Champions Trophy
The schedule for the 2009 Champions Trophy (formerly known as the 2008 Champions Trophy) has been announced, so I have updated my schedule page.
They’ve changed the format for the tournament a bit from the 2006 event. In 2006, Sri Lanka, West Indies, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe competed in a qualifying round before joining the remaining 6 teams in the 2-group round robin stage. In 2009, the Bangladesh/Zimbabwe elimination round has been dropped. So we have 8 teams in two groups. Top 2 of each group go to semis, the winners of which play the final. To be honest, while it’s unfortunate for the 2 or 4 teams that miss out on being part of the tournament, 8 teams in a round robin is probably the sweet spot in terms of arranging an ODI cricket tournament.
August 7th, 2009 at 4:44 am
Why no Bangladesh/Zimbabwe ? How will they raise their standard if they don’t play in major tournements. Would it not have been better for a 12 team tournement featuring Bangladesh & Zimbabwe and say Ireland and Canada (or whoever the top ranked associates currently are)!
August 7th, 2009 at 8:50 am
Why no Bangladesh/Zimbabwe ? How will they raise their standard if they don’t play in major tournements. Would it not have been better for a 12 team tournement featuring Bangladesh & Zimbabwe and say Ireland and Canada (or whoever the top ranked associates currently are)!
I think in this case it is because the tournament has been rescheduled after having been shifted from Pakistan, meaning it had to be crammed into the international schedule. The 2006 tournament had a week of qualifiers, two weeks of competition and a week of finals. This year’s tourney will be two weeks all up.
I agree that the minor nations need every opportunity to play against the eight stronger nations. However, there is a good argument to be made that a competition amongst the top eight is an optimal format for a cricket competition. I wonder if a case could be made keeping one of either the Champions Trophy or the World Cup at eight teams while the other has 12 or even 16 teams.
August 19th, 2009 at 11:59 pm
The problem with the World Cup is that it comes round every four years and the associate nations get very little in the way of top class cricket in between.
If you are going to have two tournaments then it would make sense to open up the tournament played every two years to the associate nations and make the World Cup a “top 8″ tournament.