Among the fastest bowlers in the world, Shane Bond’s introduction to Test cricket on the Australian tour of 2001-02 has given New Zealand a breath of fresh air. Bond is the quickest New Zealander to reach 50 one-day international wickets, including a national best of 6 for 22 against Australia in the 2003 World Cup.

His constant brush with injuries has not stopped him from being one of the best and his 5 for 23 in the first game of the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy in February 2007 only adds credence to that.

If the form continues, Shane Bond well might provide the perfect treat for World Cup 2007 viewers.

Matches		Balls	Runs	Wickets	BBI	BBM	Average	Econ
Tests	16	2881	1636	74	6/51	10/99	22.10	3.40
ODIs	59	3028	2203	112	6/19	6/19	19.66	4.36

Test Debut :Australia v New Zealand at Hobart - Nov 22-26, 2001
ODI Debut :Australia v New Zealand at Melbourne - Jan 11, 2002

While critics might say that Brian Lara is not the same force to reckon with anymore, it’s still true that no-one since Bradman has built massive scores as often and as fast as Lara in his pomp.

Lara has seen both ups and downs in his stints as the West Indies captain. Lara's leadership in the five-match one-day home series against India came in for much praise as the tourists were knocked over 4-1, but in the succeeding Test series he struggled. His captaincy was erratic - inspiring in parts, questionable on many occasions - though he later revealed that his hands were tied due to peripheral issues related to team selection.

Will he be able to regain the ‘Lara knock’ in World Cup 2007 remains to be seen.

Matches		Innings	Not Outs	Runs	Highest	Average	100	50
Tests	131	232	6	11953	400*	52.88	34	48
ODIs	290	281	31	10136	169	40.54	19	62

Test Debut : Pakistan v West Indies at Lahore - Dec 6-11, 1990
ODI Debut : Pakistan v West Indies at Karachi - Nov 9, 1990

In March 2003, at the age of 22, Graeme Smith became South Africa's youngest-ever captain, when he took over from Shaun Pollock following the disastrous World Cup campaign. Life wasn’t so smooth after that. He went through his share of ups and downs.

He recently captained South Africa to a thrilling 3-2 one-day series win over Australia at home in perhaps the greatest cracker of all.

Torn ligaments in his right ankle, sustained during a running injury in Knysna, ruled Smith out for 12 weeks but he was retained as South Africa's captain for the Champions Trophy in India. Scores of 5 and 10 in the first Test loss against India at Johannesburg took his tally for the last ten Tests to 465 at 24.47, with just two half-centuries in 19 innings, but Smith bounced back hard with three consecutive fifties to take South Africa to a come-from-behind series win.

In the series against Pakistan right after that, Smith struggled for runs, but crafted a crucial 64 at Cape Town that was worth a century.

Matches		Innings	Not Outs	Runs	Highest	Average	100	50
Tests	54	96	5	4285	277	47.08	11	18
ODIs	104	102	6	3683	134*	38.36	6	22

Test Debut :South Africa v Australia at Cape Town - Mar 8-12, 2002
ODI Debut : South Africa v Australia at Bloemfontein - Mar 30, 2002

If there is a criticism of Pollock, it is that he has underperformed with the bat, but most Test teams would be perfectly happy to have him in their side if he never scored a run. Pollock was thrust into the captaincy in April 2000 when Hansie Cronje was drummed out of the game, and he faced the biggest challenge of his career - to lift a shocked and demoralised South African side.
However, after a solid start to his captaincy, he lost some credibility after a 3-0 drubbing in Australia in 2001-02, and was later blamed for South Africa's disastrous World Cup in which they failed to qualify for the Super Sixes.

He might have lost his form for a while, but with the Champions Trophy in India all that seems to have changed.

For the second consecutive one-day series in a row, Pollock was adjudged Man of the Series. Not bad form to carry into your final World Cup.

Matches		Balls	Runs	Wickets	BBI	BBM	Average	Econ
Tests	107	24185	9648	416	7/87	10/147	23.19	239
ODIs	274	14290	8857	373	6/35	6/35	23.74	3.71

Test Debut :South Africa v England at Centurion - Nov 16-20, 1995 
ODI Debut : South Africa v England at Cape Town - Jan 9, 1996