Deep joy - at last the Cricket World Cup is underway. OK, so the first couple of weeks are likely to be spent weeding out the minnows (although Ireland and Zimbabwe will both fancy their chances of upsetting the brilliant-or-awful Pakistan, and Kenya have a long record of giant-killing), but watching cricket from the Caribbean is always a pleasure. In part it's because the time difference makes it so convenient - you can get home from work in time to see most of the day's play, rather than going through all that getting up in the middle of the night nonsense you get with Antipodean or Subcontinental tours. In part it's because cricket in the West Indies is how the sport should always be - lots of sun, some spectacular scenery (Port of Spain is rivalled only by Cape Town in that respect), and an emphasis on entertainment.
Last night's opener confirmed what I thought might be the case - scores a little lower than predicted, thanks to slowish, low pitches, meaning that spinners and crafty medium-pacers might rule the roost, rather than real pace. For that reason, I'm tipping India or the Windies to win it, not the much fancied Aussies and South Africans. Obviously, I'm cheering England on, but although I can see them making the semis I think they'll need a run of luck to actually go all the way.
And good luck to Scotland against the Aussies later today, which gives me another chance to plug Scotland's first cricket store, Cow Corner.
Oh, and you can go to the Stick Cricket site and play their new World Cup Super Eight game. Good luck getting any work done for the next six weeks.
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