World Cup is too long, admits Speed

Bridgetown, Barbados, Apr 27 (UNI) The ICC today finally admitted that the 2007 World Cup is too long and hinted that duration of the next edition of the tournament is likely to be reduced.

This surprise admission came from Malcolm Speed, the chief executive of the ICC, who has been vehemently defending the seven-week duration of the World cup till now.

''We listen to criticism, and there has been a lot of it from people saying it's been too long - so we'll look to make it shorter,'' Speed told BBC.

''We'll seek to reduce this 47-day World Cup by seven or ten days, and hopefully we'll get it down to somewhere between five and six weeks next time.

''To those people who have said the tournament has been too long, it is worth pointing out that there are three fewer matches this time, compared to four years ago, despite an additional two teams taking part.'' Speed however continued his defence of ''exorbiant'' ticket prices.

''It has cost the tournament in terms of supporters, but it has also shown that cricket does exist outside the top eight sides. It would have been great if every one of the stadiums had been full for every match, but that has not happened.'' Local cricket fans had criticised the organisers for keeping the price of tickets very high thus making them out of reach of the locals. As a result, attendance was very low at the majority of the matches. The elimination of India and Pakistan in the first round led to further depletion of the crowds in the stadia.

UNI