B
bomber
Guest
Malcolm Speed, the chief executive of the International Cricket Council (ICC), has threatened to throw out teams boycotting World Cup matches in future. Addressing a news conference in Bridgetown, Barbados, Speed said: "once teams have agreed to play the World Cup, they are bound to play in every match ? or they will leave the World Cup."
Speed remarked that England and New Zealand's refusal to play in Zimbabwe and Kenya respectively had destroyed the credibility of the World Cup. He said that in future the ICC might make teams sign an undertaking to fulfill all their World Cup fixtures. Speed was participating in a meeting between the ICC and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), to outline organizational details of the next World Cup.
Speed also declared that the format and the number of participating teams in the World Cup were under review. He said that the ICC was considering many options, from reverting back to a twelve-team structure or expanding the number of participating teams to sixteen, from the current fourteen.
Sardonically dismissing comments that the 2003 World Cup was too long, Speed said: "We heard that mainly from English journalists once their team went home. It became a bit long and drawn out for them. I didn't hear any complaints from India or New Zealand or South Africa. They were enjoying every minute of it."
It was also decided at the meeting that all major matches in the 2007 World Cup would take place in West Indies, although some early games could be held in the United States or Canada.
Promising an "unforgettable" World Cup, Chris Dehring, managing director of the Windies World Cup 2007 Inc, said that cruise ships and charter flights were being considered to transport players and fans during the tournament.
Describing the organizing of the tournament as an enormous challenge for West Indies, Dehring added: "We have around 40,000 rooms in the English-speaking Caribbean and this will probably not satisfy the demand for a single match between England and India."
Speed remarked that England and New Zealand's refusal to play in Zimbabwe and Kenya respectively had destroyed the credibility of the World Cup. He said that in future the ICC might make teams sign an undertaking to fulfill all their World Cup fixtures. Speed was participating in a meeting between the ICC and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), to outline organizational details of the next World Cup.
Speed also declared that the format and the number of participating teams in the World Cup were under review. He said that the ICC was considering many options, from reverting back to a twelve-team structure or expanding the number of participating teams to sixteen, from the current fourteen.
Sardonically dismissing comments that the 2003 World Cup was too long, Speed said: "We heard that mainly from English journalists once their team went home. It became a bit long and drawn out for them. I didn't hear any complaints from India or New Zealand or South Africa. They were enjoying every minute of it."
It was also decided at the meeting that all major matches in the 2007 World Cup would take place in West Indies, although some early games could be held in the United States or Canada.
Promising an "unforgettable" World Cup, Chris Dehring, managing director of the Windies World Cup 2007 Inc, said that cruise ships and charter flights were being considered to transport players and fans during the tournament.
Describing the organizing of the tournament as an enormous challenge for West Indies, Dehring added: "We have around 40,000 rooms in the English-speaking Caribbean and this will probably not satisfy the demand for a single match between England and India."
: but really...that line seems like slave codes
