Tony BeccaTony Becca
THE NEXT World Cup of cricket, to be hosted by the West Indies in 2007, is two years away, and although it seems a long time, it definitely is not so not if the stadiums to be built and to be renovated will be ready on time, not if the thousands of visitors expected from all over the world will be properly accommodated and entertained, and certainly not if, as the West Indian organisers have pro-mised, it will be not only the biggest World Cup ever, but also the best ever.
Ever since the ICC decided that the 2007 World Cup would be staged in the West Indies, West Indians, led by Chris Dehring, the managing director of ICC CWC West Indies 2007, have been talking about making it an event to remember and, based on the plans, once the fans turn up in the numbers expected, it should be, as so many of Dehring's disciples have been predicting, an unforgettable occasion.
TWO MORE TEAMS ADDED
Of equal importance, however, is what happens on the field of play, and after promising that World Cup 2007 will be the biggest ever, the ICC has added two more teams. In other words, while there were 14 teams in South Africa in 2003 there will be 16 in the West Indies in 2007.
Bigger, however, is not necessarily better, the ICC knows that, and it is hoping that the traditional weak teams will be competitive.
With the 10 Test-playing countries plus Kenya qualifying automatically, the five teams from the associate and affiliate members list will have to qualify by competing against each other, and although it is unlikely that any one of them will be good enough to cut down any of the top eight, the ICC is hoping that when those contests are over they will be able to compete in the World Cup to be good enough and confident enough, even for a while, to scare the daylights out of one or two of the big teams.
As usual, the qualifiers will be decided at the ICC Trophy scheduled for Ireland, July 1-13, and this time around it will between Bermuda, Denmark, Ireland, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, the United States, Canada, Holland, Namibia, Oman, Scotland, and one other.
LONG WAY AWAY
The other team to contest the ICC Trophy will be the winner of the ICC World Cup Qualifying Series Division Two tournament scheduled for Malaysia starting on Monday and featuring the Cayman Islands, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Italy, Nepal, Zambia, Qatar and Kuwait.
For 11 teams, World Cup 2007 is a long way away. For one, however, the road to the West Indies begins on Monday, and it will be interesting to see which one out of that eight makes it into the 12 for Ireland, which five out of that 12 make it into the 16 for the West Indies, and most importantly, how good they are.
LOTS OF CRICKET BEING PLAYED
With the 11 teams already bound for Ireland and the ICC Trophy making it through qualifying matches around the world, with the eight teams vying for the 12th spot making it to Malaysia after winning their regional qualifying series or after just missing out on qualifying directly, what is also interesting, however, is that a lot of cricket is now being played around the world.
The ICC, it appears, like FIFA and football, is using the World Cup to really develop the game, to motivate its members, and that is great for a game that now boasts 92 members following the latest converts China, Mexico and the Isle of Man.
