opportunities this season and his knack for picking up important wickets seems to have deserted him. Batsmen have been willing to push him around and try for boundaries by hitting with the spin. On big grounds that can lead to outfield catches but on smaller ones he will need more control.
Within the 15-man World Cup squad, there are precious few other possibilities. Johnson was the only fit bowler going to the Caribbean who did not play on Sunday but he went for 49 from his eight overs two days earlier as New Zealand inflicted Australia’s first ten-wicket loss. There will be a temptation to bring in Stuart Clark, who is known for his consistency, if Brett Lee does not recover from his ankle injury.
That might not be the best solution. Clark has been a Test match star but like the others, he has been too costly in the limited-overs game. His predictability - and on occasions his lack of control of the white ball - have led to an economy rate of 6.40 from his last ten games. He was the leading culprit as West Indies chased down Australia’s 272 in Malaysia in September, when he went for 87 from seven overs as Chris Gayle unleashed a fierce assault.
Australia say they have been fine-tuning their attack in the lead-up to the World Cup. But they cannot possibly suggest their bowling line-up is in its best shape after their recent efforts, although Watson showed some promising signs on Sunday with his control and subtle variations. McGrath, Bracken, Johnson, Watson and Hogg are all capable of match-winning spells on their day. However, limited-overs bowling is largely about containment and unless they can remember how to restrict the runs, they will go to the West Indies in serious danger of being overpowered.
In their pool matches the No. 1-ranked South Africa will be looking to justify their promotion and Australia must be on their game to contain Herschelle Gibbs and his team-mates. After that, any number of sides and individuals could hurt Australia. A destructive Gayle, a resurgent Sanath Jayasuriya, a fit-again Oram or a rejuvenated Sourav Ganguly are just a few of the countless threats. They have all taken notice of the last month and will want to prove they too can conquer the former masters.
http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/australia/content/current/story/280830.html
Re: Austrailia slides down to # 2 spot, Saffies at # 1
Sobers backs Australia to recover
http://www.abc.net.au/sport/content/200702/s1853707.htm
West Indies great Garfield Sobers says he is confident Australia will bounce back from their recent string of losses and make a strong title defence at next month’s World Cup in the Caribbean.
The world champions were whitewashed 3-0 in the one-day series against hosts New Zealand which finished on Tuesday, having only just lost 2-0 to England at home in the finals of a triangular tournament.
The three-times winners have also been hit by injuries.
“I think they will now realise what they have to do and they will get it right by the time they arrive in the Caribbean,” Sobers told reporters during a visit to India.
"Australia is always a force to reckon with. (But) I think they should have waited until after the World Cup to play the series," he said, referring to the Chappell-Hadlee series with New Zealand.
The 70-year-old Sobers said West Indies, winners in 1975 and 1979, were also serious contenders for the tournament, which starts on March 13.
“If you had asked me three years ago, I’d have said West Indies definitely did not have a chance,” he said.
“But in the last year or so, West Indies seem to have turned the corner. And playing at home is going to give them a little bit of advantage.”
He said former champions India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka along with top-ranked one-day team South Africa had an equal chance of winning the World Cup.
Re: Austrailia slides down to # 2 spot, Saffies at # 1
The gap between #2 and #3 is reduced by 3 points with 125 and 113 respectively. The gap between #1 and #2 is increased by a point. Pak slipped to 4th position due to an excellant display by NZ.
Aus can improve that if Symonds recover before WC, otherwise even BD can chase a total against them without him.
Re: Austrailia slides down to # 2 spot, Saffies at # 1
stop being so negative
anyone remember pakistans run up to the world cup 92?