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[Sam]

Even if they went with the current format I think it would be a lot better if the pre-qualification tournament was played in England before the world cup. Link it in to the main event rather than make it something completely separate that is hardly noticed.

[noelfitz99]

Ireland are better than Zimbabwe, joke if they play in nxt WC ahead of Ireland. Waste of time

[Kulli]

Am I right in thinking despite cutting lose 4 teams the next world cup isn't really over any quicker than this years edition was?

[jwebber86]

I think it's 1 day longer

[TOGS]

It's a bit chicken or egg.
Scotland won't get any better if they don't play more big countries.
Yet if they fail to qualify for a WC it means half the staff at Cricket Scotland are jobless.
So it's a thin dividing line.

[FattusCattus]

I think it's 1 day longer

Why?  God that's ridiculous if it is! There should be two games a day almost every day and get through the bloody tournament!

[jwebber86]

2015 world cup had 49 matches over 44 days with 14 teams

2019 world cup will have i think it was less matches over 46 days with ten teams

[Kulli]

Why?  God that's ridiculous if it is! There should be two games a day almost every day and get through the bloody tournament!

Exactly, it should be a month long absolute tops. pretty tough to build up any WC fever when the bloody thing last forever (they had rest days in this one, despite some teams having 2 week gaps between games!).

[beaver5]

I remember watching World Cup football years ago when the African nations were a joke. Look at them now! Sepp Blatter might be a complete berk but he has at least helped spread football across the globe. If he was in charge of the ICC we'd be playing the next world cup in the UAE or Iceland perhaps!

[jamielsn15]

There's a well known quote that power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

I don't see how having total power, in FIFAs case where they are not even answerable to governments, can be good for any game. Blatter has only canvassed African, Asian and Arab nations to hold on to power by securing votes. World cricket is going the same way. I don't see the bcci and ecb ceding power to anyone...

[ProCricketer1982]

It's also true that people who chase power shouldn't actually ever have power. People who are reluctant to have power should have the power. ICC are as corrupt as they come, we've known it for ages but like all things, choose to just say 'oh well, what can you do' and let them off. Just like we do with the ECB, Premier League, Fifa, Banks etc etc

[uknsaunders]

They make the schedule so long in order to maximise tv revenue. Showing two games at once isn't as valuable as 2 games on 2 different days. The issue then is it drags on and add in the "India" clause of India not getting knocked out early for the sake of sponsors, we end up in this mess.

You could do a qualifying tournament for minnows, but no TV money in that and extra expense for the hosts. You could cut the 2 groups down to even numbers - 6 in each. Means they play once every 6 days as a minimum and group stages would be limited to 30 days. If you went for 2 games a day, scheduled at 10.30pm and 2pm to minimise overlap you could get it down to 3 day turnaround and 15 days for the group stages. Remember, far less travelling in the UK. Stick to the same schedule and Qtr Final is Day 18, Semi Day 21 and Final Day 24. That's a 20 day saving, two associates included and only a slight overlap in matches.

If you went to 16 teams, then it's once every 4 days you play or 28 days for group stages. Stick to 3 days for Qtr/Semi/Final and you are done by day 37.

[Gerry SA]

Ireland are better than Zimbabwe, joke if they play in nxt WC ahead of Ireland. Waste of time

Sure they are...Zim where in contention in all 6 of their matches. They weren't hammered/humiliated in any of their matches unlike Ireland.

[smilley792]

2019 world cup.

Look at rankings. Get the top two teams. Let them play each other.

Boom champs claimed. Tournament over. Simples.