ICC CRICKET WORLD CUP WAY TOO LONG

So the FIFA World Cup involves 32 teams and lasts one month. The ICC Cricket World Cup has 14 teams and taking more than a month. Is it just me or is there something fundamentally wrong with that? There is no intensity, no eager anticipation. The ICC World Cup feels like watching every day cricket with the only difference being that the matches are being played in two neighbouring countries.

The ICC World Cup began on February 14 and is scheduled to end on March 28. That’s six bloody weeks. Two zones, seven teams in each why is it taking so long?

From where I sit the world cup is supposed to be test of skill and endurance. It is under those trying circumstances that the true champions will emerge; not this leisurely stroll with each team playing one match a week, where is the intensity in that?

The West Indies, for example, play next against New Zealand on March 20 in what could be their last match of this campaign. Before that they last played on March 14, before that they played on March 6, before that February 26, and before that February 23. There is absolutely no need for matches to be stretched like this. As a fan, it takes the energy out of the competition. When your team is involved in a World Cup you want to see them play and you want to see them play often. You want to see them play before the thrill of a win wears off or, as in the case of the West Indies, the opportunity of redemption that remove the bitter taste of defeat from the last encounter.

It is why FIFA thrives, it is why the IAAF World Championships and the four majors in tennis are always so exciting. It’s that emotional roller-coaster than keeps fans interested and keeps fans intrigued. The prolonged break between games only diminishes impact and interest.

Former players and coaches are also of the view that the matches are too far apart. Darren Lehman, Australia’s coach expressed those views at the start of the tournament way back in February. “I think we can condense the tournament a bit to be honest,” he said. And I agree. Games should be coming thick and fast to keep the interest high and the fans buzzing.

The other thing is it’s not like you don’t which eight teams are going to be in the quarter-finals. Yes, there will be upsets but if the gap between the games was tighter, you could get to the meat of the matter a lot more quickly, the knockout stage. “Sure, in between you have some big games as well but you know eventually that these are going to be the best eight teams,” Rahul Dravid argues. Thus, delaying the inevitable doesn’t keep you interested, it just makes the whole thing annoying.

The bottom line is that there was all this hype leading up to the world cup and now that it’s here, it is proving to be rather disappointing. It’s like eagerly anticipating the release of a blockbuster movie only for it to be an extremely long bore.