TIMES Cricket

Who will win this year's World Cup?

Justin Langer enjoying the English weather on the balcony at Lord's

It is always a tough task predicting the outcome of any sporting event, hence my general lack of excitement and desire for spending too much time, or money, following published form guides or spread betting formulas. I have always found it difficult enough attempting to guess the results of games played between humans, let alone contests between four legged animals of the horse or greyhound description. Form and results in the sporting arena depend on so many factors, that, although it is fun trying, it is almost impossible to make consistently accurate judgments.

While you only have to open your eyes and ears every morning to hear hundreds of varying points of views, opinions and predictions, of what 'might' happen, it is always a safer bet to sit back, enjoy the contest and argue about it later. Let's face it, how do we know what sort of mood Pete Sampras wakes up in on the morning of big match, or how the atmosphere and confidence is within the England cricket team, All Blacks rugby team or Chicago Bulls NBL team. If Greg Norman is feeling in good form or David Beckham has had a late night looking after his baby, who has his first teeth coming through, how are we, as punters, really meant to know? If this sort of information were available, a prediction would be easier of course, but as we know, this form of privileged information can land people in hot water, to say the least. The fact is no matter how great an expert we believe we are, the future is generally a mystery to all of us.

From personal experience, I know for certain that a performance from an individual, or a team, depends upon many factors gelling together 'on the day'. Confidence, frame of mind, preparation, fitness and motivation are vitally important to the prospects of success or failure in the sporting arena on a particular day. Consequently I think it is harder being an arm chair critic than an actual player.

All this considered, it would be re-miss of me not to remove myself from the fence and attempt to make a prediction on who will win this year's World Cup. In this week leading up to the Cup, I will make a few valued judgments on each of the teams and why in my humble opinion they may, or may not, win the cherished 1999 World Cup. Considering one-day cricket can be as unpredictable as any greyhound race, I don't boast that I will get it 100 per cent correct, but I will say, like any predicting fool, I am going to have a lot of fun having a crack at being an expert for a few days.

Click in tomorrow for a look at the talented but turbulent Pakistanis and the once mighty West Indies.

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