Cricket World Cup – Last chance to see

[Skater]

Best thing that can happen is for India and to a lesser extent England and Australia getting knocked out nice and quick..

We're working on it.

Ed Joyce is right in what he says. Cricket is the only sport where the World Cup is downsizing rather than expanding. It's going to hurt the game in the long run.

 

[barmyarmy]

e: good article btw Barmy; agree with your conclusions about patronising journalists and the like - although F1 with ten cars on the grid is starting to look like becoming a reality

I did think about the F1 thing. The big teams would like to but the FIA at least know it makes no commercial sense.

 

[Epic]

I don't mind this, keep the ODI World Cup exclusive to the member nations and replace the Champions Trophy with the World Test Championship, but please for the love of god make a better attempt to integrate the 6 associates that take part in the World Twenty20's, the potential for upsets is exponentially higher in a 20 over game than a 50 over game. I hated what they did in 2014 with the top 8 automatically qualifying for the super 10 stage and Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and the 6 associates playing in a group stage all by themselves, sure I'm more inclined to watching a T20 game between Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and the associates than I ever will be an ODI, but there has to be some relevance to those games in the bigger scheme of things and this can achieved by going with 4 groups of 4 with the top 2 going through to the knockouts (the 2007 World Cup format ironically).

Imagine a football world cup where only the top 10 nations in the world were allowed a place. All sports have big teams and small teams but it seems to be only the ICC that treats those “minnows” with such utter contempt.

Wouldn't you say though that the learning curve is far steeper in cricket than football? Like for example football being far more tactical than cricket could ever be helps produce a much more competitive environment between the big teams and the small teams, and the aspect of physicality in football can offset superior technique and ability, something there's no place for in cricket, it's pure technique and skill, I don't know if we will ever see a "minnow" win the World Cup, but I have witnessed Greece winning the Euros.

Maybe it's just perception and it isn't the sport's fault at all and FIFA actually plays a part in cutting down the gulf in class between the big teams and the small teams which the ICC has failed to do.

 

[barmyarmy]

The point is that the gap between the full members and the associates is closing all the time but the associates don't get access to the Future Tours Programme and automatic qualification for major tournaments. Zimbabwe, West Indies, Bangladesh, Ireland, Afghanistan, Scotland - they're probably closer than the full members there are to Australia and South Africa right now.

 

[MattW]

The point is that the gap between the full members and the associates is closing all the time but the associates don't get access to the Future Tours Programme and automatic qualification for major tournaments. Zimbabwe, West Indies, Bangladesh, Ireland, Afghanistan, Scotland - they're probably closer than the full members there are to Australia and South Africa right now.

So tiers?

I don't know if we will ever see a "minnow" win the World Cup, but I have witnessed Greece winning the Euros.

And Australia just won the Asian Cup, doesn't mean we have any hope at all in the 2018 World Cup. But our participation in the event grows football here massively - every World Cup we compete in, they keep putting football even higher in the minds of Australians, and that is bound to grow the amount of talented young players that stick with football rather than switch over to other sports like Aussie Rules or Cricket.

Seeing us put up a good fight against the best in the world is just as good as having won the thing. Getting out of the group stages is to Australian football, what the equivalent probably was for Ireland at the 2007 Cricket World Cup. Just in the case of football, there's not an organisational structure trying to keep football from expanding, so they consider it a good thing, rather than something that needs a change of format to avoid.

 

[Epic]

And Australia just won the Asian Cup, doesn't mean we have any hope at all in the 2018 World Cup. But our participation in the event grows football here massively - every World Cup we compete in, they keep putting football even higher in the minds of Australians, and that is bound to grow the amount of talented young players that stick with football rather than switch over to other sports like Aussie Rules or Cricket.

Seeing us put up a good fight against the best in the world is just as good as having won the thing. Getting out of the group stages is to Australian football, what the equivalent probably was for Ireland at the 2007 Cricket World Cup. Just in the case of football, there's not an organisational structure trying to keep football from expanding, so they consider it a good thing, rather than something that needs a change of format to avoid.

It's also a little different with football and their World Cup in that one it's already a global sport and two their premiere event is bigger than the sport itself, which is clearly not the case with cricket's where we have advertisers more inclined to push for India to go deep every time than say Brazil at the football equivalent event, because they trust whatever happens and whoever gets knocked out the FIFA World Cup name will deliver and viewership will hardly be affected. That's besides the point and I do get what you're saying in that being a part of the event and competing is almost as good as winning the thing for a nation looking to develop the sport, the problem is I think it'd be easier to go about it through T20Is instead of ODIs.

 

[barmyarmy]

Another part of the problem is that the mainstream media use words like "shock", "upset" and "giant-killing" to describe Ireland beating West Indies when Ireland were probably favourites.
To summarise, next world cup only the top 10 ranked teams. Teams from 11 downwards can't play teams from 10 upwards in that time to have a chance of beating them and qualifying...

If the ICC had had their way Ireland wouldn't have been allowed at this World Cup.

 

[Aislabie]

Another part of the problem is that the mainstream media use words like "shock", "upset" and "giant-killing" to describe Ireland beating West Indies when Ireland were probably favourites.

It was an upset because of the gulf in funds, opportunities and experience between the two sides. If the two countries were equal in these ways then I'd agree that it wasn't an upset, but until cricketing nations are treated equally then the defeat of a Full Member by an Associate will always be something of a shock

 

[barmyarmy]

Not so sure about funds seeing as the WICB are broke. A shame Scotland couldn't do better against NZ but NZ are a very good side atm.

 

[Aoun13]

All these so called m-i-n-n-o-w-s are showing why they deserve more chances at higher level rather omitting them from a tournament like World cup. Probably the best thing is to have a qualification round for all teams including big 3 to give fair chance to these associate teams.

 

[IceAgeComing]

We've not really had a totally uncompetitive game to this point: even the New Zealand-Scotland one got close towards the end. Although I didn't watch the Bangladesh game (it started at 3am here!) so I don't know about that one

All these so called m-i-n-n-o-w-s are showing why they deserve more chances at higher level rather omitting them from a tournament like World cup. Probably the best thing is to have a qualification round for all teams including big 3 to give fair chance to these associate teams.

y'know, i technically could infract you for trying to bypass the word filter

 

[IanG]

Just simply short sightedness on the ICC's part. Probably cause they pose a threat to the status quo

 

[IceAgeComing]

I don't know about you all, but I'm enjoying all of the highly competitive games between the full members and am glad that we're only going to get those games in the world cup, and not games like Ireland-UAE and Afghanistan-Scotland.

 

[IanG]

Yeah me too that I've seen.

Just using Ireland as an example. If it's cut back they will suffer big time cause there will be disenchantment but their top talent who will want to play at the highest level which is Test cricket. More and more will just make themselves available for England.

Here's a hypothetical scenario. Imagine if New Zealand never played test cricket but still produced the kind of talent that they have over the years but the only way their players were able to play test cricket was to make themselves available to play for Australia.

Imagine a 3 prong Aussie pace attack of the 70s. Lillee, Thompson and Hadlee.

 

[IceAgeComing]

i've actually changed my mind; i think its good that the icc want to cut no hopers like england and pakistan out of future world cups