Is This The Best Format For A World Cup?

One week into the tournament, the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup should be in full swing yet the overriding notion thus far is that the tournament has barely escaped the starting blocks.

The scheduling of cricket’s supposed showpiece knockout event has never overly resembled rational logic, yet the format of this latest edition has taken the logistical bemusement to previously unscaled levels of perplexity.

To say the tournament represents a long slog is a crass understatement, with the 44-day duration substantially longer than the majority of global sporting of events of similar type - for instance the FIFA World Cup was done and dusted inside just 32.

Even for hardened enthusiasts, maintaining interest over such a prolonged period is far from an ideal scenario, making the tournament almost unviable for more casual viewers, particularly when these early weeks consist largely of fixtures lacking in genuine importance.

Nobody is suggesting identifying a fluid formula is straightforward - the number of established nations simply doesn’t lend itself to a rounded format - nonetheless it’s difficult to single out thought processes behind the tournament’s current incarnation.

Two round-robin groups of seven not only generates an overly lengthy process but it also leaves endless room for error. That England remain alive and kicking despite maulings at the hands of Australia and New Zealand is perhaps the most damning indictment of a model weighted deeply in the favour of the heavyweight nations.

Remarkably just a single win over an established nation at the quarter-final stage could be enough for Eoin Morgan’s side to manufacture an unlikely and arguably undeserved passage into the last four.

This overly cautious approach in regards to ensuring safe sailing for the Test playing nations is born out of the manner in which events unfolded at the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies.

Then, in orderly fashion 16 sides were split into four groups of the same number, however an ignominious sequence of events saw Pakistan and India crash out at this first hurdle. The early exit of India in particular hit upon revenue and there is a notion that a money-centric ICC view another premature departure from one of the game’s powers a risk not worthy of entertaining, despite the drama and interest such a situation invokes.

The argument will be that the "Super Eight" stage of that competition became laborious as neither Ireland nor Bangladesh - Pakistan and Ireland’s respective conquerors - never so much as threatened further advancement, yet the taxing 24 game structure of that second round was in many ways the fundamental reason behind its failure.

Even overlooking the format flaws of the current edition, the tournament is further hindered by the drip feeding of fixtures with the bulk of days containing just a single game - meaning building momentum and sustaining interest becomes implausible.

For instance, as compelling as Ireland’s triumph over West Indies was, there was nothing to back up that euphoric narrative. Granted a second game alongside New Zealand against Scotland might have been similarly run of the mill, but it would at least have increased the probability of sustaining attention.

The group stages will remarkably encapsulate a total of 30 days. If the ICC had opted for consistent double-headers nine days could have been shaved off that number; yes there would have been a degree of overlap between games but there is enough scope with two host nations and the possibility of day-night cricket to limit such a detrimental factor. Are the ICC guilty of thinking only in regards to pound signs rather than a wider picture?

Astoundingly we now find ourselves in a position where for an entire month there is a danger that the Cricket World Cup could be typified by fixtures lacking the pressurised environment that should be an essential facet to such a tournament, whilst it is inevitable there will be a significant percentage of meaningless games.

Should such a gloomy scenario unfold, the seven subsequent knockout fixtures will have their work cut out to revitalise what is liable to be an ailing tournament.

The most frustrating aspect to this is that in the form of the T20 World Cup, cricket has shown its capability to deliver a short, snappy and ultimately endearing tournament. Focusing purely on competitiveness, the 12-team format - which was utilised up until the most recent edition - represented a rare success story for the much maligned cricketing powers.

The engaging format revolved around eight nations advancing into two separate "Super Eight" groups from an initial stage of four groups of three – all this concluding inside a digestible three week window.

The problem with that format of course is that it involved just two Associate nations, a far from ideal scenario when you consider that among the most prominent objectives of these global events is to evolve the game across wider quarters.

The most recent edition of the World T20 offered a compromise in the form of two initial group stages containing six Associates and the two lowest-ranked Test-playing nations. 

That approach was judged as a substantial success with those advancing into the first round proper doing so on a wave of momentum, however the jury remains out on whether such a system would carry appeal across the longer format - while others would argue the victory of that qualification stage was heavily influenced by hosts Bangladesh being one of those nations involved.

Their blemishes are undeniable, but formulating a counter argument against adopting such a system at the 50 over World Cup is virtually unattainable.

Whatever happens, the arrangement being employed in the current 50 over World Cup does not signify a model of long term feasibility, from a short sighted perspective the profits might flood in but look beyond the initial horizon and interest in a competition persistently devoid of captivation will inevitably dwindle.

For a format which has already seen its star substantially fade following the inception of Twenty20 cricket, the 2015 World Cup may only provide a vehicle from which to push 50 over cricket further towards a future of unprecedented uncertainty.

What do you think? Is this the right format for the World Cup? What other options would you suggest?

© Cricket World 2015