Just how good is....

the Proteas prep going into the WC?

The big 3 have certainly looked after themselves, by big 3 I mean Oz, England and India, the countries who rule cricket.

Just how coincidental is it that they're playing each other in a triangular series just prior to the WC. By the time the series is over they'd be familiar with the wickets and conditions.

Oz scrapped the triangular series yonks ago only to revive it in the WC year, NZ will be fine as they are playing most of their matches on home turf.

I believe the Proteas, Windies and minnow teams won't have as good a preparation as the Big 3.

Absolutely....AB is very good, of that there is no doubt but he has to frank his form on the world stage at the WC  preferably against the Ozzie pace attack if he wants to take his place amongst the legends of the game. 

They're now comparing him to Viv Richards.....I hesitate, there was an aura about Viv, bowlers crapped themselves and young up and coming bowlers were put to the sword with devastating effect subsequently ending their careers. Viv also  won the Windies a WC.

Three batsmen scored centuries in that last ODI......was it because of great batting or piss poor average bowling?

I'm afraid there's some questions to be answered....time will tell.

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Very good point denny. I'm also wondering whether beating up on the WI in an endless series of meaningless contests at home is helping or misleading us.....regards secondary bowlers and the ability of our batsmen is a tight spot.  I suppose the fact that we played Oz in Oz  last November helps but the WI are not exactly showing toughness and guile.

Memories are a bit short (like mine!).

If some still question AB's brilliance, then look at this:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_UPBYMYpcI

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The debate is not about AB's brilliance, the debate is whether he can take his place alongside of WC greats, we all know that's he' exceptionally talented and that he has a good record but there's just something more a player has to achieve to be a legend.   

Did you ever have the privilege of seeing Sir Viv Richards play? ....or per chance follow his career? 

I guess the answer is ......no.

Here, a titbit to enlighten you....not that it will help.

 "He arrived at that mantra on his first tour to Australia in 1975-76, with Ian Chappell's team in full flight behind the berserkers of Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson. So fast were they bowling at that point in their careers that they were quite literally unplayable. Thomson, in particular, could send a ball screaming from one end of the pitch to another in less time than science tells us a human being can possibly react.

And Richards played that series as the West Indians would play every series for the following decade or so. That is, at full tilt - with maximum prejudice and malice directed at the fast men who were trying to undo him. No matter how short the ball, or how steeply it rose off the pitch to tear at his throat, he fairly skipped on to the front foot to smash away one boundary after another."

and here is another titbit...

 "For all their blinding pace, both Lillee and Thomson spent much of that summer standing helplessly, mouths agape, as their lightning bolts screamed back overhead to clatter loudly into sightscreens and picket fences. Richards - half-smile, half-sneer - dared them to bowl faster."

Now that's what I call greatness.

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