The other World Cup

A new development in one-day cricket was revealed by the ICC last Monday with the announcement that the biennial one-day competition, formerly known as the ICC Knock-Out Cup, has now been reformatted to include group competition and will henceforth be known as the Champions Trophy.

Hmm, a one-day competition featuring every ODI nation in group and elimination stages, playing for the trophy of champions... .that’s what they call a World Cup, isn't it?

Originally spawned as the Wills International Cup in 1998 before becoming the KnockOut Cup in 2000, the event was designed as a fundraiser for the globalisation of cricket. Initially intended to be played at non-regular venues, like Dhaka and Nairobi to raise awareness of cricket, it has now been virtually transmogrified into a fully-fledged prestigious tournament. Pretty soon they’ll be playing the final at Lord’s and calling the winners World champions.

Colloquially termed the mini- or "Mickey Mouse" World Cup in reference to the one-time possibility of it being played in Disneyland, it seems the event has grown up. With 12 teams and 15 matches, it is not so mini any more. It is, in effect, a small-scale World Cup prior to the main tournament itself, which will give the winner, as ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed said, "a huge confidence boost ahead of the World Cup a few months later in South Africa." To be played in September, only the host country has yet to be announced. Presumably it won't be South Africa.

It in its original incarnation as the Wills International Cup, the competition was, according to the ICC in August ‘98, intended to: "Serve the dual purpose of a competitive event featuring the top Cricket playing nations of the world as well as generate resources for the various developmental programmes initiated by the ICC.

"ICC's vision is to globalise cricket and the Wills International Cup will be the first real step of ICC towards realisation of its noble objectives. The choice of Bangladesh as a venue symbolises the organization’s commitment towards the gospel for this great game far and wide."

After the 1998 event in Dhaka, first intended to be a one-off event, the 2000 version was staged in Nairobi, Kenya. This was designed to "give the game there a major boost," according to former ICC president Jagmohan Dalmiya, and the purpose of the Cup was to "raise money to fund the operations of the ICC with special reference to its extensive Development Program," said the ICC in July 2000.

Apparently, the growth of the game in Bangladesh which resulted from hosting the Wills International Cup helped lead to them being awarded Test status two years later. Yet after the October 2000 event, Kenya were left without any international competition, not playing another one-day international until August 2001. KCA chairman Jimmy Rayani was quoted as saying in one report at the time: "There is no doubt that the boys gained a lot from taking part in the ICC Trophy, but without playing more of those matches against the bigger teams, we will not progress."

In the 2000-01 ICC report on Kenya, President Malcolm Gray said: "Kenya has proved itself to be an attractive and viable host for international cricket. Taking the game into new markets and letting young people experience the joy and excitement of the game is one of the Key objectives of the I.C.C. and its Development Program. I am confident that the memories of the tournament will provide the youth of Kenya and Africa with the motivation and sense of purpose to pick up ball and bat and play cricket."

Given that crowds were noted to be poor, that remains to be seen. Still, the event did result in a net profit of $US13 million, mainly from the sale of TV and advertising rights, which was allocated to fund the development regions of Asia, Africa, the Americas, East Asia Pacific and Europe. "Global development of the game is a major priority for the ICC and this funding will be used to provide essential infrastructure, coaching and equipment and also for the staging of tournaments," said Richards in a media release from November 2000.

There is no mention of globalising the game in the latest release. What it does mention is the $1.15 million prize-money on offer, with the winner having the opportunity to earn up to $525,000 if it wins all its matches. So who is it raising money for this time, exactly? The second part of the dual purpose appears to have been lost.

Whereas the 2003 World Cup will feature two pools of seven with the top three in each progressing to the Super Six stage, the Champions Trophy is a little more cut-throat. Without intending any disrespect to developing Test nations Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, each group contains two strong Test nations and one minnow. Only ICC Trophy champion Holland, in Pool 4 with Pakistan and Sri Lanka, does not have one-day international status. From all appearances, it is a condensed replica of a World Cup.

If the ICC wants the World Cup to be staged every two years, why not put it to a vote at the Executive Board meeting and begin the arrangements? Surely, as a profitable event for all concerned, no nation would object. With a crowded international calendar, only logistics might pose a major difficulty. At least make the intentions public, don’t attempt to sneak a second event of similar standing in the back door, gradually building its prestige.

Actually, holding the World Cup biennially is not the worst idea. True, playing it every second year might reduce its stature and significance, but then again that has never been a problem for the Ashes, despite the same team winning them every two years. Hopefully, more World Cups would reduce the number of tri-series events played, as they would become ever more meaningless with the Cup always in fairly immediate focus. If it was played every second year, there would be less time for other one-day objectives, as the preparation process for the next one would begin as soon as the first one ends. Anything that gives one-day cricket more context and significance is worthwhile.

As it stands, the Champions Trophy with its group stages followed by semifinals should be quite an exciting spectacle. But the ICC should label it for what it is, a smaller World Cup, and not pretend it is any longer designed with the interests of promoting cricket in mind.

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