The Ideal WC Format

Since the Cricket World Cup is still in its infancy (compared to say the Football World Cup), the ideal format for the world cup has not yet been decided (atleast I dont think it has).  The former chief of the BCCI, I.S. Bindra has criticised the current format citing the fact that India lost out on a place in the Super 8s just because they had one bad day and said the idea format was used in the 1992 WC. 

but Freddie that will balance itself out now that WI have lost to Australia and SA will beat Ireland.

My main objection to the format is that once you get down to the semi finals, they are going to be matches we've already seen in this tournament, ditto the final.


Edited by Clobber - 03 April 2007 at 9:32am

It has to be in three groups

  Before the start of this tournament I didn't see a single grievance concerning the format.  That two fancied sides messed up suddenly has people up in arms saying we need a better system!

   It's simple - either you allow the minnows to play , which means something along the lines we've had this time. A long event (too long in most eyes) with a lot of meaningless mismatches and little opportunity to right a shock result. 
    
    Or get rid of the minnows and play a round robin of the top ten teams with the top four contesting the semifinals.

    My greatest concern is the ICC's inability to find a system where we see the big guns playing in front of sellout crowds - this event has been massively disappointing in that regard.

I believe its just a lame excuse by Indians and Pakistanis, they were incompetent and they had two bad days not one, and if a team has two bad days out of the three it has to lose and go back.

Edited by wiseguy - 03 April 2007 at 8:32am

Originally posted by Mojo I like the Uefa Champions League format. Each team plays the next team in its respective group twice....

  Comparing apples with pears Mojo . The sole reason they play twice in every stage in football is to take away home advantage - no other reason whatsoever.
 
   The cricket world cup doesn't need to be any longer - it's ridiculous as it is .

 The round the world yacht race is shorter than the current format !

  You take a lot of my stuff quite literally , don't you.

Originally posted by scuudz   As for your objection, Clob, I guess the 1996 format solved that problem but they threw that format out.  What do you think about having the top 8 teams from the four groups going directly into the quarter-finals?

I wouodn't have a problem with that as it would mean after the groups were over every game became massive. It would also get us through the tournament a heck of a lot quicker...though the money men would be wincing at not having so many fatuous games to sell tickets and sponsorship for.


Edited by Clobber - 03 April 2007 at 9:44am

The current format is just fine. In fact it's great to put the senior teams to the test and see the lowly ranked teams fight for a place in the other round. I am sure that a lot of people are disappointed with India and Pakistan's performances in the world cup but you cannot blame the format because they didn't make it to the other round. If you just had the top 8 teams playing in the world cup then a fair chance would not be given to the other teams to allow them an opportunity to play. Isn't this what we all want to see the wonderful game that we all love be loved by other people all over the world too??? Could you imagine how much more popular cricket is in Ireland since they made it to the super8s????

I like the modified McIntyre system that the AFL uses. The top four teams are rewarded with a second chance if they lose, but apart from that it's all knockout. The post-group stage would all be over in 2 or 3 weeks, and Bob's your uncle.

Round 1:
1 v 4, 2 v 3,  5 v 8, 6 v 7 --> Two lowest ranked losers get eliminated, two highest ranked winners get a bye
Round 2:
Semi-finals amongst the bottom 4 teams of the remaining 6, the two losers being eliminated
Round 3:
Preliminary Finals
Round 4:
Grand Final


Edited by Roscoe - 05 April 2007 at 2:05pm

I dont see much wrong with the current format. Nothing is perfect. 16 teams is fine as far as I'm concerned and having the top 8 teams all playing each other is the fairest way to go.

I think it was fine in 99 in terms of format and the amount of teams invited. Just the good teams and then super sixes stage. The current format has too many hopeless teams leading to a lot of rubbish, uncompetitive matches which take to long to complete. Invite these teams to the ICC trophy. Leave them out of the World Cup.


Edited by Sim Dog - 01 May 2007 at 1:48pm