AUSTRALIA
SOUTH AFRICA
INDIA
SRI LANKA
PAKISTAN
NEWZEALAND
WEST INDIES
ENGLAND
AB de Villiers: Wins in Australia will be huge
momentum builders for ICC World Cup 2015
Adelaide, November 13 2014
South Africa captain AB de Villiers remains
positive that his side can come out victorious in
the ODI series against hosts Australia, but
added that any losses would work as a good
lesson for the Proteas ahead of next year's ICC
Cricket World Cup 2015.
De Villiers will captain the Proteas in the
opening game at the WACA on Friday and
believes preparations for the showpiece
tournament co-hosted by Australia and New
Zealand are going to plan.
"Every game we play we want to win, but if it
doesn't work out that way, there are things to
look at and it's certainly not the end of the
world. In a way, it is not a bad thing to lose a
couple of cricket games over here so you at
least know," De Villiers told reporters on
Thursday.
South Africa are beyond the point of
experimentation and are fine-tuning their
game-plan against one of the World Cup
favourites.
"We are doing what we can, covering all bases.
It is not about doing something stupid, or
trying to be over clever or too fancy, we just
want to play proper cricket. Australia are a
wonderful ODI team, they are very good in
their own conditions, so for us to win here will
mean a lot of confidence, a lot of momentum
and a lot of belief. These three things are
exactly what you need to win a World Cup."
South Africa have famously carried a 'choker'
tag with them for the best part of two decades
having gone into previous World Cups among the
favourites, only to find extraordinary ways to
fail. De Villiers dismissed suggestions there is
mental scarring from those disappointments.
"There's not much to say anymore, the guys
that are here and were part of the past
experiences know exactly what happened, so
there is nothing to discuss at all except that we
haven't won a World Cup and we want to do
that. There's no need to discuss anything about
choking. We believe we are doing what's best for
the team now and if things go our way we'll win
the World Cup."
ICC Cricket World Cup Trophy Tour: Australia
and New Zealand
To celebrate the return of the ICC Cricket World
Cup to Australia and New Zealand for the first
time since 1992, fans will be treated to a tour
which will take the ICC Cricket World Cup trophy
across both countries.
Beginning on 6 November – which marks 100 days
until the World Cup begins – the Australian leg
of the tour will set off from Sydney while the
New Zealand leg kicks off from Auckland. And
if you are wondering how the trophy can be in
two countries at one time, the answer is that two
trophies will be on tour! The perpetual World
Cup trophy will be taken around Australia while
the tournament trophy – an exact replica of the
perpetual trophy which the winning nation will
keep – will be touring New Zealand.
With the tournament beginning on February 14,
the tour is a chance for fans on either side of
the Tasman to be a part of the big event and
get up close to the trophy. Make sure you come
along to visit when the trophy is near you.
You will have the chance to have your picture
taken with the trophy, take part in cricket skills
activities and you may even get to meet one of
your cricketing heroes.
On social media, make sure you follow the action
every day by using #cwctrophytour. There will be
plenty of interesting stories, pictures and video
as the trophy makes its way around both
countries.
Please keep visiting www.cricketworldcup.com for
details of exactly where the trophy will be
visiting.