International Cricket Council chief executive Malcolm Speed has admitted the current World Cup tournament has been too long. The 47-day event is generally considered to have been a lacklustre affair and its length is one of a number of aspects to have been criticised. The tournament has failed to sustain mass interest over its six and a half weeks and Speed has conceded that the next one in Asia in 2011 will need to be shorter.
Speed told BBC Radio Five Live: “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.” He added: “We’ll seek to reduce this 47-day World Cup by seven or 10 days, and hopefully we’ll get it down to somewhere between five and six weeks next time.”
The ICC have also come under fire for their ticketing policy and draconian rules on taking musical instruments into grounds. Many matches have been poorly attended and the tournament has not been well supported by locals, who have largely been deterred by high prices.
