Cricket World Cup 2011: Team-by-team guide

The lowdown on the 14 teams taking part in the 2011 cricket World Cup from Australia to Zimbabwe.

GROUP A

AUSTRALIA
They have won four of the nine World Cups, including the last three. They have been in two other finals. They are ranked the No 1 one-day international team in the world. They have just beaten England 6-1. What can go wrong? Well, you need a spinner in Asia and they only have Jason Krejza, a late replacement for the the injured Nathan Hauritz. Krejza is not even a regular for Tasmania.

Key man
Skipper Ricky Ponting. Just like the Ashes: if he scores runs, his team can win. If he doesn’t, they won’t.

Wild card
Steve Smith. His leg-spinners could cause a surprise.

World Cup record
P69, W51, L17, T1.
Winners 1987, 1999, 2003, 2007.

Squad
Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Clarke, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin, Cameron White, Callum Ferguson, David Hussey, Tim Paine, Steven Smith, John Hastings, Mitchell Johnson, Jason Krejza, Brett Lee, Doug Bollinger, Shaun Tait.

PAKISTAN
Have had a problem or two. Will it matter? Will it heck. Pakistan thrive on such controversy and chaos. They’ve just beaten New Zealand 3-2, after all. Shahid Afridi is back as captain, Shoaib Akhtar is there too, as well as Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Saeed Ajmal and Abdul Razzaq. All the old protagonists. It’s never dull with this lot around.

Key man
Umar Gul. A remarkable one-day swing bowler. Will surely be lethal under the dew of lights – 37 of the 49 matches are floodlit.

Wild card
Ahmed Shehzad. Only 19 and scored a century against the Kiwis at Hamilton only 10 days ago.

World Cup record
P56, W30, L24, N/R2.
Winners 1992.

Squad
Shahid Afridi (capt), Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hafeez, Kamran Akmal, Junaid Khan, Younus Khan, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Abdur Rehman, Saeed Ajmal, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Ahmed Shehzad.

NEW ZEALAND
They’re in a mess. They have won only two from their past 16 ODIs, and have recently had more coaches than a bus station. They have chopped and changed their side to no obvious advantage. But you just never know with the Kiwis. They are always dangerous in one-off encounters.

Key man
Daniel Vettori. A wonderful all-round one-day cricketer. Only one spinner in a world one-day eleven? I might go for Vettori over Graeme Swann.

Wild card
Kane Williamson. The likes of Jesse Ryder, Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor may be able to bat around this composed 20 year-old, who made a century against Bangladesh last year.

World Cup record
P62, W35, L26, N/R1.

Squad
Daniel Vettori (capt), Hamish Bennett, James Franklin, Martin Guptill, Jamie How, Brendon McCullum, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Jacob Oram, Jesse Ryder, Tim Southee, Scott Styris, Ross Taylor, Kane Williamson, Luke Woodcock.

SRI LANKA
Finalists last time, delightfully popular winners in 1996 and winner of every one-day series they played in 2010 bar the Asia Cup. They will be formidable on home soil. Their only wish might be that Muttiah Muralitharan were a couple of years younger, especially as Ajantha Mendis’s magic has been rumbled a little. Much could depend on the considerable all-round skills of Angelo Matthews.

Key man
Kumar Sangakkara. Captain, wicketkeeper and No 3 batsman. No pressure then.

Wild card
Chamara Kapugedera. Truly capable of middle-order violence if the platform can be laid by Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan.

World Cup record
P57, W25, L30, T1, N/R1.
Winners 1996.

Squad
Kumar Sangakkara (capt), Mahela Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul Tharanga, Thilan Samaraweera, Chamara Silva, Chamara Kapugedera, Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, Muttiah Muralitharan, Ajantha Mendis, Rangana Herath.

ZIMBABWE
The winding road to re-acceptance continues, but Sean Ervine’s last-minute decision to spurn his country for the more leisurely surroundings of Hampshire has not helped image problems. Zimbabwe’s main problem is that their seam bowling is embarrassingly weak, so spin – through Ray Price, Greg Lamb and Graeme Cremer – must compensate.

Key man
Brendan Taylor. Has scored centuries against Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and South Africa in the past 18 months. Always worth watching.

Wild card
Regis Chakabva. At 23, he is the youngest member of Zimbabwe’s squad, and a wicketkeeper who will probably play as a specialist batsman. Yet to make a half-century but top-scored with 45 when Bangladesh were defeated in Dhaka in December.

World Cup record
P45, W8, L33, T1, N/R3.

Squad
Elton Chigumbura (capt), Regis Chakabva, Charles Coventry, Graeme Cremer, Craig Ervine, Gregory Lamb, Shingirai Masakadza, Tino Mawoyo, Christopher Mpofu, Raymond Price, Edward Rainsford, Tatenda Taibu, Brendan Taylor, Prosper Utseya, Sean Williams.

CANADA
Their fourth World Cup having taken part in 1979, 2003 and 2007. They have won only one match – against Bangladesh in Durban – in 2003. Seven of the squad have come through their national youth programmes, but they still have only three Canadian-born players and one of them is the veteran John Davison, who was brought up in Australia. They did beat Hampshire recently in the Caribbean T20 competition, but have no chance here.

Key man
Davison. Now 40 and doubtful he can repeat his 67-ball century against the West Indies in 2003.

Wild card
Jimmy Hansra. Mainly a batsman but his off-spinners are becoming more effective. Might even open the bowling.

World Cup record
P12, W1, L11.

Squad
Ashish Bagai (capt), Rizwan Cheema, Harvir Baidwan, Nitish Kumar, Hiral Patel, Tyson Gordon, Henry Osinde, John Davison, Ruvindu Gunasekera, Parth Desai, Karl Whatham, Khurram Chohan, Jimmy Hansra, Zubin Surkari, Balaji Rao.

KENYA
Since remarkably making the semi-finals in South Africa in 2003, Kenyan cricket has become something of a basket-case, dogged by match-fixing and corruption scandals and with playing standards slipping alarmingly. Last month they toured India and lost all their five matches against provincial opposition. Head coach Eldine Baptiste and newly appointed assistant Jonty Rhodes have much to do.

Key man
Steve Tikolo. Now 39 and at his fifth World Cup, but will doubtless be prime run-scorer. Made a century in a warm-up match against Afghanistan last week.

Wild card
Classy opening batsman Seren Waters. On Surrey’s staff and educated at Cranleigh School.

World Cup record
P23, W6, L16, N/R1.

Squad
Jimmy Kamande (capt), Seren Waters, Alex Obanda, David Obuya, Collins Obuya, Steve Tikolo, Tanmay Mishra, Rakep Patel, Maurice Ouma, Thomas Odoyo, Nehemiah Odhiambo, Elijah Otieno, Peter Ongondo, Shem Ngoche, James Ngoche.

GROUP B

INDIA
Their sole triumph was in 1983. On home soil they appear favourites, but with that comes inordinate expectation. Can they handle that? They have everything; destructive batsmen, versatile swing bowlers and classy spin options. They also possess plenty of batsmen including Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and Yusuf Pathan, who can bowl spin.

Key man
Sachin Tendulkar. Who else?

Wild card
Virat Kohli. Hardly a new face given he scored 995 ODI runs in 2010, second in the world only to South Africa’s Hashim Amla. But the 22 year-old has never played against England. You are in for a treat.

World Cup record
P58, W32, L25, N/R1.
Winners 1983.

Squad
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel, Piyush Chawla, Ravichandran Ashwin.

SOUTH AFRICA
More choke than a Morris Minor. Or that is the reputation at least. This is now a very different team. There are only four players – Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers and Robin Peterson – with World Cup experience. Expectation might be reduced. But omitting Mark Boucher (De Villiers will keep) may be a mistake.

Key man
Kallis. A truly great cricketer who must find the correct batting tempo early in the tournament.

Wild card
Imran Tahir. Pakistan-born journeyman leg-spinner of many counties and other teams around the world now qualified for South Africa.

World Cup record
P40, W25, L13, T2.

Squad
Graeme Smith (capt), Hashim Amla, Johan Botha, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Colin Ingram, Jacques Kallis, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Imran Tahir, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Morne van Wyk.

ENGLAND
Preparation could hardly have been worse. A year’s work in one-day cricket since the Champions Trophy in South Africa appears to have been unpicked in a few weeks of injury and fatigue-induced sloppiness in Australia. But don’t forget that England won last year’s World Twenty20 with very little preparation – having played only four T20s in the previous year. And they did not once field their strongest ODI bowling line-up in Australia.

Key man
Kevin Pietersen. The only England batsman who can destroy an attack on slow pitches.

Wild card
Ravi Bopara. Can hit sixes late on. Big chance to come again.

World Cup record
P59, W36, L22, N/R1.

Squad
Andrew Strauss (capt), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior, Ajmal Shahzad, Graeme Swann, James Tredwell, Jonathan Trott, Luke Wright, Michael Yardy.

WEST INDIES
Vulnerable, very vulnerable. Bangladesh are right to sniff them as potential breakfast. The only three sides the West Indies have beaten in ODIs since June 2009 are Zimbabwe, Ireland and Canada. It is a miserable record. And Darren Sammy does not appear the most obvious of leaders.

Key man
Chris Gayle. He needs to click if the West Indies are to. Has not made a ODI century since January 2009. Little wonder there have been so many losses.

Wild card
Darren Bravo, brother of Dwayne. Already likened to Brian Lara, which is a little unkind, but just check out the audacity of this 22 year-old left-hander’s play.

World Cup record
P57, W35, L21, N/R1.
Winners 1975, 1979.

Squad
Darren Sammy (capt), Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Darren Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Devon Smith, Sulieman Benn, Nikita Miller, Carlton Baugh, Andre Rusell, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Adrian Barath.

BANGLADESH
Much improved. Their spin-based attack will be tricky on home pitches. Have just beaten New Zealand 4-0 and Zimbabwe 3-1 in their past two ODI series. Also beat England at Bristol last summer, so March 11 in Chittagong will not be easy for Andrew Strauss’s team. The match against the West Indies at Mirpur on March 4 could determine the fourth qualifier from Group B, though.

Key man
Tamim Iqbal. England know all about the pyrotechnic left-hander. Time for the World to see.
Wild card Mohammad Ashraful. So much talent so scandalously wasted. Might be a last opportunity to realise it.

World Cup record
P20, W5, L14, N/R1.

Squad
Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Junaid Siddique, Shahriar Nafees, Raqibul Hasan, Mohammad Ashraful, Mushfiqur Rahim, Naeem Islam, Mahmudullah, Abdur Razzak, Rubel Hossain, Shafiul Islam, Nazmul Hossain, Suhrawadi Shuvo.

IRELAND
To think four years ago they stunned the world, with victory over Pakistan and a tie with Zimbabwe to reach the Super Eights, where they overcame Bangladesh. Then they had only three full-time professionals. Now they have 13, including seven with county contracts. They were even been able to spend a preparatory month in India late last year and undertake a training camp in Dubai in January.

Key man
Ed Joyce. Played against Ireland for England in 2007. Plays for Ireland against England this time. Will hope to score more than one, as he did then.

Wild card
Paul Stirling. Chubby 20 year-old on Middlesex’s books. Gives the ball an almighty clout.

World Cup record
P9, W2, L6, T1.

Squad
William Porterfield (capt), Andre Botha, Alex Cusack, Niall O’Brien, Kevin O’Brien, George Dockrell, Trent Johnston, Nigel Jones, John Mooney, Boyd Rankin, Paul Stirling, Albert van der Merwe, Gary Wilson, Andrew White, Ed Joyce.

HOLLAND
Their fourth World Cup but they have won only two matches, and those were against Namibia and Scotland. But, of course, their first match here is against England in Nagpur and memories of their famous victory in the opening match of the World Twenty20 at Lord’s in 2009 will come flooding back.

Key man
Ryan ten Doeschate. The Essex all-rounder is a giant among the associate members of the International Cricket Council.

Wild card
They do have a Tommy Cooper in their ranks. Yes, just like that, he is no longer an Australian. Will form a powerful middle-order with Alexei Kervezee and Ten Doeschate.

World Cup record
P14, W2, L12.

Squad
Peter Borren (capt), Wesley Baresi, Mudassar Bukhari, Atse Buurman, Tom Cooper, Tom de Grooth, Alexei Kervezee, Bradley Kruger, Bernard Loots, Adeel Raja, Pieter Seelaar, Eric Szwarczynski, Ryan ten Doeschate, Berend Westdijk, Bas Zuiderent.