While deciding the format of the upcoming World Cup, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has received a lot of criticism as they cut down the number of participating teams. From 12 teams in 2015, the number has brought down to 10 this time and not even all the Test-playing nations have got an opportunity in this edition of the mega event commencing on May 30. However, former Australia cricketer Dean Jones seems to be unhappy with even 10 teams as he wants the number to go down further – to eight, for according to him quality matters more than quantity.
Jones, who played for Australia when he had won the country’s maiden World Cup in India in 1987 and had an impressive tally of over 6k runs in just 164 games, has no complaints with the round-robin format. But he is not okay with the tournament’s length which is a month and a half.
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As per the recent quotes of Sportstar, Pro Deano said, “It’s too long a tournament. The FIFA World Cup finals are of 32 teams and all done in one month. The cricket World Cup is over 50 days (including the warm-ups). People start to lose interest. It’s ridiculous. I am even for cutting down the teams to eight. We need quality. Not quantity.”
Speaking on the World Cup schedule, Jones said: “Can you imagine India winning nine games, go on top and qualify for the knockout? And then they lose the toss and Duckworth & Lewis comes in. It takes four years of bloody hard work and sometimes, 20 years to get a player ready for the World Cup and a team can be done by the weather. I like the Asia Cup format with a Round Robin league, Super Four and then the final. Or the IPL playoffs format. It’s time to have the best of three finals at the World Cup.”
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When asked about England, the former cricketer said that the hosts are in a great form as they have managed to win eight of their last nine ODI series at home. On the other hand, while talking about Australia, he said that the defending champions will have their chances if the momentum comes in their way.
