An eventful first week

The first week of the Cricket World Cup has been a mixture of comedy and tragedy. But overall, the cricket has been entertaining. Some of the notable happenings:

-- The death of Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer cast a pall over the event, reminding us that no matter how serious we take what happens on the field, it's still only a game.

-- The opening ceremony was spectacular, an event people in the Caribbean were talking about all week. The fireworks, musical artists and costumes will be a tough act to follow. Let's hope the West Indies can live up to the hype in the end.

-- The animated Irish fans have injected humor and passion as they cheer their team, which is playing in its first Cricket World Cup. They've dressed as leprechauns and sported T-shirts saying: "Kiss Me I'm Irish." Who says it's not easy being green.

-- South Africa's Herschelle Gibbs hit six sixes in one over, the first time that has happened in an international match. The real winner was Habitat For Humanity, which got a $1 million donation because of Gibbs' feat.

-- In St. Lucia, England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff was stripped of the vice-captaincy after a drunken night that ended with him being rescued from the ocean at 4 a.m. after his small pedal boat capsized. "I'm embarrassed and ashamed by it,'' he said. Then, on Tuesday, England captain Michael Vaughan, who has been plagued by injuries since last year, tripped in a pothole in the field during practice and hurt his knee. Talk about unlucky. What's next? Will he be attacked by locusts?

-- It's obvious a couple teams didn't deserve to be in the tournament. Bermuda and Netherlands have just provided batting practice for their opponents. Five of the six biggest World Cup victory margins have already occurred in this tournament. Broadcaster Michael Holding said before the tournament that there were too many teams (16) participating and it would lead to lopsided scores. He was right, but then again, there's always an exception, such as Ireland.

Comments

[exile]

I think even one team like Ireland proves it's a good idea to include more smaller countries in the tournament. It's worth all the Netherlands and Canadian humiliations to have just one minnow that succeeds the way the Irish have.

[Margs]

Well The Windies are well on their way, to reliving the days when we ruled the cricket world.....Yeah.