Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Gary Ballance and Moeen Ali talk about their World Cup memories and pick out their stars – past and future – of ODI cricket
George Dobell and Melinda Farrell07-Feb-2015What is your earliest World Cup memory?Stuart Broad: The 1992 tournament. I had the video tapes; I used to watch them all the time. I’ll never forget the scoreboard in Sydney after it rained and it suddenly said “South Africa require 22 to win from the one ball remaining”, or whatever it said. I enjoyed all the kits looking the same – as a six-year-old you get fascinated by that stuff – and, England lost in the final, but it was the last time we had a decent go at it. Wasim Akram bowled that brilliant spell in the final, moving the ball in then taking it away, then later we had Mushtaq Ahmed – who got Goochy out in the final – working with us in the England squad. I think a fair few of us saw that game and take inspiration from it.Jos Buttler: The 1999 World Cup in England. I went to quite a few games including the semi-final between Australia and South Africa in Edgbaston. I was there. I wanted South Africa to win – I was a Lance Klusener fan at that stage . There were a few guys I liked in that side; Jonty Rhodes too. It was one of the great games and it was amazing to be there.Gary Ballance: My earliest World Cup memory is probably, growing up in Zimbabwe, the 1999 World Cup when they played against South Africa and beat them. I was about nine or ten at the time. The World Cup was in England and it was obviously a huge upset for Zimbabwe, beating South Africa. Andy Flower was in that side. Neil Johnson I think did well.Moeen Ali: I remember the 1992 World Cup final. It’s my earliest memory. My dad was watching England v Pakistan. Inzamam-ul-Haq was skinny. Well, skinny-ish. It was Inzamam’s first World Cup. That was good.Who will be the breakthrough player in this World Cup?SB: Steven Finn. I know he’s broken through before, but he’s going to break through again. So I’m changing your question. He’s obviously had a tough 18 months, but he has shown brilliant signs in the tri-series that he is getting back to his best. It proves that in international sport, you can have horrible, tough times and still get back to your best. He has shown a lot of character to do that. He has worked very hard technically. You will see him working on alignments in the nets, but I think he has really focused his training. Maybe last year he was just training to try and find something, but now he knows what he’s looking for and he is bowling with more pace. He is a natural wicket taker. And for us to go far he’s going to have to have a good tournament.JB: James Taylor. He’s waited a long time for his chance, he’s scored bucket loads of runs in county cricket and since he has come back into the international side, he has performed well and consistently. This will be a great time to show on the world stage what he is capable of doing.GB: I think a few young players will do well for us. But I’ll go with Chris Woakes. He has done well so far, but I think in good conditions where the ball goes through a bit more and the pitch is a bit quicker, someone like him will show his potential and become more established than what he already is. I’ve watched a bit of New Zealand and they look like a good side. They have some good fast bowlers. Adam Milne gets it through so from what I’ve seen of him he could be a tough bowler to face and he’ll probably do well.MA: There are a few who have already broken through a bit. Someone like Kane Williamson, I think, is a very, very good player. Glenn Maxwell, obviously. He’s a serious player. And I think Steven Finn. I’ve got a good feeling about Finn.Who is the best death bowler you’ve seen?SB: Shoaib Akhtar. It was just his extra pace. Was it the 1999 World Cup when they played in the bright green kit? He just bowled rapid yorkers. A bit of reverse swing. Brilliant.JB: Malinga. He gets it in the hole. He has a good yorker. It’s so hard to play. Would I scoop him? Maybe. As a last resort.GB: Probably Malinga. I haven’t faced a lot of him but from what I have, he has all the variations. He is very different to what we’re used to. He gets the ball to reverse, he’s got good slower balls, so at the moment in world cricket he’s the best. He’s probably the best there has ever been.MA: Malinga. By a mile. I faced him when he played against Worcester once. I also feel Saeed Ajmal is one of the best.Who are England going to play in the final?SB: New Zealand or South Africa, I think. Australia are massive favourites, but New Zealand look very dangerous and South Africa, too.JB: Australia, I hope. That would be fun.GB: It’d be nice to meet Australia in the final, wouldn’t it?MA: Australia.Stuart Broad: “That Edgbaston match between South Africa and Australia in 1999 – it was carnage, wasn’t it?”•Getty ImagesWho is the most destructive batsman you’ve seen?SB: AB de Villiers. I know it’s easy to say now, but he has been for years.JB: AB de Villiers. He’s got it all.GB: Probably Dave Warner. Along with Aaron Finch. I’ve played with Finch at Yorkshire so I know what he’s like and I know what he’s capable of. Those two are up there.MA: Right now? Glenn Maxwell. I saw him in that warm-up game (at Manuka Oval). He was unbelievable.What’s the best World Cup match you can remember?SB: That Edgbaston match – the semi-final, wasn’t it? – between South Africa and Australia in 1999. Klusener was unbelievable during that whole World Cup and the end was… well, it was carnage, wasn’t it?JB: That Edgbaston match. South Africa looked down and out and then Klusener brought them back into it. And then there was sheer confusion. Being a nine-year-old I didn’t know what had happened.GB: The England v India game, I think it was in Bangalore four years ago. It was the tied game, it was an unbelievable game. It was very high-scoring and Andrew Strauss got a big hundred and Graeme Swann needed two off the last ball to win and could only get a single. That was an unbelievable game to watch.MA: South Africa v Australia at Edgbaston. I was supposed to be ball boy but something came up and I couldn’t go. But I would have loved to be ball boy. My dad might have been there. There’s a few people I know that went. I watched it at home. I was devastated, I would have loved to have done that. I’ve done it for the Ashes, I’ve done a couple of Ashes. I can’t remember what they were, I was only a kid. We’d just got Sky when that game took place.Have you ever had a proper job?SB: I have, yes. I was a landscape gardening labourer in Melbourne during my gap year. I was 17 or 18. We fitted all the slabs around swimming pools, so I carried the slabs from the truck, basically. You had to get all the levels right so that when it rained all the water filtered into the pool. That wasn’t my skill: I mixed cement and carried paving stones. There are probably Australians stubbing their toes today because of my work. I played district cricket, too, for Hopper’s Crossing. Fawad Ahmed played for them, too. It was a bit out in the sticks, but I loved it.JB: I had a paper round. Just around the local village. Does that count?GB: Playing cricket isn’t a proper job? It isn’t really, is it? Then no, I haven’t. I’ve been playing cricket from a young age.MA: No. Never.Who is the best finisher ever?SB: Michael Bevan is the best ever, but MS Dhoni averages 50-odd batting at No. 7 and is not out a lot. He would have to be right up there.JB: De Villiers or Dhoni. One of those two. But probably de Villiers because of the variety of things he can do.GB: Got to be our captain Eoin Morgan. From what I’ve seen and played with he’s got to be up there as one of the best. Obviously in times gone by there’s people like Mike Hussey and Michael Bevan who were very good but today Eoin Morgan, he’s outstanding.MA: Michael Bevan, he was one. There have been quite a few actually. I think Angelo Mathews is up there. I think he’s very good.