There has been considerable action on the news front regarding the number of teams allowed to play in the next Cricket World Cup. Much hue and cry has been raised on this subject, as this time around most of World Cup matches against the associates turned out to be predictable and lacked the thrill.
Rashid Latif, Former Pakistan Captain has expressed his views concerning this matter. He has urged the ICC to limit the World Cup tournament to eight teams. This year 14 teams were allowed to play the World Cup, including four associate teams of Netherlands, Ireland, Kenya and Canada. Associate teams are recognized by the ICC. These teams do not qualify as a Full Member but cricket is being formally, regulated and organized in their country.
“Eight teams will make the event very competitive and thrilling and will be a true test of a champion team,” he told the media in a recent interview.
The cricket expert says that the reason for the unexciting matches lies in the fact that the participating teams are not at par with one another. If one team performs badly, the opponent also loses the thrill, and the match quickly ends in a predictable fashion.
Recently, England’s captain Andrew Strauss commented about their sluggish progress in the match against the minnows (Netherlands), saying that his team believes in raising their performance when the contenders are of a higher caliber.
“We generally raise our games against better sides”, said Andrew Strauss.
Rashid Latif continued to contest the matter and suggested that the World Cup ought to be played on a single-league basis and only amongst the top eight teams, as per the ranking by ICC.
“My suggestion is that it should be played on a single league basis among the top eight teams”, he stated, while adding that the top four teams should play “criss-cross” in the semifinals.
He said that in the current times even the World Olympics continue for eighteen days and Football World Cup lasts for about a month. He advised that the ICC World Cup should also follow a similar pattern and should be restricted to three weeks, playing two matches per day; prolonging the tournament only makes the event more uninteresting and mundane.
Rashid Latif, Former Pakistan Captain has expressed his views concerning this matter. He has urged the ICC to limit the World Cup tournament to eight teams. This year 14 teams were allowed to play the World Cup, including four associate teams of Netherlands, Ireland, Kenya and Canada. Associate teams are recognized by the ICC. These teams do not qualify as a Full Member but cricket is being formally, regulated and organized in their country.
“Eight teams will make the event very competitive and thrilling and will be a true test of a champion team,” he told the media in a recent interview.
The cricket expert says that the reason for the unexciting matches lies in the fact that the participating teams are not at par with one another. If one team performs badly, the opponent also loses the thrill, and the match quickly ends in a predictable fashion.
Recently, England’s captain Andrew Strauss commented about their sluggish progress in the match against the minnows (Netherlands), saying that his team believes in raising their performance when the contenders are of a higher caliber.
“We generally raise our games against better sides”, said Andrew Strauss.
Rashid Latif continued to contest the matter and suggested that the World Cup ought to be played on a single-league basis and only amongst the top eight teams, as per the ranking by ICC.
“My suggestion is that it should be played on a single league basis among the top eight teams”, he stated, while adding that the top four teams should play “criss-cross” in the semifinals.
He said that in the current times even the World Olympics continue for eighteen days and Football World Cup lasts for about a month. He advised that the ICC World Cup should also follow a similar pattern and should be restricted to three weeks, playing two matches per day; prolonging the tournament only makes the event more uninteresting and mundane.
