World Cup 2007? - where?

Prior to the start of World Cup 2007, all of us hoped for and expected a successful tournament. Success not from the point of view of any particular team; we wanted the world cup to be a success as a tournament. But approaching the end of this tournament, we realise that it has been a comprehensive and complete failure.

Although the ICC courageously reported of many of the matches as having been completely booked prior to the match and in some cases the World Cup itself, there was not one stadium which even without analysis seemed full. There were huge sections of the seats which looked beautiful only for their being colourful and bearing the rather attractive sponsor logos. The crowds did not come in as a result of high ticketing rates.

As if this was not enough, the ICC also decided to go in with an extremely long and an unnecessarily and inexplicably complex tournament schedule. Everyone was satisfied with the last World Cup’s schedule where two matches were played in a day and there were just two pools, which meant a much lesser number of group matches. The complete exclusion of day night matches was once again inexplicable. The only reasonable explanation for that can be that all of the cricketing nations in the world are to the east of the West Indies and therefore, day-night matches would stretch too far into the night.

The grouping system in this year’s world cup is even worse because it does not give teams time to settle down. In this edition, if teams do not play well in three matches, the do not play another game. Ireland and Bangladesh’s entry into the super eights of the tournament is only per chance and to believe this to be a success in the promotion of the ‘minnows’ is but an illusion. The promotion of the minnows is when these teams get to play more matches in the international circuit against the more significant teams, not to win, but for exposure. There was clearly more room for this promotion in the last edition. Also, Habibul Bashar issued a statement that Bangladesh and Ireland entered the super eights because they deserved to. Does what he say mean that India and Pakistan did not deserve to? Remember, Bangladesh won only one game against a rather complacent India.

When Bradman got out in his last test, a little angry boy told the bowler who dismissed the don, “I came to see Bradman bat!” The boy was right.-BS