Dhaka, Feb 18 (AP): ICC chief Haroon Lorgat defended on Friday the ruling body's decision to cut the number of World Cup teams from 14 to 10 in the 2015 edition, saying smaller countries would do better in a less-skillful Twenty20 format.
The International Cricket Council, which decided on the team reduction last year, has faced criticism for a move which is set to exclude the likes of non-Test playing nations Kenya, Ireland and Netherlands from the 50-over World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in 2015.
ICC chief executive Lorgat told a news conference that 50-over cricket was "more skill-based" and that the world body wanted to spread the game through the Twenty20 format instead.
"We felt in the past few years that Twenty20 is the format best disposed to develop the game and provides a better environment for competition," Lorgat said.
"Twenty20 is the format needed to develop the game and we plan to increase that (World Championship) to 16 teams."
The 2011 World Cup, which opens on Saturday in Dhaka with Bangladesh's game against fellow co-host India and closes on April 2, is a 14-team event.
The ICC maintains that countries like Kenya, Ireland and Netherlands will have a chance to qualify for 2015, though that process is only likely to be decided in April.
Lorgat's comments came a day after Cricket Kenya chief executive Tom Sears criticized the ICC for having a 10-country tournament in 2015.
Sears told The Associated Press in a phone interview that a reduced tournament was "a farce" and that smaller countries "need to play at World Cups to improve."
Separately, Lorgat also felt the World Cup had become too long in recent editions.
"The previous event was longer than was perhaps comfortable," he said about the 2007 edition in the Caribbean, which featured 16 teams.
"We have shed some days in this particular event. In a 14-team format, this was the most compact way we could produce the event. Regardless of T20 cricket, World Cup is our flagship tournament. We want to ensure that all three formats survive," said Lorgat, who also confirmed that the format in this edition was made to help top teams come through the group stage.
"You can't predict competition, but this tournament gives a chance for best teams to qualify for the knockout stage," said Lorgat.
India and Pakistan both failed to make it to the knockout phase at the 2007 event, which used a different format to this year's edition.
The International Cricket Council, which decided on the team reduction last year, has faced criticism for a move which is set to exclude the likes of non-Test playing nations Kenya, Ireland and Netherlands from the 50-over World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in 2015.
ICC chief executive Lorgat told a news conference that 50-over cricket was "more skill-based" and that the world body wanted to spread the game through the Twenty20 format instead.
"We felt in the past few years that Twenty20 is the format best disposed to develop the game and provides a better environment for competition," Lorgat said.
"Twenty20 is the format needed to develop the game and we plan to increase that (World Championship) to 16 teams."
The 2011 World Cup, which opens on Saturday in Dhaka with Bangladesh's game against fellow co-host India and closes on April 2, is a 14-team event.
The ICC maintains that countries like Kenya, Ireland and Netherlands will have a chance to qualify for 2015, though that process is only likely to be decided in April.
Lorgat's comments came a day after Cricket Kenya chief executive Tom Sears criticized the ICC for having a 10-country tournament in 2015.
Sears told The Associated Press in a phone interview that a reduced tournament was "a farce" and that smaller countries "need to play at World Cups to improve."
Separately, Lorgat also felt the World Cup had become too long in recent editions.
"The previous event was longer than was perhaps comfortable," he said about the 2007 edition in the Caribbean, which featured 16 teams.
"We have shed some days in this particular event. In a 14-team format, this was the most compact way we could produce the event. Regardless of T20 cricket, World Cup is our flagship tournament. We want to ensure that all three formats survive," said Lorgat, who also confirmed that the format in this edition was made to help top teams come through the group stage.
"You can't predict competition, but this tournament gives a chance for best teams to qualify for the knockout stage," said Lorgat.
India and Pakistan both failed to make it to the knockout phase at the 2007 event, which used a different format to this year's edition.
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