West Indies

Record: 1975-79 won; 1983 final; 1987-92 first round; 1996 semi-final; 1999-2003 first round

Best moment: 1975 Favourites from the start, but utterly dominant. The bespectacled destroyer, Clive Lloyd, crashed 102 from 85 balls in the final to beat Australia, aided by brilliant fielding, particularly from a youthful Viv Richards

Worst moment: 1996 Losing to Kenya chasing only 167

Best batsman: Brian Lara But, apparently, he doesn’t even want to play one-dayers these days

Best bowler: Jerome Taylor Has shown excellent consistency that, combined with his pace and control, makes him formidable. Not afraid of the big stage, either, as his hat-trick against Australia in the Champions Trophy last year demonstrated

Man with pizzazz: Dwayne Bravo Can hit aggressive hundreds, take five-wicket hauls and scoop fantastic catches. The big stage in front of a home crowd ought to inspire him

– Squad B Lara, I Bradshaw, D Bravo, S Chanderpaul, C Collymore, C Gayle, K Pollard, D Powell, D Ramdin, M Samuels, R Sarwan, L Simmons, DR Smith, DS Smith, J Taylor

Australia

Record: 1975 final; 1979-83 first round; 1987 won; 1992 first round; 1996 final; 1999-2003 won

Best moment: 2003 A steady crescendo of dominance, winning every game, culminating in the trouncing of India in the final

Worst moment: 1992 Hosts. Holders. Favourites. All three tags conspired against Australia who couldn’t cope with the expectation and went out in the first round. New Zealand brushed them aside in the opening match at Auckland and they never really recovered. They weren’t helped by a selection gaffe: not picking Simon O’Donnell, voted the top player the previous season

Best batsman: Mike Hussey The cement of Australia’s unruly lineup. Likened to Michael Bevan, but better, combining the ability to hit sixes with workmanlike nudges

Best bowler: Glenn McGrath Although now 37 — and more smiley than in previous years, too — his tried-and-tested method of hitting off stump will be to the fore

Man with pizzazz: Andrew Symonds A powerful strokemaker; a destructive finisher and as clean a hitter as anyone, Symonds, if fit, is Australia’s match-winner

– Squad R Ponting, N Bracken, S Clark, M Clarke, A Gilchrist, B Haddin, M Hayden, B Hodge, B Hogg, M Hussey, M Johnson, G McGrath, A Symonds, S Tait, S Watson

Sri Lanka

Record: 1975-1992 first round; 1996 won; 1999 first round; 2003 semi-final

Best moment: 1996 The beaming, unsuspecting co-hosts had a trick up their sleeve. Two, in fact: their openers, Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana, who took pinch-hitting to a new level

Worst moment: 2003 Losing to Kenya, with Collins Obuya taking five for 24

Best batsman: Sanath Jayasuriya He’s still at it. The veteran thrives on big occasions: his side win 72 per cent of matches in which he contributes at least 40

Best bowler: Muttiah Muralitharan He’s still at it, too. A captain’s dream, barely capable of loose deliveries and as effective drying up runs as taking wickets

Man with pizzazz: Lasith Malinga Fast, frenetic and quite lethal, “Slinger” Malinga’s round-arm action unnerves batsmen before a fierce yorker spears into their feet

– Squad M Jayawardena, R Arnold, M Atapattu, M Bandara, T Dilshan, D Fernando, S Jayasuriya, N Kulasekara, F Maharoof, L Malinga, M Muralitharan, K Sangakkara, C Silva, U Tharanga, C Vaas

South Africa

Record: 1975-1987 did not play; 1992 semi-final; 1996 quarter-final; 1999 semi-final; 2003 first round

Best moment: 1992 Spearheaded by White Lightning, Allan Donald, South Africa calmly dismissed Australia and brushed aside West Indies before they came within a rain delay of reaching the final at the first attempt

Worst moment: 1999 The semi-final still pains them to this day. Nine were needed from six balls, then just a single from four. Lance Klusener tried to tip-and-run but, at the other end, Donald remained static

Best batsman: Jacques Kallis Limpet-like in past seasons, there are signs of a greater freedom in Kallis’s batting. Calm in a run chase, even more so in a crisis, and to the relief of his coach he has decided he enjoys bowling again

Best bowler: Makhaya Ntini He was always a workhorse, but a costly one. No more. The run-up is rhythmical and controlled; the yorker unerringly accurate; the bouncer sharp and straight

Man with pizzazz: Justin Kemp A hulking, towering figure at the crease who hits a worryingly long ball, he is vital to South Africa's lower order. Although not blessed with much batting nous (he has played only four Test matches), and lacking in consistency, his six-hitting ability is breathtaking to watch Also a useful occasional medium-pace bowler

– Squad G Smith, L Bosman, M Boucher, A de Villiers, H Gibbs, A Hall, J Kallis, J Kemp, C Langeveldt, A Nel, M Ntini, R Peterson, S Pollock, A Prince, R Telemachus

India

Record: 1975-79 first round; 1983 won; 1987 semi-final; 1992 first round; 1996 semi-final; 1999 second round; 2003 final

Best moment: 1983 Beat the favourites, the swaggering West Indies, who were chasing 184 to win

Worst moment: 2003 A run feast was on the cards for the final against Australia, but Ricky Ponting’s masterful 140 killed the game

Best batsman: Sachin Tendulkar Not the force he once was but still formidable. The slower pitches in the Caribbean will suit him, too

Best bowler: Zaheer Khan One of two left-armers in the team, with Irfan Pathan, Zaheer is in form and has a canny slower ball at the death

Man with pizzazz: Mahendra Singh Dhoni Absolutely devastating in the closing overs, Dhoni picks up sixes over mid-wicket, is fearless in a chase and a new Indian pin-up. Solid behind the stumps, too

– Squad R Dravid, A Agarkar, M Dhoni, S Ganguly, K Karthik, Z Khan, A Kumble, M Patel, I Pathan, V Sehwag, H Singh, Y Singh, S Sreesanth, S Tendulkar, A Uthappa

New Zealand

Record: 1975-79 semi-final; 1983-87 first round; 1992 semi-final; 1996 quarter-final; 1999 semi-final; 2003 second round

Best moment: 2003 After conceding 306 to South Africa, Stephen Fleming played the innings of his life, making 134 from 132 balls to take them home with time to spare

Worst moment: 1992 New Zealand were easing towards the final until the little known Inzamam-ul-Haq cracked an unbeaten 60 from 37 balls to win the game for Pakistan

Best batsman: Fleming The rock of their top order, yet also entrusted with injecting pace into the innings

Best bowler: Shane Bond Fast, accurate, in good form and, crucially, fit, Bond has transformed New Zealand’s hopeful aspirations into a realistic belief they can win. Is very sharp and has a newly perfected slower-ball in his armoury

Man with pizzazz: Ross Taylor Young, fresh, exciting and fearless, in many ways Taylor is the new Nathan Astle. He is brilliant in the field, too.

– Squad S Fleming, S Bond, J Franklin, P Fulton, M Gillespie, B McCullum, C McMillan, M Mason, J Oram, J Patel, S Styris, R Taylor, D Tuffey, D Vettori, L Vincent

Pakistan

Record: 1975 first round; 1979-87 semi-final; 1992 won; 1996 quarter-final; 1999 final; 2003 first round

Best moment: 1992 Indisputably their finest hour, when they beat England. “Listen,” Imran Khan told his side, “you’re cornered tigers. You’ve got nowhere to go, just go all out.” And so they did, led by Imran’s 72 and a blistering 42 from a youthful Inzamam-ul-Haq

Worst moment: 1999 They thrilled onlookers throughout the tournament yet, when it most mattered, Pakistan choked at the last hurdle against Australia

Best batsman: Inzamam Still the linchpin and the batsman most likely to perform, an invaluable trait for such a mercurial team. Expect him to be involved in at least one run-out and a sprinkling of near-misses, but his batting will speak loud and clear

Best bowler: Rana Naved-ul-Hasan Without Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif, Pakistan’s reliance on Naved could be too great. More than just a third seamer, he has a brilliant slower ball

Man with pizzazz: Shahid Afridi There ought to be a public health warning issued against this man — for his fans, who are as infuriated as they are fanatical. When he finds form no bowler (or boundary) is spared, but consistency is not part of his wide armoury. Leg spin is, though, and on a bouncy pitch he can be lethal

– Squad Inzamam-ul-Haq, Azhar Mahmood, Danish Kaneria, Iftikhar Anjum, Imran Nazir, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Sami, Mohammad Yousuf, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Umar Gul, Younis Khan, Yasir Arafat

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