The International Cricket Council are under immense pressure because, as many as 3 matches have been abandoned without a ball being bowled, in the first 10 days of the Cricket World Cup. Cricket Fans on social media have criticised ICC’s schedule and decision to make England Host the biggest event of cricket. Big Matches such as Pakistan vs Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh have been washed out whereas the match between South Africa and Windies was called off just after a few initial overs in the first innings at Southampton.
The ICC made England the host nation for the Cricket World Cup due to its Cultural diversity, they believed that every country will get equal support due to the large population of people living there of different countries and all matches will see almost packed houses for the Cricket World Cup.
The month of June and July were meant to be the month’s of English Summer where the ICC expected that all matches will be played under the sun and there will be no rain interruption between the matches but their expectations have not gone as per the plan as in just 10 days major matches have been washed out. The MET department have predicted that rain will continue to hamper the upcoming games as well, as showers have been forecasted in the games which are scheduled in the upcoming games.
The next week is supposed to be a major week of the Cricket World cup as big matches such as the most awaited clash of India vs Pakistan will be played but the weather gods can intervene and put a dent of the expectations of the cricket fans all over the world.
From London to Taunton showers and thunderstorms have been predicted in the upcoming week, and the Cricket World Cup can very well see more games being called off due to rain. A question should be raised regarding England’s Hosting status, as the tournament can become from being the most anticipated Cricket World Cup to being the most disappointing Cricket World cup.
This would mean that England could very well loose the opportunity from hosting ICC events as fans from all over the world has already criticised the scheduling of the World Cup in England. ICC would be crossing their fingers and would hope that the rain does not play spoilsport anymore and all matches can be concluded.
Unlike the Semis and Finals there are no reserve days for the Round Robin games, which has left fans fuming. ICC although have defended the lack of reserve days for the league games. The CEO of ICC Dave Richardson stated “ Reserve days for the league games will significantly increase the length of the tournament and practically will be impossible to deliver. It would impact Pitch preparation, team recovery and travel days, venue availability, officials availability, broadcast logistics.” Richardson also mentioned the fact that reserve days will, more importantly, impact the spectators as there will be no guarantee that the reserve day will be rain-free and the match would happen on reserve day.
It can certainly be said that the cricketing world deserved better scheduling of the Cricket World Cup and if rains were forecasted during the mega event, England should not have been the hosting nation. There is still one month to go and everyone will be keeping their eyes on the weather and would be hoping that no more games are washed off in the Cricket World Cup.
