When the World Cup 2011 has not even finished 3 rounds of play why would someone want to talk about 2015 World Cup? You might as well think that I’m out of my mind.
Thanks to Ireland for forcing me to come up with this article. Few days back ICC announced their decision to leave out the minnows from the 2015 World Cup.
I think it is fairly easy to interpret the reasons.
Minnows don’t bring audience to the stadiums, if it does not involve Host Nation. (For that matter even the high profile clashes in the current edition don’t bring spectators to the stadium. However the reasons are different). They provide dull games. They create opportunity for world records. Basically the one day format is a test for temperament, consistency & mental toughness, leave alone the technique. The minnows lack most of it and hence they should be playing more of T20 and leave the ODI and Test to the Pros. By all means it is a fair reasoning.
The decision of ICC hardly created any ripples. Unless Ireland beat the remaining biggies and qualify for QF, ICC may not reverse its decision. If Ireland fails from here on, this game of England Vs Ireland will only be treated as a one match wonder in the books.
So what do I bring to the table? The following thought process came out after a creative discussion with my friend Balaji, while doing the post match analysis of the England Vs Dutch game.
The minnows should be a part of the World Cup 2015. Like Swann rightly said, let us not take the “World Out of the World Cup”.
But at the same time it is unfair to create dead contest for the sake of encouragement.
The format should be as follows...
India, Pakistan, England, South Africa, Australia, Srilanka, West Indies & New Zealand (Basically top 8 in ICC rankings) should be in a group that will be playing the main event in Australia & New Zealand in 2015. Each of these top teams should be playing each other atleast once as per the current design of 2015. Top 4 will qualify for the playoffs.
There should be another group that includes Bangladesh, Ireland, Netherlands, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Canada, Afghanistan, Hong Kong (basically next 8 teams in the ranking). These teams should be playing each other in ANOTHER PART of the MINNOWS WORLD to attract audience. The Champion of Minnows gets a Wild Card entry in the main event.
Meaning the fourth ranked Macho will play the Champion of Minnows in a Wild Card Game. The Winner of the Two will qualify as the 4th team in the Semi Finals of the Grand Event.
The above format could be improvised better to fit the scheme of things.
Bottomline: The World will be a part of the World Cup with no charm lost.
Dinesh
Cricket Lover
Thanks to Ireland for forcing me to come up with this article. Few days back ICC announced their decision to leave out the minnows from the 2015 World Cup.
I think it is fairly easy to interpret the reasons.
Minnows don’t bring audience to the stadiums, if it does not involve Host Nation. (For that matter even the high profile clashes in the current edition don’t bring spectators to the stadium. However the reasons are different). They provide dull games. They create opportunity for world records. Basically the one day format is a test for temperament, consistency & mental toughness, leave alone the technique. The minnows lack most of it and hence they should be playing more of T20 and leave the ODI and Test to the Pros. By all means it is a fair reasoning.
The decision of ICC hardly created any ripples. Unless Ireland beat the remaining biggies and qualify for QF, ICC may not reverse its decision. If Ireland fails from here on, this game of England Vs Ireland will only be treated as a one match wonder in the books.
So what do I bring to the table? The following thought process came out after a creative discussion with my friend Balaji, while doing the post match analysis of the England Vs Dutch game.
The minnows should be a part of the World Cup 2015. Like Swann rightly said, let us not take the “World Out of the World Cup”.
But at the same time it is unfair to create dead contest for the sake of encouragement.
The format should be as follows...
India, Pakistan, England, South Africa, Australia, Srilanka, West Indies & New Zealand (Basically top 8 in ICC rankings) should be in a group that will be playing the main event in Australia & New Zealand in 2015. Each of these top teams should be playing each other atleast once as per the current design of 2015. Top 4 will qualify for the playoffs.
There should be another group that includes Bangladesh, Ireland, Netherlands, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Canada, Afghanistan, Hong Kong (basically next 8 teams in the ranking). These teams should be playing each other in ANOTHER PART of the MINNOWS WORLD to attract audience. The Champion of Minnows gets a Wild Card entry in the main event.
Meaning the fourth ranked Macho will play the Champion of Minnows in a Wild Card Game. The Winner of the Two will qualify as the 4th team in the Semi Finals of the Grand Event.
The above format could be improvised better to fit the scheme of things.
Bottomline: The World will be a part of the World Cup with no charm lost.
Dinesh
Cricket Lover
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