Nairobi — Tom Sears, the Cricket Kenya chief executive, has lashed out at the International Cricket Council for their proposal to cut the World Cup down to 10 teams from 2015.

“I think the ideas are bloody ridiculous,” Sears said in an exclusively interview with the Wisden Cricketer magazine in the United Kingdom.

Sears spoke to the magazine, which will go on sale on Friday, a day before the World Cup opener between Bangladesh and India.

He said the ICC will do itself a great disadvantage by closing the door on teams interested in the global tournament.

“Not to let anyone else in is scandalous. It’s all about money, power and votes – and that’s not good for cricket,” he said.

The rationale behind the cut is based on the duration of the tournament as well as the number of one-sided contests that play out.

Space for one associate
In 2007, 16 teams participated in a two-month event and interest dwindled. It was a particularly successful World Cup for the so-called minnows with Ireland and Bangladesh qualifying for the Super Eights.

The competition consists of 14 teams in two groups in the 2011 event, of which four of the teams are associates.

Should the proposal be accepted, it would mean there would only be space for one associate country to join the nine Test playing nations in the 50-over event.

That would be a sign of shrinkage in the sport globally, which goes against what the ICC has always stood for.

“The president of the ICC [Sharad Pawar] says he wants to grow the game but then wants to contract the 50-over World Cup to exclude the Associates,” Sears said.

Multi-team tournament
The ICC has indicated that the World Twenty20 would be expanded to accommodate 16 teams so that the associates would still have an opportunity to play in a multi-team tournament.

It’s not a proposal associate cricketers have embraced because playing in the 50-over event opens many more doors for them than only appearing in a World T20, although that may change because of the Indian Premier League.

“The World Cup provided me with a platform for a professional career and others deserve the opportunity to be challenged against the world’s leading teams,” Kenyan player Collins Obuya said.

Even Test team players were not in favour of the move. England’s Graeme Swann said it would be akin to taking “the ‘World’ out of the World Cup”.

Kenya, 13th in the ODI rankings, has played in five World Cups since 1996, reaching the semi-finals in 2003 as co-hosts with South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Source:allAfrica.com