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The 2019 Cricket World Cup is on the horizon, resulting in growing debate around it with excitement beginning to ensue worldwide. Squads have been announced, players will be hitting their peak condition just in time and fans from all over the world will be packing away their flags and banners.

Certainly one of the biggest occasions in the sporting calendar, the world’s best sides will be travelling to England and Wales to battle it out for the most prestigious prize available in the game of cricket.

It will be the first World Cup to be contested without all of the Test playing nations being present. The format will be a single group of ten teams, with each side playing the other nine sides, and the top four teams progressing to the knockout stages.

Who are the favourites?

The usual candidates will be in the frame, but competition is certainly strong, making it incredibly tough trying to pick a potential champion.

Here are the latest best-price World Cup odds sourced from a range of top UK betting sites:

England - 9/4 (bet365)

India - 3/1 (Skybet)

Australia - 4/1 (Skybet)

New Zealand - 10/1 (bet365)

South Africa - 10/1 (betfair)

Pakistan - 12/1 (bet365)

Local ground prepares to host huge occasion

The home of Lancashire, Old Trafford Cricket Ground, is set to host six matches for the tournament, including the all-important semi-final. The people of Lancashire will undoubtedly turnout to support England, but a vast number of supporters from other competing countries will be in full voice too no doubt, making the Old Trafford experience an even better one than usual.

With this being the 12th edition of the Cricket World Cup, meaning the competition is in its relative infancy, England, Wales and, more specifically, Lancashire’s Old Trafford stadium, will be keen to put on a show and be accommodating, well received hosts.

Fans flocking to the stadium for the World Cup will certainly be impressed by what is the second oldest Test venue and the host of the first Ashes Test ever in England, in 1884. The venue has also hosted two World Cup semi-finals in the past too, making it a tried and tested venue for any occasion, but especially a World Cup. It’s simply stunning and with its rich history evident all around the stadium, it should make for an excellent occasion.

Did you know Old Trafford Cricket Ground is just a five minute walk away from Manchester United’s Old Trafford football stadium too (walk down Warwick Road and Sir Matt Busby Way), highlighting once again the strong affinity with sport that the local community has. It’s a sporting hotbed, that’s for sure.

Lancashire’s Jos Buttler set to impress

(Image via https://twitter.com/bet365)

With Lancashire’s James Anderson seemingly more focused on his Test career these days, Jos Buttler will be flying the Lancashire flag in the England setup it seems. His England side, who are currently priced at 10/11 (Skybet) to make the final and 9/4 to lift the trophy, will have unrivalled pressure on them as hosts but certainly possess the required weapons to reign supreme. Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow will need to be efficient and high scoring with the bat, but Buttler himself will also need to chip in, with the Lancashire player currently priced at 33/1 (betfair) to finish as the top batsman in the tournament.

Tom Curran has shown himself to be a superb pace bowler in the limited overs format for Surrey, meaning he’ll be a vital cog in England’s wheel also. Particularly adept at the death, the 24-year-old can deliver accurate yorkers and surprising bouncers.

Please find attached to download the LCF April update from James Cutt.

The countdown is on for one of biggest events in the sporting calendar – the 2019 International Cricket Championship Cricket World Cup (CWC). Attracting over 400 million viewers every four years, the next tournament is certainly set to be one for the history books. So, what can cricket fans expect? And what is involved in the 2019 event?

What is the Cricket World Cup?

The CWC takes place every 4 years and features 10 teams. It is the the conclusion of a global qualification process, with the best of the best competing for the title. The sporting event is made up of one-day international cricket and is a 50-over tournament.

Running since 1975, 2019 will be the 12^th tournament to date. Unlike some sports, there’s no clear favourite year upon year, with the West Indies and Australia the only competitors to have won consecutive titles. Australia are the champions going into the 2019 tournament, winning in 2015 by 7 wickets. Could 2019 be the year England run away with the title?

2019 Cricket World Cup format

This year, England and Wales will be hosting the prestigious event, which will begin on Thursday 30^th May, with matches taking place until the final on Sunday 14^th July. The 10 teams who qualified for the competition this year are; England, Australia, Bangladesh, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Afghanistan.

Fans across the world are excited to see what each country can bring to the table. But what exactly is the format of the competition?

In the CWC, all 10 teams play one another in a round-robin, with the top 4 qualifying for the semi-finals. In the first group stage the teams receive 2 points for a win, while ties or no-results get 1 point.

All the listings have been released in the lead up to the event, with matches set to take place in the morning at 10.30am (BST) and the afternoon at 13.30pm (BST). The first match will be England v South Africa, on 30^th May.

Where will the matches take place?

As the event is being held in England, grounds up and down the country are getting ready for the influx of cricket fans from across the globe, hoping that the classic British rain pours won’t ruin the day (fingers crossed). The tournament will take place at 11 top-notch venues:

• Chester-le-Street (Durham)
• Headingley (Leeds)
• Old Trafford (Manchester)
• Trent Bridge (Nottingham)
• Edgbaston (Birmingham)
• Bristol County Ground (Cardiff)
• Sophia Gardens (Cardiff)
• Lord’s (London)
• The Oval (London)
• Rose Bowl (Southampton)
• County Ground (Taunton)

The semi-finals will be hosted in Old Trafford and Edgbaston, with the final taking place at Lord’s in the capital city.

As well as watching in person, fans from across the world will be tuning in to cheer on their teams. India vs Pakistan in 2015 attracted a whopping 1 billion viewers on TV, making it one of the biggest matches in Cricket World Cup history.

Will you be watching the CWC?

Whether you’re heading down to the grounds or watching from the comfort of your home, 2019 is set to be an exciting year for the CWC. Joint hosts England are the current favourites with the bookies (https://www.mrgreen.com/en/betting), closely followed by India and Australia, but as we know – nothing can be predicted at the Cricket World Cup.

We’re pleased to announce that version 2.1.1 of Play-Cricket Scorer Pro has now been released!  As with previous updates, please launch PCS Pro from the Start Menu (not the task bar) to detect the update, then close and re-launch PCS Pro again to install it.  If the software does not automatically update, or you’re installing it for the first time, please download it here.

Important Note: Because Play-Cricket Scorer Pro is a server-connected system, and this has been significantly changed for the coming season, all users MUST upgrade to v2.1.1 and will not be able to login or live score until they have done so.

Please also ensure that all support requests for first class and recreational scorers go through the Play-Cricket Help Desk. This can be done within PCS Pro in the ‘Help’ section, or you can email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The full detailed release notes are included below.  However, we also wanted to quickly highlight our view of the “top 10” areas of improvement, including some significant new capabilities being offered to all users and clubs at no cost in both the professional and recreational games.  We’re excited to see these features put into use and want to thank each and every one of you for your feedback, suggestions and issue reports.  These continue to directly shape the future of the software, so please keep them coming!

Over the next few weeks, where not already added, additional help guides will be made available online to cover significant new areas of functionality.

Top 10

1. Scoring: Among multiple enhancements to the scoring engine is our most requested feature: Wickets and Retirements can now be added and edited (including a change of player) on previous deliveries, with intelligent auto-correct and reassignment to fix subsequent balls and to address common scenarios such as missing that the batsmen crossed.

2. New Reports and Stats: New printable “Sessions” and “Bowling Spell” reports and in-screen panels, as well as a Linear Sheet based on ECB ACO training material (in the final stages of development - coming soon!)

3. Play-Cricket Integration: Play-Cricket Scorer Pro continues to be the most tightly integrated option for laptop scoring against Play-Cricket data, including downloading matches with Play-Cricket’s new “Scoring Rules” feature automatically mapped to PCS Pro Match Types, and significant new capabilities to prevent and correct duplicate data and stats even when things change in Play-Cricket.

4. Scoreboard, Replay Screen and TV Output: Amongst much-requested changes to the in-software scoreboard including multiple layout and configuration options (such as Left/Right vs Top/Bottom), is a full suite of professional replay screen/scoreboard tools including activations, custom image and video display, multiple “slides” (e.g. batting card, bowling card) and automated slide transition modes (e.g. showing a wicket’s details as soon as it is scored without further input). Users can now output to multiple connected screens (or TVs) via a cable or cables connected to the laptop (usually HDMI or VGA), or over WiFi via Google Cast (e.g. to a separately located club-house TV fitted with a Google Chromecast device).

4. Win And Score Predictor (WASP): As seen on Sky TV (UK and NZ) – the WASP engine for predicting the score in the first innings, or winner of the match in the second is now embedded throughout PCS Pro, including a new “Player Impact” report and panel that calculates the relative contribution of each player to the game based on their ball by ball performance compared with similar situations in historical matches.

5. Collaborative Scoring: A unique innovation only available in PCS Pro, collaborative scoring allows the tasks of each scorer to be split with data shared between them in real-time. In this initial use of the technology, home and away scorers (or “Live” and “Support” scorers) can opt for an automated end-of-over cross check of each other’s scores and ball by ball entry, mimicking a manual check but across the internet, even if the scorers are separately located. A “Support” scorer can also compare their entire score and ball by ball data against the Live Scorer’s at any time.

6. Performance Analysis: The “Feedback Cricket” product used by high performance at the ECB for over 7 years has now been merged into PCS Pro, and the full range of analysis events and stats can now be captured at any level of the game, including new panels for Feet Movement, Delivery Type, Shot Connection, and Events, and multiple new additions to Shot Type. Users can add and report on their own events of interest with “User Events”.

7. Video Capture/Scoring: with the appropriate hardware added (including IP Cameras), PCS Pro can now capture and live upload video of every ball, with live video highlights complementing the online scorecard (e.g. 4s/6s/wickets) and optional score overlay graphics. Video capture includes both manual and auto modes (video saved when ball scored) for minimal impact on the scorer, and a Video Highlights Manager allows highlights packages (with transitions and score overlays) to be easily generated. Note: support of this facility at recreational level is limited to a trial basis this season.

8. Live Streaming: PCS Pro can directly live stream captured video to YouTube, LiveStream.com, Facebook and other streaming services, without any further mandatory input from the scorer once configured. The Live Stream includes optional professional-grade score overlay graphics and slides with auto modes, manual and automatic video replays with transitions and activations (such as showing an image or video after a Wicket), and optional watermarks.

9. “Reader” Mode: Copies of PCS Pro on separate laptops can now open a Match being live scored elsewhere over the internet in “Read Only” mode, with live ball by ball updates as if it the match was being scored on that laptop as well. Like Collaborative Scoring, this innovation is unique to PCS Pro and opens up multiple options such as: Players or Coaches viewing scores/video/stats in real-time from outside the score box; driving a scoreboard (whether LED, Replay Screen or TV) from a laptop physically closer to the scoreboard but far from the scorer; Media users live streaming from a separate laptop but using the scorer’s accurate data for overlay graphics, or a Social Media user sending Tweets about a game separately from the scorer’s data whilst not bothering the scorer.

10. Match Centre: The NV Play Widget platform (available only to the professional game last season) has been significantly enhanced with a “Match Centre” for live scores, video highlights and live streams (if in use), ball by ball data, stats and graphs. This Match Centre will be automatically enabled inside Play-Cricket live scorecards for all PCS Pro-scored matches, providing the full range of live functionality to the recreational game.

The draw has been made for the Royal London Club Championship.

Blackpool - Bye

Leyland vs Lostock

Furness vs Lancaster

Longridge vs Fleetwood

St Annes vs Spring View

Fulwood & broughton vs Highfield

Horwich vs Lytham

Chorley vs Westhoughton

The full draw is:-

winners

With the 2019 IPL season only weeks away, can the Chennai Super King retain their crown. They will meet a familiar foe in the Hyderabad Sunrisers on March 29 th in the M.A Chidambaram Check Stadium,
Tamil Nadu. Hyderabad Sunrisers who they beat in last season final by 8 wickets will look to get one over on Chennai early on in this year's IPL. The 8-wicket score does not reflect how close the two team where on the day. But Hyderabad Sunrisers come into this season as the betting favorite ahead of Chennai Super Kings. The final will take place on May 12 th at the Wankhede Stadium Mumbai where all teams will hope they

will become the end of the IPL season.

The Top 5
Defending champions Chennai Super Kings are current 9/2 2 nd favorites with the team they beat in the final Hyderabad Sunrisers are 4/1 to go one step further then last season.
Mumbai Indians are in at 5/1 and will be out to claim their title back after giving it up last season in what some will say without much of a fight. Kolkata Knight Riders are 11/2 to get their name on the IPL trophy. Royal Challengers Bangalore are also in at 11/2 to be crowned 2019 champions.
 Hyderabad Sunrisers 9/2
 Chennai Super Kings 5/1
 Mumbai Indians 5/1
 Kolkata Knight Rider 11/2
 Royal Challengers Bangalore 11/2

Big Auction Signings

Rajasthan Royal forked out £940,000 on Indian bowler Jaydeu Unadkat to add that bit more to their attack.
Kings XI Punjab splashed out £940,000 on top Indian all-rounder Varun Chakravarthy, along with England’s all-rounder Sam Curren for £800,000.
South African batsman Colin Ingram was snapped up by Delhi Capitals for no less than £715,000 in the aim for him to bring his magic to Delhi.
30-year-old West Indian all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite is on his way to Kings Raiders for £560,000.
Some of top names went unsold at this seasons auction, with the likes of English batsman Alex Hales, Sri Lankan all-rounder Anglo Mathews and Australian bowler James Patterson going unsold.
After it was confirmed that Colin Ingram was on his way to Delhi Capitals, he put out a video on his Twitter account “The hype and buzz around cricket in India its fantastic and it's going to be great to be part of it.”

“As for the Deli Capitals its look like a bunch of exciting players and I am looking forward to joining up
with them and putting our best foot forward next season”
Carlos Brathwaite also displayed his delight of joining up with King Raiders by saying “I have heard a lot of really positive about the Knight Raiders family and I am honored and excited to now be a part of their successful franchise in the IPL

Verdict
After everything considered I think this could be the year we see a back to back winners of the IPL with Chennai Super Kings. With the spine of the team being more or less the same as the team that won the 2018 IPL, I think it is all there for them to be the first back to back champions.
So, Chennai Super Kings are my pick ay 5/1.
You can check out more cricket previews on www.betopin.com