The Cricket World Cup begins tomorrow with New Zealand hosting Sri Lanka in Christchurch and old rivals Australia and England meeting in Melbourne.

After six weeks of wickets, whacks and willow, the tournament will finish with a final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on March 29.

Here are some things to watch: Michael Clarke had the big decision made for him. Medical and coaching staff decided the Australia captain was not quite ready to return from surgery on his right hamstring to play in the opener against England.

Coach Darren Lehmann is confident the 33-year-old skipper will start against Bangladesh on February 21. Missing a captain of Clarke's calibre would usually be a major setback for a team like Australia.

In his absence, Steve Smith stepped up to lead the test team to a series win over India, and George Bailey guided the one-day international team to a win in the tri-series against England and India.

The great Sachin Tendulkar recalled a 2003 World Cup match against Pakistan in his recent autobiography, dubbing it Battlefield Centurion after the venue in South Africa. He said he'd waited for the showdown for a full year after the schedule was unveiled, and couldn't sleep for three nights before the game.

India won that match by six wickets but lost the final to Australia, a defeat Tendulkar rated among his big disappointments.

Expect the stakes to be just as high, or higher, on Sunday when the archrivals meet in Adelaide. Local organisers predict the TV audience could be the biggest in history to watch a cricket match.

Pakistan has taken its share of ODIs against India but India has won all five of their meetings in World Cups, dating back to a 43-run win in Sydney in 1992, the year Pakistan won the title.

New Zealand has reached the World Cup semi-finals six times, including on home soil in 1992, but has never gone on to the final. Some senior players feel that might change this time.

The bowling group is tight, and there are power hitters throughout the batting order, starting with skipper Brendon McCullum at the top.

The West Indies won the first two World Cup tournaments in 1975 and '79 before things starting to turn against the Caribbean team in the 1983 final, which India won against the odds. Since then, it's been mostly downhill for the nations that combined to bring the Calypso kings to the cricket world.

The West Indies didn't reach the semi-finals in '87 or '92 but somehow, after capitulating in a shocking 73-run loss to the amateurs from Kenya in the group stage in '96, recovered to reach the semifinals before losing to Australia from a strong position. They haven't been back to the last four since.

There are no great expectations for 2015. ]The squad was thrown into turmoil with the ill-judged walkout from a tour of India in October, sparking threats of sanctions and legal action, and was thrashed in a recent series in South Africa. Left-arm spinner Sunil Narine withdrew from the World Cup squad due to concern over his bowling action.