As expected, the cricket World Cup resulted in various changes in team personnel around the world. Some have been forced, some have been expected but, as usual, the only team which looks as though there was no change are the champions, Australia.

Despite the absence of stars like Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Justin Langer and Damien Martyn, the team rolled over the Sri Lankans with no difficulty. The Aussies' 14-match winning streak is thanks to great bowling by Brett Lee and his supporting cast, along with the batsmen who piled on 500-plus runs in the first innings of both Tests.

Sri Lanka confirmed their status as poor travellers - Chaminder Vaas has aged, Muttiah Muralitharan was completely ineffective and this meant that the Lankans were always behind. New batsmen Michael Vandort and Chamara Silva failed and  whether Sri Lanka can be a great team again is doubtful.

'If the Indians can replicate the stubbornness that Anil Kumble and Garty Kirsten bring to the game, they are capable of throwing a surprise in Australia'

The Kiwis seem to be the hardest hit, especially in the Test arena. They were not able to handle the pace of paceman Dale Steyn and capitulated in all four innings of their two-match series against South Africa. The batting, after the exit of Nathan Astle, Craig McMillan and Hamish Marshall, seems to be weak. The bowling on paper (Shane Bond, Jacob Oram, Kyle Mills) is good but not penetrative enough.

South Africa took the bold decision to induct Albie and Mornie Morkel into the shorter versions of the game and Steyn into the longer version. Shaun Pollock was left out of the Test team but with Steyn's impact, the great all-rounder is not missed. The batting continues from where it left off.

Pakistan are feeling the pressure since Inzamam-ul-Haq's retiremment. Although Shoaib Malik is still young enough to handle the challenge of captaincy, the batting now revolves around the Mohammad Yousuf-Younis Khan combo and Misbah-ul-Haq has shown signs of excellence in recent matches.