Tony Becca

The World Cup of cricket gets under way today at Sabina Park; the West Indies, the home team, are involved, an many people, and certainly West Indians, are wondering how they will fare, the question on everyone's lips, at this moment, is this: when it is all over, when the final, the last of the 51 matches, is played at Kensington Oval, the first ground in the West Indies to host a Test match, and in my opinion, the home of West Indies cricket, who will the champions be?

Up to recently, and despite the glorious uncertainty of the game and the fact that one-day cricket narrows the gap between teams, the answer, undoubtedly, would have been Australia.

Following two defeats at the hands of England, then three defeats to New Zealand, including two losses after scoring well over 300, however, and after losing ace fast bowler Brett Lee, the aura of invincibility surrounding Australia has dimmed. There are many who now believe that the Aussies have come back to the field, and instead of being the favourites are now, like South Africa, like India, like Pakistan, like Sri Lanka, like the West Indies, like England, and like New Zealand, one of the favourites in a tournament in which the consensus now seems to be that any one of the top eight teams can win it.

Although I share the feeling that any one of the top eight teams can win it, for me, the favourites remain Australia. Apart from the fact that anyone of the other seven will need a little luck, some of them, like the West Indies, plenty luck, the reason why I still believe Australia will be the champions is the quality of their team and the professionalism of their players.

In the likes of Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist, captain Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey and Michael Clarke, and Brad Hodge, Australia parade some good and aggressive batsmen. In Andrew Symonds and Shane Watson they boast two good all-rounders. In Glenn McGrath, Nathan Bracken, Mitchell Johnson, Shaun Tait Stuart Clark, they parade some good pacers. In Brad Hogg, they boast a good wrist spinner, and headed by Symonds and Clarke, one on either side of the pitch, they boast a brilliant fielding team.

Who will be second?

The question, to me, is this: who will play Australia in the final and therefore who will finish in second spot.

As the number-one ranked one-day team in the world, it could be South Africa. As good as their bowling of Makhaya Ntini, Shaun Pollock, Andre Nel and Jacques is, however, as good an all-round team that they are, apart from the absence of a good spin bowler, I do not fancy their batting which tends to be inconsistent. I still remember their failure in the semi-finals of 1999 when they appeared to choke. I also still remember that they failed to come out of the first round in 2003, and so I am going with India.

In Virender Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly, Robin Uthappa, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, and Yuvraj Singh, India, with the hard-hitting wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni to follow, boast a strong batting line-up. With left-handed pacers Zaheer Khan and Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Munaf Patel and Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, right-arm leg-spinner Anil Kumble and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, they have a bowling attack probably second to none, and despite their poor form away from home, I am backing them to reach the final.

With Australia, India and South Africa in my top three, the next question is; who will be number four - which of the other teams will make it to the semi-finals?

That is a difficult one to answer.

Pakistan should be the one, but it would take a brave man to bet on them, not only because they will be without fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif, plus Abdul Razzaq, but because their batting tends to be from one extreme to the other, and despite the presence of batsmen like captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Yousuf, Younis Khan and the hard-hitting Shahid Afridi, things are unlikely to change.

It could be New Zealand or England, Sri Lanka or the West Indies, an any one of them could make it, even though my heart is with the West Indies, Sri Lanka looks the likeliest of the five to end up in the last four.

A bowling attack

Sri Lanka's batting, which includes Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Sanath Jayasuriya, Tilakaratne Dilshan, Upul Tharanga, and Marvin Atapattu, is good, it is exciting, and along with that, Sri Lanka possess a bowling attack which includes not only left-handed pacer Chaminda Vaas and off-spinner Muttiah Muralitheran, but also Farveez Maharoof and Lasith Malinga.

The West Indies possess Brian Lara, they also possess the hard-hitting Chris Gayle and the mercurial Shivnarine Chanderpaul, and despite their failure to make it out of the first round on the last two occasions, they could crash the party.

That, however, will be surprising, and it would be surprising because their bowling is among the weakest in the tournament, because they do not have a spin bowler in the squad, and because, despite the presence of Lara, and Gayle, and Chanderpaul, plus Ramnaresh Sarwan, Marlon Samuel, and Dwayne Bravo, they have little or no confidence in their batting.

The lack of confidence in their batting is demonstrated by the fact that they tend to pack the side with so-called batsmen while limiting the already limited bowling, most times when they do that, they score a few runs, and having played only two or three specialist bowlers, not one of whom is great, at least not yet, they then do not have the bowlers to even attempt to rescue them.

As far as the top four finishers go, here goes. Winners in 1987, 1999 and 2003, finalists in 1975 and 1996, it is Australia to win; winners in 1983, finalists in 2003, and semi-finalist in 1987 and 1996, it is India to finish second; semi-finalists in 1992, it is South Africa to finish third the West Indies, two-time winners and finalists in 1983, New Zealand, who, in reaching the semi-finals in 1975, 1979, 1992, 1999 and the Super Sixes last time out, have always done well at the World Cup, Pakistan, winners in 1992, finalists in 1999, and semi-finalists in 1979, 1983 and 1987, and England, finalists in 1979, 1987, and 1992, semi-finalists in 1975 and 1983, all have a chance of not only making it to the semi-finals but also going all the way, my choice is Sri Lanka, winners in 1996 and semi-finals in 2003, to round off the top four.