Cricket World Cup 2007

Undoubtedly the biggest surprise of the latest edition of the world cup is that the Irish are through to the Super 8s level, a feat that would have been laughed at by most had it been ventured prior to the commencing of the tournament. The big guns from the subcontinent managed to prove once more that consistency is one aspect of the game thats missing from their Caribbean luggage, perhaps all the holiday gear took up all the available compartments. Pakistan gifted the Irish with their passport to the next round on St. Patrick's Day (miracles do happen, if you were an unbeliever then here's your example). India managed to perform worse than Bangladesh in all areas of play and went down to the youngsters in their first match of the tournament, its going to be an uphill battle here on for the biggest side in world cricket to make it past the first round. The Australians are proving strong despite a few injury scares coming into the tournament, an indication of the depth of their squad. The South Africans set about shattering records to show their intent, Herschelle Gibbs becoming the first man in International Cricket to hit a 6 of every ball of an over and Mark Boucher scoring the fastest 50 in a World Cup.

All the action was accompanied by the tragic news of the passing of Bob Woolmer, coach of the Pakistan side and ex-coach of South Africa, just a day after Pakistan were knocked out of the tournament.