World Cup 2007: Not a World Cup for the people
By Rayed Mamun – 1 May 2007
The ninth cricket World Cup has just concluded, and to say it was a unique one is an understatement. There have been some bright moments to saviour, but unfortunately, these will all be overshadowed by what has been one of most poorly organised sporting events in recent history. It seems the tournament is more about revenue raising, and less about who make it happen, me and you.
We can turn the clock back only to last year. The 2006 FIFA World Cup was on, and Australia was playing in only its second tournament. It was June 12. Large screens were set up around the city. Large crowds of people gathered in the middle of the night, in very cold temperatures to watch the spectacle. The crowd was extremely tense, as Australia would be trailing Japan for most of the match. Then from the depths of darkness, Tim Cahill would win the game for Australia, and the entire city would erupt. Everyone celebrated as one, complete strangers we’re hugging each other, and it suddenly didn’t feel cold anymore. This was the story time and again throughout the month long tournament, and with this much excitement thousands of miles away, imagine what the travelling supporters would be feeling? It seems, however, that the cricket edition of the World Cup doesn’t allow for such entertainment.
The World Cup is meant to be the largest tournament, so it can be assumed tickets would sell in a flash. What really happened was simply a flash in the pan. During the earlier matches, it was understandable that games involving minnows weren’t sold out, but when the Super Eights started, the situation had not improved at all. The only time I could actually hear a vocal crowd was in the semi finals and final. Too little, too late I’m afraid. The ICC had priced tickets in US Dollars to maintain consistency throughout the nine participating nations. This made the tickets too expensive, and many simply decided to watch the matches at home. Big mistake.
The Super Eights was introduced so that the group stage involving the minnows would finish quickly and more ‘competitive’ and ‘exciting’ games would be played. The Super Eights was far too long. As well as this, it was bizarrely inconsistent. Some teams played two matches in three days whilst others played one in ten days. Fans and players alike were continually bored and frustrated by the length and inconsistency of the second stage. It would be some consolation to the viewing public if every game was actually competitive, but that was a rarity to say the least.
Transport was yet another administrative blunder. Players were sometimes made to wait five hours, as there were continuous delays at airports, not to mention lack of direct flights available between the island nations. If the players were treated this way, imagine what the travelling supporters had to go through?
Then there was the tragic death of Bob Woolmer, right around when India and Pakistan were eliminated. The context and the circumstances in which he was needlessly killed, was just another ugly episode in this dramatic World Cup in which things could not get any worse, or could they?
The final provided a fitting finale to this circus show. Sri Lanka had been offered to leave the ground due to the bad light. In a seemingly impossible position, they accepted it, and, under the rule book, Australia had consequently won the game. They celebrated, and the big screen even had ‘Congrats Australia’ displayed. The umpires, or we could say, the clowns in this circus, decided that the three overs that weren’t supposed to be bowled, had to be bowled, in complete darkness. Five of the best officials in the world got a basic rule wrong. Can you imagine asking a group of five physics professors, Newton’s Second Law, and all of them getting it wrong? We are already hearing the joke: How many ICC officials does it take to change a light bulb? Does anybody know the answer?
There were however, quite a few ‘silver linings’ to this dark cloud that we mustn’t forget. The tournament was turned on its head with spectacular performances by Ireland and Bangladesh. Australia played the most sublime and dominant tournament in history. Great players such as Inzamam Ul-Haq, Brian Lara and Glenn McGrath retired. Gibbs hit six sixes in one over. Hayden scored the fastest World Cup century. Malinga became the first to achieve the double hat trick. Gilchrist played a blinder in the final. These weren’t ordinary achievements, and we must remember them, despite the chaotic context in which they were achieved.
Without me and you the ICC is nothing. We make the World Cup possible. It should be an entertaining, simple and reliable tournament. If the ICC can’t adapt to the people, well good luck to them, because I don’t know of many robots or aliens that like cricket.