Indian great Sachin Tendulkar says that the Cricket World Cup should have up to 25 teams. Photo / AP
Indian great Sachin Tendulkar says that the Cricket World Cup should have up to 25 teams. Photo / AP
Sachin Tendulkar and Martin Crowe have two things in common.
Both were master batsmen, Tendulkar statistically the heaviest runmaker in history, Crowe New Zealand's finest batsman and for a time rated perhaps the best batsman in the game.
They also have the next World Cup in 2019 on their minds and are adamant the planned reduction from 14 to 10 teams must be revoked.
Tendulkar has suggested looking at expanding the cup to as many as 25 teams saying the lack of consistent matches for the associate sides is "unfair".
"We've got to find ways of encouraging the lesser teams.
"The lesser teams, in each and every World Cup, they always surprise top teams," Tendulkar said. "And they can do it on a consistent basis only if they're given a fair platform to express their talent.
"Right now, they get up after four years on the cricket world's biggest platform and they're expected to play and compete with the likes of Australia, South Africa, India, New Zealand, West Indies, Sri Lanka, so many top sides. It's unfair to them."
Crowe reckons cutting back the number of teams is "only going to further feather the bulging nest of the Big Three (England, India and Australia)."
Long noted as a forward thinker on the game, Crowe has a vision for the top 18 teams in the world, and making a "proper world event" every four years.
He calls for a reduction from 50 to 40 overs as fans would appreciate a six-hour game than the present eight.
Crowe suggested a pre-cup tournament involving countries like Canada, Papua New Guinea and Nepal, with the top two advancing to a world series league.
Eighteen teams split into two conferences in that league, based on alternate rankings, all playing each other, making a total of 72games over 36 days. Teams would have a maximum of four day breaks.
A cup finals section would follow, with four semifinalists to be found, who would play a best-of-three format, followed by a grand final, against best-of-three, played over eight days on three grounds.
Crowe's idea would take 10 weeks and would be "a true format for finding the world champion team".
