ICC World Cup 2015 Schedule

Date	Match Details
		Ground	City
Feb 14 - Sat	New Zealand vs Sri Lanka, 1st Match, Pool A	Hagley Oval	Christchurch
Feb 14 - Sat	Australia vs England, 2nd Match, Pool A	Melbourne Cricket Ground	Melbourne
Feb 15 - Sun	South Africa vs Zimbabwe, 3rd Match, Pool B	Seddon Park	Hamilton
Feb 15 - Sun	India vs Pakistan, 4th Match, Pool B	Adelaide Oval	Adelaide
Feb 16 - Mon	Ireland vs West Indies, 5th Match, Pool B	Saxton Oval	Nelson
Feb 17 - Tue	New Zealand vs Scotland, 6th Match, Pool A	University Oval	Dunedin
Feb 18 - Wed	Bangladesh vs Afghanistan, 7th Match, Pool A	Manuka Oval	Canberra
Feb 19 - Thu	United Arab Emirates vs Zimbabwe, 8th Match, Pool B	Saxton Oval	Nelson
Feb 20 - Fri	New Zealand vs England, 9th Match, Pool A	Westpac Stadium	Wellington
Feb 21 - Sat	Pakistan vs West Indies, 10th Match, Pool B	Hagley Oval	Christchurch
Feb 21 - Sat	Australia vs Bangladesh, 11th Match, Pool A	Brisbane Cricket Ground	Woolloongabba, Brisbane
Feb 22 - Sun	Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka, 12th Match, Pool A	University Oval	Dunedin
Feb 22 - Sun	India vs South Africa, 13th Match, Pool B	Melbourne Cricket Ground	Melbourne
Feb 23 - Mon	England vs Scotland, 14th Match, Pool A	Hagley Oval	Christchurch
Feb 24 - Tue	West Indies vs Zimbabwe, 15th Match, Pool B	Manuka Oval	Canberra
Feb 25 - Wed	Ireland vs United Arab Emirates, 16th Match, Pool B	Brisbane Cricket Ground	Woolloongabba, Brisbane
Feb 26 - Thu	Afghanistan vs Scotland, 17th Match, Pool A	University Oval	Dunedin
Feb 26 - Thu	Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka, 18th Match, Pool A	Melbourne Cricket Ground	Melbourne
Feb 27 - Fri	South Africa vs West Indies, 19th Match, Pool B	Sydney Cricket Ground	Sydney
Feb 28 - Sat	New Zealand vs Australia, 20th Match, Pool A	Eden Park	Auckland
Feb 28 - Sat	India vs United Arab Emirates, 21st Match, Pool B	W.A.C.A. Ground	Perth
Mar 01 - Sun	England vs Sri Lanka, 22nd Match, Pool A	Westpac Stadium	Wellington
Mar 01 - Sun	Pakistan vs Zimbabwe, 23rd Match, Pool B	Brisbane Cricket Ground	Woolloongabba, Brisbane
Mar 03 - Tue	Ireland vs South Africa, 24th Match, Pool B	Manuka Oval	Canberra
Mar 04 - Wed	Pakistan vs United Arab Emirates, 25th Match, Pool B	McLean Park	Napier
Mar 04 - Wed	Australia vs Afghanistan, 26th Match, Pool A	W.A.C.A. Ground	Perth
Mar 05 - Thu	Bangladesh vs Scotland, 27th Match, Pool A	Saxton Oval	Nelson
Mar 06 - Fri	India vs West Indies, 28th Match, Pool B	W.A.C.A. Ground	Perth
Mar 07 - Sat	Pakistan vs South Africa, 29th Match, Pool B	Eden Park	Auckland
Mar 07 - Sat	Ireland vs Zimbabwe, 30th Match, Pool B	Bellerive Oval	Hobart
Mar 08 - Sun	New Zealand vs Afghanistan, 31st Match, Pool A	McLean Park	Napier
Mar 08 - Sun	Australia vs Sri Lanka, 32nd Match, Pool A	Sydney Cricket Ground	Sydney
Mar 09 - Mon	England vs Bangladesh, 33rd Match, Pool A	Adelaide Oval	Adelaide
Mar 10 - Tue	India vs Ireland, 34th Match, Pool B	Seddon Park	Hamilton
Mar 11 - Wed	Sri Lanka vs Scotland, 35th Match, Pool A	Bellerive Oval	Hobart
Mar 12 - Thu	South Africa vs United Arab Emirates, 36th Match, Pool B	Westpac Stadium	Wellington
Mar 13 - Fri	New Zealand vs Bangladesh, 37th Match, Pool A	Seddon Park	Hamilton
Mar 13 - Fri	Afghanistan vs England, 38th Match, Pool A	Sydney Cricket Ground	Sydney
Mar 14 - Sat	India vs Zimbabwe, 39th Match, Pool B	Eden Park	Auckland
Mar 14 - Sat	Australia vs Scotland, 40th Match, Pool A	Bellerive Oval	Hobart
Mar 15 - Sun	West Indies vs United Arab Emirates, 41st Match, Pool B	McLean Park	Napier
Mar 15 - Sun	Ireland vs Pakistan, 42nd Match, Pool B	Adelaide Oval	Adelaide
Mar 18 - Wed	TBC vs TBC, 1st Quarter-Final (A1 v B4)	Sydney Cricket Ground	Sydney
Mar 19 - Thu	TBC vs TBC, 2nd Quarter-Final (A2 v B3)	Melbourne Cricket Ground	Melbourne
Mar 20 - Fri	TBC vs TBC, 3rd Quarter-Final (A3 v B2)	Adelaide Oval	Adelaide
Mar 21 - Sat	TBC vs TBC, 4th Quarter-Final (A4 v B1)	Westpac Stadium	Wellington
Mar 24 - Tue	TBC vs TBC, 1st Semi-Final	Eden Park	Auckland
Mar 26 - Thu	TBC vs TBC, 2nd Semi-Final	Sydney Cricket Ground	Sydney
Mar 29 - Sun	TBC vs TBC, Final	Melbourne Cricket Ground	Melbourne

Favorite to win the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015?

We must know ICC ODI rankings in 2015 before proceeding: 

Australia                117
India                      117
South Africa          112
Sri Lanka              110
England                104
New Zealand         97
Pakistan                 97
West Indies            96
Bangladesh            75
Zimbabwe              53
Afghanistan           42
Ireland                   33


Team Wise Details:

Ireland. 

Nil. No Chance. Sadly they're not even in the same pool as England so can't pull off the upset that everyone wants to see (hopefully Scotland will pull that off).

Afghanistan.

No chance but a popular team. You have to love it when a nation plays cricket against countries who invaded it in recent memory. What a shame Russia isn't in the competition.

Zimbabwe

The perennial also rans. They keep showing up to world cups and keep trying. Expect them to try again this year and turn up again next time.

Bangladesh

They'll struggle in the conditions but might manage to put together a surprise win against one of the biggest teams. Or at least give them a scare. The only way Ireland are going to scare anyone is by hiding in their kit-bag, but the Bangladesh side might just pull off a big win. True story: I was in India when the boxing day Tsunami hit. India's loss to Bangladesh in a ODI was much bigger news in the north where I was. 

West Indies

Like anyone who grew up watching cricket in the eighties, it saddens me to see the Windies down among the minnows. The structure of the competition means they should scrape through fourth in their pool to reach the quarter finals. But I can't see them beating whoever tops the other pool to progress to the semis.

Pakistan

Pakistan don't tour especially well and will suffer from a lack of experience in the conditions. They haven't been to Australia in five years and in their last tour they only played 5 ODI's and a T20. They will take too long to get used to the conditions and will struggle against the big teams.

New Zealand

The Kiwis will enjoy a partial home ground advantage but they don't have a strong enough side to trouble the big names. And they don't have the depth to cover injuries to their few match winners. Expect them to lose in a Quarter Final to South Africa in front of a disappointed home crowd. 

England

A once great team sliding and trying to find itself. KP will be sorely missed and the selectors have made some baffling choices (why the hell has Stokes been left out?). They'll also struggle to cope with a recent leadership change which was necessary but came too late. The team won't gel enough but will benefit from a practice tour of Australia before the competition begins. I think they'll make the semis.


Sri Lanka

Who knows? They could fall in an embarrassing heap. They could make everyone else in the competition look like amateurs. You never know which Sri Lankan team is going to show up. 

South Africa

A few years ago I would have said they were favorites. But they're on the way down now. They've got definite superstars in their side but their bowling lacks depth. If Steyn or Morkel is injured, I don't think they will be able to contain some of the better batting sides. A 4-1 defeat in Australia in November doesn't auger well. 

India

If the tournament was being held in India I'd say they were in with a great chance. But sadly their players don't tour well and they don't adjust to conditions at all. Sharma looks like a great bowler but he's come to Australia three times already and hasn't learned how to bowl here yet. I expect the fans will turn out in force to cheer them on but will ultimately be disappointed.

Australia

Aussie have good chances going into the competition. Smith and Warner are both in amazing form and we have good depth in the bowling ranks. We can rotate bowlers around without a significant loss in the quality of our attack. We also bat very deep and we could pick a side which has explosive hitting power all the way down to number 10.  If another nation was hosting I'd put us down as a definite chance. So I'd rank us as the favorites.


ICC World Cup 2015 Schedule