ICC needs to re-look at its format

ICC Champions Trophy does not help the weaker team because the qualitative difference is too huge and the empty stands don?t help either the sponsors or organisers.

There are two questions doing the rounds in London --- why exactly is this tournament happening now and why on earth do we have to be subjected to this format?

Everyone, even the ICC to a certain extent, believes that cricket is a game in the throes of a crisis. Nothing symbolises this crisis more than the decline of the West Indies as a cricketing superpower --- a fact openly acknowledged by both skipper Brian Lara and coach Gus Logie.

But the complete lack of enthusiasm for the Champions Trophy in England and the horrible weather doesn’t make for an exciting event. The ICC says it had no choice really. Brendan McClements, the ICC’s General Manager (Corporate Affairs), said, “We worked with the ECB on this and had to have the tournament around this time because it was a time when most teams were available. We have to work around the schedule of 11 teams. September was the best time.” McClements did admit however, that they would have preferred seeing more people coming in to watch at the group stage. “But that’s the way the matches panned out,” he said. “There will be increased interest now as the tournament progresses.”

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