ICC Confirms 2011 World Cup Groupings

The International Cricket Council (ICC) Board members have finalised the groups for the 2011 World Cup, which will be held in Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka.

The 14-team tournament sees the competing nations split into two groups - reigning champions Australia are joined in Group A by Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Canada and Kenya with Group B comprising India, South Africa, England, the West Indies, Bangladesh, Ireland and the Netherlands. The top four sides from each group will then progress to a straight knockout stage of quarter-finals, semi-finals and then the final.

On the final day of their two-day board meeting in Johannesburg, the board also approved the schedule for the 2010 ICC Under-19 World Cup, which was recently shifted from Kenya to New Zealand and a working group was set up to analyse other sport and entertainment products in order to continue to enhance and improve the promotion of cricket.

ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat will chair this group which will include representatives from each Full Member country.

Day one of the meeting saw Principal Advisor IS Bindra encourage Full Members to play competitive cricket in developing countries, notably the USA and China and a draft proposal of a new Future Tours Programme was approved in principle.

A new and enhanced ICC Code of Conduct, Anti-Corruption and Anti-Racism was unanimously approved on day one.

© Cricket World 2009

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