First Twenty20 World Cup

The ICC have announced that the first Twenty20 world cup will take place next year in South Africa. The tournament will last 9 days, and will feature 12 teams.

Two questions are unanswered, and that is with regards to the exact format, and how the 12 teams will be decided.

Firstly, the format, for which I’d use the much-maligned format of the 2002 and 2004 ICC Champions Trophies, with 4 groups of 3 teams, followed by semi finals and a final. This is no problem getting things over and done with, all though it remains to be seen how many games will be played on one ground on each day. Even if only two grounds are used, 4, or even six games a day would be no problem. Having both semi finals and the final on the same day, as in the English domestic competition is an absolute must, as combined with the entertainment used in the break between matches, it makes for an exciting spectacle.

Which leaves the question of how to decide the 12 teams. The ICC has said that all the test nations will take part, so that leaves room for 2 associates. I doubt they’ll have another qualification tournament in addition to the myriad of qualifying tournaments for the ODI World Cup, so they’ll probably just use the top 12 teams in the ODI rankings, which is currently the 10 test playing nations plus Kenya and Scotland.

Another alternative is to use the ODI World Cup itself as a qualifying tournament, where top 3 teams in each of the first round groups will play in the Twenty20 World Cup. A team such as Bermuda may have little hope of progressing to the second stage of the 2007 World Cup, but knowing that an upset over one of the big boys could possbily give them a spot in the Twenty20 World Cup, where they would probably have more chance of an upset over a full member, may just give them an extra little incentive.

ICC announce hosts for World Cups and more

The ICC have announced hosts for a whole range of events going up to the 2019 World Cup, to be held in England (probably in Wales, Scotland and Ireland too).

The 2011 World Cup has gone to Asia, with the 2015 event being jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand. The 2009 ICC Trophy will be played in the UAE, and the 2013 event in Scotland. The Netherlands also get a look in, and will host the 2010 World Cricket League Division One tournament.

Surprisingly, the ICC have decided to move the Under 19 World Cup to the associate countries. Malaysia will host the 2008 event, followed by Kenya in 2010, Canada in 2012, and the UAE in 2014.

I was quite surprised by this, as I thought the Twenty20 tournaments would have more of a chance of going to associate countries. Whatever your opinion of Twenty20, one can’t deny that it is probably the most marketable form of the game, and holding it in a country where cricket is not popular could do wonders for the sports popularity in that country. Instead, the first two tournaments will go to South Africa in 2007, and England in 2009, which I suppose is fair enough with those countries being early adopters of the format.

Asian full members agree World Cup bid

The Asian full members of the ICC (Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) have agreed to bid for the 2011 Cricket World Cup.

I wonder if the BCCIs current plan of pissing the ICC off as much as possible will help the bid at all?

ICC announce huge schedule for associates

The ICC have today announced a huge schedule of cricket for six associates with ODI status. (Bermuda, Canada, Ireland, Kenya, Netherlands and Scotland).

Good to see these countries getting a lot more cricket.