Since the ICC are meeting in early April I think and one of the major topics of discussion is the world cup format for 2019, I figured I'd make a thread so we can discuss the format on its own.
Richardson has stated that the agreement the ICC has made with the TV companies was on the basis of the 10 team format being used in 2019, but honestly I think the money generated will be massive even if the format is changed.
Anyway, let us look at the facts of a ten team world cup.....
1. This format will irreversibly damage the game of cricket in several if not all of the mid to high ranked tier countries at Associate level. Ireland will have nothing to aim for, Scotland will struggle to get any new fans to the game and also will struggle to keep hold of the current base, ditto with the Netherlands. All the progress Namibia have made by being part of South Africa's domestic system will be in vain, Afghanistan will hit a glass ceiling and regress, Nepal will regress, PNG will have nothing to build towards anymore. You get the point.
2. This format goes against everything a world cup and the ICC itself as an organisation is supposed to stand for
The ICC mission goal states the strategic direction of the organisation is...
"A bigger, better, global game targeting more players, more fans, more competitive teams.
Our long-term success will be judged on growth in participation and public interest and the competitiveness of teams participating in men's and women's international cricket."
How do they expect to achieve this by cutting the teams by 4?? How will the game become more global when the top upcoming nations are being cut down without being given a chance? How will more competitive teams arise without adequate support? How will more fans be attracted to a smaller event? How will Associate boards attract more players and fans when they have zero glamour fixtures to sell or world cups to take part in?
As to the second paragraph, well that seems to be an admission by the ICC itself that its own actions arent in the best interests of the sport or the organisation itself!
The ICC also states....
"As the international governing body for cricket, the International Cricket Council will lead by:
Providing a world class environment for international cricket
Delivering 'major' events across three formats
Providing targeted support to Members
Promoting the global game"
Where is the targeted support and fixtures for the Associate teams now that the world cup is over? Where are the fixtures they have regularly been promised? How is 10 teams promoting the global game??
Finally, it states that the ICC's values are....
The ICC's actions and people are guided by the following values:
Fairness and Integrity
Excellence
Accountability
Teamwork
Respect for diversity
Commitment to the global game and its great spirit"
Where is the accountability for the corruption endemic in the PCB,BCCI,SLCB,BCB,ZCB,WICB??
Where is the commitment to the global game when the top Associate nation gets 9 ODI's vs full members in 4 years whereas the 10th full member who lost to said Associate got more ODI's in the 4 months preceding the event?
Where was the fairness and integrity in 2007, when an Irish team who made it to the super 8's received 50,000 dollars in prize money whereas the Pakistani team who were knocked out after a week received 11 million US dollars? How is that fair?
2. At most there is 1 qualification spot available.
By handing Bangladesh the hosting rights to the ICC cricket world qualifiers in 2018 the ICC have practically ensured that, even if Bangladesh remain in the bottom 2 rankings, they are practically guaranteed a knock out spot. That means realistically there will be 1 spot up for grabs between Ireland,Scotland,Afghanistan and Zimbabwe. All of those teams, with the arguable exception of Scotland, contributed massively to the group stages of the past event and were the few things keeping it remotely interesting.
3. Associates are getting scapegoated by their own organisation.
The most prominent and valid complaints of the current cricket world cup format are that...
- Its too long
- Its too predictable
The tournament most certainly stretches on too long with 45 or so days being the official length, However none of that lies at the Associates feet. Nothing is stopping the ICC having 2 games per day, at least on weekends, with the less glamorous tie being on in the morning and the bigger money spinner being on in the evening. Its not a difficult task to achieve. Any overlap can be solved by doing as they did in 2015 and putting the first game on the red button. Why the qualifiers are being blamed for the organising of the event is beyond me.
The killer point however is, that this 10 team format that everyone is advocating PURELY for nostalgic reasons (1992) will actually ADD to the length of the tournament and will also INCREASE the number of games. The ICC have not addressed a single complaint of the current format, they've just harped on about competitiveness and everyone is too blind to notice. In 1992 this worked as the teams were much more evenly matched than today.
Not only this, but the argument that the Associates suck is a) untrue as Ireland showed and b) not valid as the Associates are being given zero help by their fellow boards in terms of fixtures. Why was funding to the BCCI (by 400 million) the ECB and CA being increased while the Associates as a whole are losing out on a massive 300 million dollars? Where is the ambition to spreading the game here??
As someone said on cricinfo, "In the space of one game you are asking Associates to face,adapt to and dominate Mitchell Starc yorkers". Why not give these teams A tours, warm up games of neighbour full member tour or just more games? Why the reluctance? Money plays a factor but at some point the ICC must place long term gains over short term profit.
4. The ICC have tried this before
In 2011. no less than a week after arguably the best world cup had drawn to a conclusion, the ICC announced that this 2015 edition would have been a closed shop, with no qualifying venue and only the ten full members taking part. This despite Ireland being ranked ahead of Zimbabwe in the rankings at the time. They backtracked on that.
Now, this edition has been bashed for being very one-sided (Despite the fact that group B was wide open till the last ball). I want you to picture this.
Australia
NZ
India
SA
Sri Lanka
Pakistan
England
West Indies
Bangladesh
Zimbabwe.
That would have been the line-up for this event if not for the backlash in 2011. Now, look at the bottom 6 teams. Of all of those, only Pakistan won a single match vs the big 4. The rest lost comfortably bar Bangladesh. Do you honestly think, a massive group of 10 where the top 4 sides are leagues ahead of the rest will be anything other than one long winded bore fest?? Look at the line up above and tell me the group stage wouldnt have been over after the first 4 rounds of matches.
The format needs changing but at the same time India need a lot of matches so the ICC can get as much lovely cash as possible. Why not 3 groups of 5? Or 2 groups of 6 even?
Cricket as a whole needs to make a choice. Do you want a world event with exciting games and upsets? Or do you want as easy a ride as humanely possible to the knock-outs. Any time we have the former, teams moan about an unfair group stage where one loss sends you home. Any time we have the latter, the same teams moan about the small teams and demand they be knocked out and a 10 team WC used, even though all it serves is to make things just as boring.
The Champions Trophy is preferred by some not due to the teams taking part, but because every game matters. We tried that in 2007 and got a huge backlash. Something tells me if in 2016 India get knocked out in the group stage the CT will change to an 8 team group, at which point the few people who value that competition will lose interest.
I refuse to stay quiet and let the ICC try and destroy the team that have added so much to cricket in the last 8 years. I refuse to let them destroy the ambitions of other teams like Afghanistan and Nepal who in future can have a lot to offer the game.
In a couple days when, as I expect, the 10 team format is rubber stamped, I want you to picture Bangalore 2011, Dunedin 2015, Nelson 2015, Nairobi in 2003, Port of Spain 2007 and Kingston in 2007 and remind yourselves that scenes like that will never ever be repeated again due to the actions of an organisation who promised to deliver "A bigger, better, global game targeting more players, more fans, more competitive teams" and ask yourselves why this was let happen and why not a single full member board has asked questions.
Thanks for making it this far
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