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2011 Cricket World CupAfter the 2007 Cricket World Cup in the West Indies, we can all look forward to the 2011 World Cup in Asia. The competition will be hosted by India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, who have promised a spectacular event that will be “as big as the one for football”. They could be right. Their winning bid stressed how "cricket is a religion" in their part of the world, and how everything, including marriages and Bollywood movies are organised around the cricket schedule. Even the ferocious traffic stops when a big game happens, and there are likely to be a billion viewers and spectators on the sub continent alone (Dawn, 2 May 2006). The ICC have acknowledged that the 2007 event was too long, and will likely reduce it by about a week to 40 days. Lets hope that ticket prices are far less than in the West Indies – you need to be an ultra passionate local to pay a month’s wages to see a one day cricket match. 
Having said that, my son and I still enjoyed the 2007 tournament. We kept in touch with all the scores by radio, internet and satellite TV; we were on the edge of our seats for the tied game between Ireland and Zimbabwe, and for England’s 1 wicket win over the West Indies. But only two words for the Australians – awesome champions!The ICC favour the same 16 team format for the 2011 finals. This is likely to comprise the same 10 test match nations, and six qualifiers from the World Cricket League. The second cycle of the WCL starts in 2008, and will contain two extra divisions to accommodate new cricketing nations. The 2011 Cricket World Cup final will be played in the 45,000 capacity Wankhede stadium in Mumbai. This will be the last of the 22 matches to be played in India; the other games include 14 in Pakistan, 9 in Sri Lanka and 6 in Bangladesh. The opening ceremony and first match will be at one of three major stadiums in Bangladesh. So, its another great chance for us to get completely involved with the best teams, the giant killers, the stars on the pitch and the personalities surrounding it. But, although 2011 will doubtless arrive sooner than we expect, there’s much cricket to be played before then, and plenty of time for new cricketing stars to rise. I’ll keep these pages updated as more details become available. But, food for thought after this year’s event - would you like to bet against Australia being champions yet again?
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