As the February calendar flickers from one day to the next, the eyes of the cricketing world become more focused on the South Pacific with the start of the 2015 World Cup looming on the horizon. This short review aims to give an idea to those entering the Fantasy competition of the top performers in the multitude of ODI series that have been played since the start of the year.

Dubai Triangular Series: Scotland vs Ireland vs

We'll start here as these matches gained little TV coverage the start of 2015. With the continued inclusion of the associate nations and the benefits that strong performance can have on their development, this tournament was always going to be hotly contested. In the end, it was just a single point, gained from a rainout against Scotland, which saw Ireland crowned as winners of the Dubai Triangular Series.

Scotland ended the tournament bottom, victim to the washout that benefited Ireland, but did post the only positive net rate from their 4 games thanks mainly to Josh Davey's all-round performance against Afghanistan. The all-rounder's of 53 was quickly followed by 6-28 with the ball in a 150 run victory which also saw a half- for Richard Berrington (62) and a 4- haul for Iain Wardlaw (4-22). Wardlaw was the pick of the bowlers with 7 in the competition while and Haimsh Gardiner showed some glimmers of potential with Scotland's other half- centuries in the series.

Afghanistan had a mixed time in the UAE winning 2 and losing 2, one each to Scotland and Ireland, with the performances with the bat and ball echo such an inconsistent series. There was half- centuries for Samiullah Shenwari (50), (83), (52 not out) and a pair for (74 and 81) while the majority of other innings failed to make double figures. There wasn't a single 5 wicket haul as the wickets were divided between the Afghan attack, for which , , , and Javed Ahmadi all collected 5 wickets with economy rates under 4.5 runs per over.

As the top-ranked associate nation, Ireland have some World Cup history to their name with some fine displays against test nations and in the Triangular Series, a pair of Irish stars from those famous victories shone as (51) and Niall O'Brien (80 not out) recorded their only half-centuries in the three completed games. Joining Joyce and O'Brien in the batsmen with averages about 25 are Andy Balbirnie and although their strike rates are all under 75. With the ball, the best figures belonged to slow-left-armer (4-35), while C## Young claimed 7 victims and J### Mooney 5 himself. Special note should go to P### Sterling who posted a 2.5 economy rate from 22 completed overs.

====== vs & New Zealand vs

The "old dogs versus the young guns" would be an apt description of the 7 game New Zealand-Sri Lanka series. New Zealand have, yet again, developed a side with the firepower to stake an outside claim for the World Cup. This series was followed swiftly with a 2 game series between the Kiwis and Pakistan, who started the first of the two matches off the back of a pair of defeats by the NZ Cricket Board's PXI. Unless there is a sudden shift in the Pakistani form, there progression past the group stage of the World Cup is growing evermore in doubt, but they have the 2nd ODI to show something to the legions of fans around the world.

It seems like every World Cup has the Kiwis listed as a dark horse and this year is certainly no exception judging by their performances against Sri Lanka and Pakistan. While fireworks were occasionally provided by the Brendon McCullum--Corey Anderson combination, it was the back-up work from the likes of , and that put the men from the Asian Subcontinent away. In the 7 game series, these 6 batsmen produced 1,382 runs where individuals averages were above 28 runs and their strike rates in excess of 70 with 4 centuries and 5 half-centuries. Seam and pace dominated the Kiwi bowling attack and accounted for all but 3 wickets in the series with , , Corey Anderson and claiming more than 5 wickets each while Mitchell McClenaghan reached double figures with 10 wickets. This impressive display continued into the Pakistan series as the 1st ODI was finished on a pair of half-centuries from Taylor (59 not out) and Elliott (64 not out) while, as with Sri Lanka, Pakistan had no answers to the New Zealander's quicks as all 10 wickets from the 1st ODI fell to members of New Zealands pace quintet, regardless of its components.

For Sri Lanka it was the same old story, at times they looked like the world beaters who have played in 3 World Cup finals in the recent past and at other times they looked lost in the face of the seaming or swinging ball. The only batsmen to reach 100 runs in the series were (397 with 2 centuries and a half-century), (321 with a century and 2 half-centuries), (278 with a century and a half-century) and (148 with a high score of 45). was the pick of the bowlers with his 8 wickets doubling that of his fellow seamers Angelo Matthews and , as well as the spin trio of Dilshan, Rangana Hearth and Satchitra Senanayake. Sri Lanka have a final pair of fixtures against and Zimbabwe to conclude their World Cup preparations where it is expected to see a fit return to add a much-needed cutting edge to the pace attack.

Due to the timing of their domestic competitions, this two match ODI series is half of Pakistan's World Cup preparation with fixtures against and to come. In the 1st ODI against New Zealand, the Pakistan XI looked thoroughly underprepared as only a pair of half-centuries from and Misbah-Ul-Haq saved them from a total disaster. When added to the pair of losses NZ Cricket Board's PXI, Misbah-Ul-Haq and are the in-form batsman to watch while and seem to be the more potent bowlers in the squad.

======Carlton Tri-Series: England vs vs India

It's been a long slog for India who entered the series off the back of a challenging test series with Australia and never found their feet, crumbling to a last place finish. Meanwhile, a somewhat resurgent young England side showed the potential to launch a challenge once the World Cup starts fell short in the face of a dominant Australia side which made a strong defence as one of the favourites to claim the World Cup trophy.

For perennial World Cup favourites, the performances of the Indians have raised questions about the ability of this side to challenge for the World Cup trophy. With a side boasting the likes of , and MS Dhoni it was a major surprise that only two batsmen and managed to collate over 100 runs in the 3 completed games with Sharma recording the teams sole century with Raina and Rahane scoring a half-century each. The bowling attack failed to fire as well with the top wicket taker, , bagging a total of 4 wickets while there was 2 wickets a piece for Mohit Sharma, , Mohammad Shami, and . It was a collective failure in the series from India and with only a pair of matches against Australia and Afghanistan to stop this rot.

England have exclusively played 50 over cricket as part of an extensive preparation period and have showed signs of serious improvement during the Tri-Series, culminating in their 2nd place finish. With the bat, key players stood up for England including centuries for (145 in addition to an innings of 88 not out) and (121) with a collection of half-centuries from James Taylor (82 and 56 not out), (69) and Jos Butler (67). With the ball, it was all about pace with (11), James Anderson (7), (8) and (5) claiming 31 of their 40 dismissals as the bowling from the explosive all-rounders and recording the rest.

In all honesty, the Australians cruised to their Tri-Series success with the ease and swagger of a team at the height of its powers. This came from a team whose spent the series playing club cricket and only released in the series finale (where he claimed 3 wickets including Ali and Morgan in consecutive balls). Runs have been scored freely all around the batting line up with big scores from (96), (127), Steven Smith (102), Glenn Marshall (96), (60), and James Faulkner (50 not out). As with England, it was the pace bowlers who did the damage in this series with (12), (2), (3), James Faulkner (6), Moises Hendriques (1), Josh Hazelwood (2), Mitchell Marsh (1), and Mitchell Johnson (3) claiming 81.08% of their dismissals. The slight concern for Australia will be the fitness of and James Faulkner with the latter leaving the field after bowling 2 overs with an apparent side strain, however given the performances of the other all-rounders in the series this may not be such a hindrance as it could be to the other 13 nations.

======South Africa vs West Indies

They talk about saving the best to last, and in terms of this ODI series, it flattered to decieve following an enthralling T20 competition. Altogether the South Africans overpowered the Windies with bat and ball, an action which has made a strong statement given the conditions these matches were played on and their similarity to those that lie ahead in the next month or two.

The majority of the headlines from this series has been on AB De Villiers and his record-breaking century innings but it was Hasim Amla that recorded the highest individual score (153 not out), the best average (206.50), 2 centuries and 2 half-centuries with a of 109.84. De Villiers did post a half-century, a 152.76 strike rate and 83 run average, as did (51 not out), while scored a pair of centuries at an average of 54.20 and 115.76 strike rate. David Miller reinforced the strength of the South African batting line-up with a century, a half-century, 106.19 strike rate, and an average of 111.50. Despite, taking 2 wickets less than and Vernan Philander, topped the bowling averages (12.83) and economy rates (3.60) showing his undeniable skill with the new ball.

Unsurprisingly given the statistics posted by the South Africans, the Windies bowling statistics are a horrible sight with no bowler able to keep their economy rate near or under 4.5 runs per over while only and claimed more than 5 wickets at 7 and 8, respectively. Despite this, it wasn't all doom and gloom with the bat as there was 6 half-centuries from 5 Windies batsmen, including Russell, Darren Sammy, , and (who claimed double half-centuries). and Russell did manage to score faster than a run a ball with strike rates of 114.51 and 143.02, respectively, but were unable to capitalise on the starts they made. The Windies World Cup campaign has dropped further into darkness with the withdrawal of the number 1 ranked ODI bowler in the world, Sunil Nurine who has been replaced by the slow-left- arm spin of .

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It all starts February the 13th, and be sure not to miss a ball with the dedicated Sky Sports World Cup channel, BBC Radio 4, both the Sky and BBC Sports websites, and extensive commentary from ESPNCricinfo.com. From what has been evident so far this year, the Australians and the South Africans have to be the favourites with New Zealand taking the role as dark horses while England and Sri Lanka showing that on their day with the right conditions and form, they could pose a challenge to the top 3 but whether that can be replicated for multiple games is the underlying problem. Luckily, your fortunes don't rely on one single team's progression on the tournament but a collection of stars from the 14 nations. Pick wisely for one wrong selection could see a championship winning side fall into despair languishing in the basement of the league.

For more information, or to download the game guide visit: http://prestonvillage.hitscricket.com/pages/page_28436/2015-WC-FC.aspx

======Dubai Triangular Series Statistics: http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/series/812621.html?view=records New Zealand vs Sri Lanka Statistics: http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/records/index.html?id=9303;type=series New Zealand vs Pakistan Statistics: http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/records/index.html?id=9305;type=series Carlton Mid Tri-Series Statistics: http://www.espncricinfo.com/carlton-mid-triangular-series- 2015/engine/series/754623.html?view=records South Africa vs West Indies Statistics: http://stats.espncricinfo.com/south-africa-v-west-indies-2014- 15/engine/records/index.html?id=9053;type=series