Cricket: World Cup becoming a farce

By RICHARD BOOCK

JOHANNESBURG - Cricket's premier tournament continued its descent into barely concealed farce yesterday after the elimination of at least three of the best teams in the world at the expense of African hosts Kenya and Zimbabwe.

When the group stage ended, the West Indies, South Africa, England and Pakistan were left on the outer, most of them not so much the victims of the glorious uncertainty of sport, as victims of the International Cricket Council's bungling and ineptitude.

The West Indies, England and Pakistan were all short-changed by the decision not to schedule reserve days in the tournament, which is far from fair and equitable.

Nasser Hussain's English side, like New Zealand, were also disadvantaged by the refusal to shift matches from political hot-spots.

As a result, instead of the second-round Super Six boasting the best-performed teams in the world, it contains two sides who are hopelessly under-strength, and at least three - if not more - contests that rate as foregone conclusions.

This is at a time when the tournament should be bristling with competition and top-level match-ups.

The West Indies headed for home after making a mockery of Kenya's qualification, routing the East African side by 142 runs at Kimberley to illustrate how ludicrous the eighth World Cup had become.

Opening batsman Chris Gayle cracked 119 off 151 balls to help West Indies to 246 for seven in the Group B match before the Caribbean bowlers demolished the Kenyans for a miserable 104 inside 36 overs.

Fast bowler Vasbert Drakes snared career-best figures of five for 33, including three wickets in eight balls, and Jermaine Lawson took two wickets in his World Cup debut, at times bowling faster than 150km/h.

Despite the carnage, the West Indies, two-times world champions, were eliminated as Kenya marched through to the Super Six with 10 points, second only to defending champions Australia.

Zimbabwe were also favoured by the ICC's incompetence, reaching the Super Six courtesy of the forfeit from England and the two points they received after their final Group A match against Pakistan was abandoned because of rain.

Zimbabwe finished the first round in third place in their group, above England and Pakistan and behind Australia and India, securing a second-round berth for the second consecutive World Cup. If Kenya manage to knock over Zimbabwe on March 12, they will almost certainly qualify for the semifinals.

The late decision to scrap reserve days, evidently made at the behest of cash-strapped backer Global Cricket Corporation to shorten the round, was just one example of how the ICC undermined this year's tournament by pandering to financial and political considerations.

Their other glaring misjudgment was to refuse bids by England and New Zealand to move their respective matches in Harare and Nairobi, almost certainly because of politics and pressure brought to bear by GCC. The result is that, far from this year's World Cup being the "best ever", as Ali Bacher likes to say, it is shaping up as the tournament from hell, a Mickey-Mouse affair in which the nonsensical has become normal.

Apart from the ICC's refusal to move the Harare and Nairobi fixtures, there has been the lack of reserve days, UCB boss Percy Sonn getting hopelessly drunk, the confusion over the qualification criteria and the shabby treatment dished out to cricket reporters by Zimbabwe immigration.

From New Zealand's point of view, the upshot is that they managed to qualify as the third-ranked side in Group B, and as such will begin their second-round commitments on Saturday when they play Zimbabwe at Bloemfontein.

They will then square off against Australia at Port Elizabeth on Tuesday and will finish the Super Six with a match against John Wright's Indian side at Centurian the following Friday.


World Cup schedule

Points table