11 Reasons why the CB Series will be a Cracker!

1. It pits the reigning ODI world champions against the world cup runners up and the 20-20 world champions. The best 3 ODI teams in the world? I see the Proteas objecting.


2. In Sachin, Hayden, and Jayasuriya, each team possesses one of the best openers the ODI game has seen. The best ODI openers ever? I hear Greame Smith protesting.


3. The best wicketkeeper batsmen in the world are on display - Gilchrist, Sangakkara, and Dhoni. Now Smith is joined by Boucher in the protest.


4. Each team has atleast one left arm quick worth watching - while Vaas is in the twilight of his career, Pathan is back to his best and Johnson rapdily building a reputation for himself. South Africa don't have a left arm pacer do they?


5. Two of the fastest bowlers in the world, Lee and Malinga, will be consistently clocking 145ks throughout the series. Maybe Sreesanth will do the same each time he sees Symonds at the batting crease. Proteas can't protest about this, Donald's retired.
   

6. All the batsmen likely to score centuries during the series - Sachin, Sehwag, Yuvraj, Hayden, Gilchrist, Ponting, Jayasuriya, Jayawardene, Sangakkara - you can bet that each one will do it at a strike rate of 1oo+. I hear Smith saying that even he has himself, Gibbs, and DeVilliers.


7. With Yuvraj, Gilchrist, and Jayasuriya playing you can expect a record number of sixes in one competition. Gibbs is thinking why his 6 sixes in an over against the dutch is never recognised as a big feat while Yuvraj gets ferraris for his in a 20-20 game.


8. Trevor Bayliss and Tim Nielsen, a New South Welshman and a South Australian are coaching 2 of the teams vying for supremacy, while the 3rd team's South African coach is waiting for his contract period to get underway.


9. All 3 teams are carrying forward rivalries, whose seeds were planted by future hall of famers Steve Waugh, Arjuna Ranatunga, and Saurav Ganguly. No Smith you are not a future hall of famer and Pollock is no where close.


10. If Warne and Kumble were still playing ODI cricket it would have been a "who is the best spinner" battle with Murali in the mix, and the Proteas would have nothing to complain about.


11. And the final reason for why I think the CB series will be a cracker is because of the possibility of an All Asian Final in Australia with the Aussies fuming over their losses and the South Africans wondering why they can't ever do it.

Enjoy the series people. I hope the rest of the games don't get spoilt by the rain like the first one. I'm looking forward to some nerve wrecking ODI games after a long time. I hope I'm not disappointed.

Sri Lanka 2nd Test Selection

Sri Lanka will be happy to be getting back some of their stars for the 2nd test match versus Australia. Sangakkara is slated to make a comeback if he is fit and he will definitely bolster the visiting side's batting which struggled in the first test match against Australia.

On the bowling side Sri Lanka is hoping to have the fiery Malinga back in the line up. The rumors are that Vaas will be dropped if Malinga makes it back to the line up. I would think they should drop Fernando and keep Vaas. Vaas is an extremely experienced campaigner and especially on an Australia tour that counts for a lot.

Ponting and the Aussies will be looking to win their 14th win in a row. This should be a closer match, but until somebody can prove otherwise, the Aussies are just in a class of their own. And 20/20 does not count as it is not main stream (at least not yet).