Bigger and better
According to David Richardson, the ICC chief executive officer, this World Cup will be “bigger and better” than any other. There will be 49 matches over six weeks, involving 14 teams at 14 venues.
Because Richardson said it as part of an “exclusive interview” with his own organisation, he presumably meant it as a good thing.
How that reflects on the next World Cup, though, nobody knows. The 2019 World Cup is widely expected to be smaller, with 10 teams – the top eight full members and two sides who may or may not be associates. Conceivably, there may not be any associates; there are four this year, including the UAE.
Ten teams would be only two more than played in the first World Cup in 1975.
As a statement on the growth of the game, that is pretty poor.
PCB and the Big Three
For some reason never made entirely clear, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) came out fourth-best in the assessment of the biggest nations in cricket’s full members last year. With the instigation of the Big Three in the game, that prompted the PCB to try to make themselves one of an unofficial Big Four.
They are not, even though this week they pretended they were and attempted to lord it over a smaller nation. For the tour of Bangladesh in April, after the World Cup, the PCB said it wants 50 per cent of the revenue Bangladesh earns in the series.
This is compensation for having to tour a less-lucrative destination but also retaliation for Bangladesh’s refusal to tour Pakistan in recent years, despite legitimate security concerns. It was a miserable and condemnable action, designed to weaken further boards that can ill-afford it.
Given the PCB’s situation, they can hardly afford to have it come back to bite them, say, if India demanded the same.
Peaking too early
New Zealand are leading Sri Lanka 4-1 in their seven-match ODI series, with one game to play.
They have chased down small, tricky targets, they have chased down a healthy total, and two games in succession they have gone past 300.
Their batsmen are scoring runs, their bowlers are taking wickets, their fielders are as awesome as ever.
It is their second impressive ODI series win in quick succession, having beaten Pakistan 3-2 in the UAE in December, and the world is starting to talk them up ahead of the World Cup.
The problem is, the World Cup is still three weeks away.
New Zealand are a rising side – they have almost every aspect covered and are playing at home too.
But the goodwill has gone round and is turning into a little caution. Have they peaked too early and will they be able to maintain this form?
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