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The ICC has created a World Cup devoid of character

Matt new author
Roar Rookie
24th June, 2019
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Matt new author
Roar Rookie
24th June, 2019
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As the cricket World Cup unhurriedly meanders towards the knockout phase, it’s hard not to feel that the finalists have been a foregone conclusion since the middle of June.

New Zealand and India are both consistent and have largely performed well throughout. Australia has been pushed hard by the West Indies and Bangladesh, but have both found a way of winning the key moments.

England though looking far less assured, sit comfortably in fourth position, albeit with matches against the top three teams remaining. The other teams have all had moments of brilliance, but have lacked the consistency throughout the tournament and have been sharing victories among themselves.

Despite the statements about Australia still being shell-shocked after sandpaper gate, the question marks over the sustainability of England’s hyper-aggressive batting approach and the quadrennial uncertainties regarding which Pakistan or West Indies team will show up on a given day, the top four teams, possibly with the exception of a workmanlike New Zealand in the place of a woeful South African outfit, are largely as expected.

Kane Williamson of the Black Caps

New Zealand have surprised at this World Cup. (Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images)

The fact is this cricket World Cup has been purposely configured to reduce the likelihood of unwanted surprises. The qualification process has been hermetically sealed to ensure that unwanted parties don’t disturb the finely balanced equilibrium that the ICC desires.

The pathway for lesser cricketing nations to qualify has been drastically cut back, because heaven forbid they have the temerity to cause an early upset and eliminate a nation whose sponsors have paid top dollar to advertise the latest phone or a ride-sharing app all over stadiums and to millions of fans during commercial breaks.

By ensuring that all teams play each other, the format is more akin to a football season than the World Cups of most other sports.

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Consistency is paramount and rewarded. The ability to pull off a few surprise upsets is no longer enough to ensure qualification to the knockout stages of the tournament.

As exciting as it was, if Afghanistan had pulled off a remarkable victory against India, the table would have remained largely unchanged.

India would still be in the top four and Afghanistan still languishing in last place. The same can be said for New Zealand and the West Indies, if Carlos Brathwaite had done just a few more bicep curls at the gym.

The end result is that, with a third of the pool matches still remaining, three of the semi-finalists are all but determined.

The fourth finalist position will, despite all the hubbub following their loss to Sri Lanka, almost certainly be England. Betting agencies place the probability of the current four teams qualifying for the finals at over 90 per cent.

Indeed, there is the very real possibility that the final dozen matches of the pool stage will be superfluous with the matches purely acting as an opportunity to give all the squad members some match time.

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This is all not to say that this World Cup has not been without its fair share of unexpected and brilliant moments. Bangladesh has been competitive throughout and thoroughly deserved to beat both South Africa and the West Indies.

A dad-bodied Lasith Malinga turning back the clock to bowl Sri Lanka to a most unlikely victory against England will be remembered by all who watched it, as will Afghanistan taking India to the brink only to have their hopes quashed by a Mohammad Shami hat-trick.

However, by creating a World Cup where pool games make up more than nine-tenths of all matches and minnows are ostracised some of the unexpected magic that makes World Cups (of all sports) so special is lost.

Under this format Ireland would never have had the opportunity to chase down England’s 327 in Mohali, Kenya would never have miraculously defeated the West Indies on a rank turner in Pune and Dwayne Leverock would never have moved like a gazelle to snare Robin Uthappa one-handed to the utter amazement of all.

More importantly, cricketing nations like Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Ireland would have never had the opportunity to prove themselves and grow on the world stage.

Hazratullah Zazai celebrates a record-breaking scoring run during Afghanistan's T20 match against Ireland.

Afghanistan’s Hazratullah Zazai. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)

When the trophy is raised at Lord’s on 14 July no-one will doubt that the winner deserves to be standing there. The quality throughout the tournament compared to previous editions will also be higher and the number of one-sided matches reduced.

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Of course, the same could be said about a World Cup from any sport if it is only played by the select (best) few. The price paid for this, however, is a World Cup that has been sadly lacking in character and is high in predictability.

The ICC would do well to reconsider the format when the World Cup comes around again in 2023.

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