Finally, it’s 22 men, a ball and a bat

For six weeks — 44 days, if you’re counting — the cricket world, from Lord’s to Lahore, Dhaka to Durban, will be on edge watching the biggest version of the game’s biggest tournament.

Australia are, of course, the favourites but such is the fickle nature of this competition that the ‘favourites’ tag often becomes a millstone weighing the team down to the point of immobility.

After all, when did the favourites last ascend the rostrum to take the prize? Ask Clive Lloyd about the moments he collected the trophy on behalf of the West Indies team and he gives a rueful smile. There was another opportunity in 1983 to repeat the 1979 success and make it three in a row, but India and Kapil Dev went on to spoil that party.

So, what we have in 2003 is that Australia are now the favourites because of their record and South Africa have improved enough to contest the final at the Wanderers on March 23. The Aussies were slightly underdone in terms of points going into the Super Six stage of the 1999 event but, with Steve Waugh in charge, they managed to pull it together.

They were helped, of course; you need the odd slice of luck to win the big event. A dropped catch or two, an umpiring error in the semi-final when Shane Warne was given a catch off the boot to get rid of Hansie Cronje. Waugh is no longer around and it is going to need a touch of more than brash Aussie chauvinistic bravado to pull it off twice in succession.

Yet the Aussies have managed to conjure up some magic to reach the position of favourites. Dominating, aggressive and a side bristling with talent and ability as well as class, they certainly have a centre-stage act hard to beat. On paper, that is.

Ask anyone who has thought deeply enough about it who will reach the semi-finals and we come up with the title-holders, South Africa, Pakistan and New Zealand. On the fringes of these four are India and a newly resurgent West Indies.

At least they are given a chance, although almost everyone who has an opinion worth reading suggests that India and the West Indies could quite easily replace Pakistan and New Zealand.

South Africa, like Australia, fancy their chances. They are a more combative side to that which lost their way in the semi-final to India in the ICC Champions Trophy in Colombo last September; for one thing, the side is better balanced to that which played in Colombo.

All-rounder Andrew Hall has been pulled into the equation and the Safs may be looking at the possibility of where he bats in the order.

Just where India fit into the scheme of this year’s great adventure is a matter of how the batsmen put it together.

In terms of explosive strokeplay Virender Sehwag makes even a well-aimed blunderbuss look like a waterpistol. India have often been admired for their batting strength, yet this has become as fickle and as brittle as it has been in recent years, and it is now haunted by successive failures in New Zealand.

Its frailty has become a worrying inherent problem and, for their sake and progress, there is a need to bury their recent form if they are to move forward. Few sides have come off such an astonishing poor run in recent months as have India yet gone on to win the crown. Understandably the disjointed, almost dyslexic form of the top order puzzles the coach, John Wright.

What has attracted the genuine fan is the list of names of players who turn on the action as well as the charm and lift the limited-overs sport out of its habitual dozy state where it slips into a soporific dream for about 15 overs.

Most teams have heir specialists and most followers have their favourites among those who would ‘‘rule the world’’ for a few days.