Some early indicators for the 2015 Cricket World Cup

India will find it tough to defend their World Cup crown on foreign soil

By: Matthew Harris (Sky Sports and Huffington Post)

Test cricket currently dominates the international schedule but with the 2015 World Cup looming, attention will soon turn to the One Day form of the game. The tournament itself starts in February 2015 so, with little more than six months remaining, which countries are in form ahead of the first ball?

Home advantage

Australia and New Zealand are joint hosts for the 11th One Day World Cup and as you may expect, the Aussies are favourites at 3.20 with Betfair to lift the trophy. After demolishing England on their winter tour, Michael Clarke’s men climbed to the top of the ICC ODI rankings and the side will have a busy schedule leading up to the tournament, starting with the Triangular series against Zimbabwe and South Africa in August.

Australia haven’t played a one day international since their final game against England at the end of January, but all signs were good. Aaron Finch and David Warner form the most explosive opening partnership in world cricket and if Michael Clarke and Mitchell Johnson can stay fit, the Aussies will be the side to beat.

New Zealand continue to perform strongly in all forms of the game and their batting will be strong in 2015. Brendon McCullum, Ross Taylor, Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson will be supported by Jimmy Neesham and Corey Anderson in the middle order and if the bowlers can keep things tight, the Kiwis should progress to the knockout stages at the very least.

Recent Series

Traditionally, South Africa do not travel well when it comes to limited-overs cricket, particularly to the subcontinent but AB De Villiers’ side were hugely impressive in taking a 2-1 series win over Sri Lanka in July. Hashim Amla was in supreme form, scoring two hundreds in the series while Quinton de Kock and De Villiers also made tons as their team passed 300 on two separate occasions.

Australia and New Zealand will also offer favourable conditions for South Africa’s strong bowling attack led by Dale Steyn. The Proteas have yet to win a major ICC trophy but judging by the form shown in the Sri Lanka series, this may finally be their time.

Sri Lanka themselves will have been disappointed by those recent performances, particularly after defeating England by three matches to two in a controversial series earlier in the season. Angelo Mathews’ men will now play Pakistan before hosting the English again at the end of 2014.

As for England’s hopes, it’s clear that they are undergoing a ‘transitional period’ under Peter Moores and little is expected from them at the 2015 World Cup. There are criticisms of a relatively pedestrian opening partnership of Alastair Cook and Ian Bell and perhaps the selectors need to be brave and to introduce a power hitter such as Alex Hales at the top of the order.

Upcoming clashes

Before England and Sri Lanka do battle again, Cook will lead his side in five ODIs against the touring Indians. MS Dhoni’s men have been poor away from home and a 4-0 reverse against New Zealand in January suggests they will struggle to retain their trophy.

Elsewhere, Pakistan will always threaten with their bright, if inconsistent brand of One Day cricket while West Indies currently seem to prefer the T20 format, almost to the complete exclusion of all other forms of the game.

Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Ireland, Afghanistan, Scotland and the UAE will also travel to Australia and New Zealand in 2015 but while they are capable of providing the occasional upset, it’s hard to see any of these sides progressing beyond the group stages.

The forthcoming World Cup promises to be the most entertaining and possibly the closest tournament ever but can these recent ODIs really help us to pick a winner?