Minnows in world cup...one too many?

[yoda]

Holding slams letting a whole bunch of minnows into world cup. I tend to agree with him. Too many non-test playing nations essentially rendering the first round meaningless. http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/wc2007/content/current/story/281062.html "I don't believe the World Cup should go on for as long as it does (almost two months) and that is partly because there are far too many teams in the competition who are not good enough to be there," he told Bermuda's Royal Gazette. "I've argued about this with the ICC for some time. I simply do not believe that if you come fourth in the ICC Trophy that you should be entitled to play in the World Cup.

[King Tendulkar]

Re: Minnows in world cup...one too many? I agree to many minnows.

[zubinpepsi]

Re: Minnows in world cup...one too many? Holding is absolutely correct.. having minnows in WC doesnt mean anything.. Its just addition of os some boring matches.. which i think no one will be interested in.. By having minnows in the WC they r infact reducing the quality of cricket.. It helps the players to set some records and improving their stats.. but tht doesnt prove anything... to hafa good quality WC, it shud be played by teams that fall in the upper berth.. and also his suggestion of improving the infrastructures in those minnow coountries and having a limited series against test playin countries will help those minnow countries to learn good competitive cricket from those upper berth teams.. Instead, asking them to play in WC is only gonna deter the quality and significance of WC..

[apocalypse]

Re: Minnows in world cup...one too many? But then they dont get chance to play against Test Playing Nations. Apart from WC, no test playing country wants to tour them. In last one yr or less, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh have played against each other only thrice. So if these countries who are ranked lower among test playing nations are suffering like this, what will happen to others? Does he remembers West Indies were defeated by Kenya in 96 WC and they performed well in the last WC.

[zubinpepsi]

Re: Minnows in world cup...one too many? but then what happens in the next stage... its just a cake walk for the other team.. for eg.. last wc, india met kenya in the semis, though india struggled a bit but its was not tht competitive,, it wud have been challenging if india had met someother test playing nation.... minnows win once in a blue moon.. and they make life easier for the rest by doing so.. I guess not many ( other than indian supporters) would have been happy or interested to see kenyans in semis..

[zubinpepsi]

Re: Minnows in world cup...one too many?

But then they dont get chance to play against Test Playing Nations. Apart from WC, no test playing country wants to tour them. In last one yr or less, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh have played against each other only thrice. So if these countries who are ranked lower among test playing nations are suffering like this, what will happen to others?

I think this is where ICC has to step in scheduling.. They have to schedule the tour programmes in sucha way tht minnows get series against other test playing nations.. there are 8 test playin nations and minnows are like 4 something.. it shudnt be a prob in scheduling.. provided ICC and other boards come to terms on tht

[shailesh]

Re: Minnows in world cup...one too many? icc should have top 2 minnows for WC, and may be top 4 for champions trophy.

[Birbal3]

Re: Minnows in world cup...one too many? The STUPIDEST thing is when the World Cup was in India/Pak...the ICC WHINNED incessently about the length of the tournament...but now that they are making the $$$$ they are MILKING it for all its worth... To me it IS quite long.. but the first round should be more of a warm-up to the REAL tournament....

[Birbal3]

Re: Minnows in world cup...one too many? This is what BBC reported last time... Of course for Poms it was too long... them going home early and all... :hic: Bacher: World Cup too long Bacher is looking forward to Sunday's final World Cup chief organiser Ali Bacher said this year's tournament has gone on too long. The tournament started on 8 February and will end 44 days later on Sunday, with the final between India and Australia. "I think there is a scope to add two more teams although I personally feel the tournament was too long," said Bacher on Saturday. "Kenya making the semi-finals has signalled the game is growing in Africa, with more black people taking up the sport. Bob Hawke told me 'Ali, that's going to an event of biblical proportions.' He was right Ali Bacher on what former Australia PM said about the World Cup "When I met former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke during the Sydney Olympics, he asked me how long the World Cup would be. "When I told him 44 days, he said 'Ali, that's going to an event of biblical proportions.' "He was right." Kenya, Canada, the Netherlands and Namibia were the four minnow teams which took part in the 54-match tournament along with the 10 Test-playing nations. Bacher added: "The two best teams in the tournament have qualified for the final. "The Australians have appeared invincible while the Indians have some wonderful players like Sachin Tendulkar who is a genius. "There will be a full house of 30,000 at the Wanderers and a billion people watching on television. "It's going to be an awesome final."

[kabira]

Re: Minnows in world cup...one too many? well, I dont mind watching new teams, new players...Its ok to have them..this happens once in 4 years..treat first round as warm up...even in tennis lot of first round/second round matches are one sided and waste..but Grand Slam has its charm and so does WC. Anyways 5 out of 4 ODIs are one sided. They have Super 8 now..so its unlikely any weak team will go thru semis...

[veer]

Re: Minnows in world cup...one too many? thats why i said before it will hell of a boring 1st half of the WC.. ONLY 4 games out of first 24 will be competitive games.. its a damn shame.. but why Mr. Holding saying this just before a month ??

[yoda]

Re: Minnows in world cup...one too many?

but why Mr. Holding saying this just before a month ??

He says "I've argued about this with the ICC for some time".

[Birbal3]

Re: Minnows in world cup...one too many? I agree with Kabira... watching new teams and players can be fun... HEck the uniforms are eye openers often... The Bright ORANGE of Holland is a favorite....

[Parth]

Re: Minnows in world cup...one too many? Its boring matches played against minows although some can surprise you like KENYA, reaching the semi final of WC 03. That was a shocker.

[Predator_05]

Re: Minnows in world cup...one too many? I think it's good for the sport. The ICC should take the necessary measures to ensure that the game is promoted in other countries. Who knows, maybe in 20 odd years the likes of Holland and Scotland will become competitive - the foundations need to put into place, and there is no better way of going about this than by allowing these teams a chance to showcase their skills at a big stage like the World Cup. Keep in mind how closely Holland pushed India at the last World Cup, and Kenya's progression to the semifinals after upsetting SL and leaving India reeling under lights in that super sixes match. Canada upset Banglastan and Namibia made a good impression as well.

[gabbar]

Re: Minnows in world cup...one too many? I agree with predator - it's good for the game

[yoda]

Re: Minnows in world cup...one too many? I think they should play regional qualifiers like they do in football. These would be in place of the current warm-ups that all the teams are involved in and would give the minnows a chance to showcase themselves and even cause an upset or two. The final show shouldn't be such that the whole first round is a near farce.

[kabira]

Re: Minnows in world cup...one too many? >The final show shouldn't be such that the whole first round is a near farce. One day cricket at times is farce...some days Toss plays important role, some days dew..5 out of 4 games are one sided... I am fine with the format, although I would want best of 3 semifinals and final.

[Legend]

Re: Minnows in world cup...one too many? what i would suggest is, on the day when their is a match between minnowz, then on same day the other game should be the game between regular sides.. instead of having both games between minnows...

[King]

Re: Minnows in world cup...one too many? Waste of time really, just helps the ICC make more money out of TV rights that's about it. It is a good experience for the upcoming cricketing nations but they should rather have had a priliminary round in the WC or something where the lesser nations plays among themselves and the top two of the lesser nations advances to the next tier. Unfortunately ICC just want to milk as much as possible through the current format.