The new World Cup format
The 2007 World Cup could have two more countries participating, making it a 16-team event
S Rajesh
19-Sep-2003
The 2007 World Cup could have two more countries participating, making it a 16-team event. Speaking to reporters after a meeting of the ICC's Cricket Committee - Management (CC-M), Malcolm Speed revealed the new format, under which 16 teams would form four groups of four teams each.
The teams in every group would play each other, with the two top sides from the groups forming a Super Eight. These would then be split into two groups, which would again play a round-robin format. The two best teams from each group would then go through to play the semi-finals and the final.
Speed clarified that this was only a proposal, which needed to be ratified before being implemented. "It needs now to go through a process of consultation with a number of stakeholders, not the least of whom are the cricket World Cup organising committee in the West Indies, player-representative groups, the GCC and then the ICC executive board."
If the new format does indeed come into effect, it will mean a far shorter tournament than the 2003 edition, in which 53 matches were played. Under the current format, the total number of matches played will only be 39.
Speed also clarified that the idea was to involve as many islands in the West Indies as possible. Hence, each island would host all matches of one group, thus ensuring that seven or eight islands are involved over the entire tournament.
Answering a question on whether increasing the number of teams would result in more one-sided matches, Ehsan Mani, the ICC president, said: "The Associate members which took part [in the 2003 World Cup] all performed credibly. We have a high-performance programme in place to improve the quality of cricket of these teams. I do not believe that 16-team format will dilute the tournament."
In the 2003 edition, every team - including the minnows - played at least six matches, as the 14 teams were split into only two groups. The new format will ensure that the lesser teams play only three matches each.