(MENAFN- Arab Times) BRISBANE Feb 19 (Agencies): Australia coach Darren Lehmann is saying what a lot of people often think during the Cricket World Cup. It needs to be shortened. Lehmann''s squad has a seven-day gap between its opening victory over England and its next Pool A match against Bangladesh in Brisbane on Saturday cyclonic winds and torrential rain permitting. Australia''s third group match against co-host New Zealand in Auckland isn''t until Feb 28. ''I think we can condense the tournament a little bit to be honest'' Lehmann told a Melbourne radio station. ''A week in between is a long time.'' The logistics of conducting a World Cup in 14 cities across two countries make scheduling matches tricky. In the only match Thursday for instance Zimbabwe played for the second time in four days and beat United Arab Emirates the last of the 14 teams to play its first match by four wickets. Zimbabwe coming off a loss to South Africa reached 286-6 with 12 balls to spare in reply to the UAE''s 285-7. Shaiman Anwar scored 67 and 43-year-old Khurram Khan scored 45 for the Emirates team after being sent in to bat at Nelson New Zealand. After slipping to 167-5 Zimbabwe rallied on Sean Williams'' unbeaten 76.
Off-spinner Mohammad Tauqir who became the World Cup''s oldest captain at 43 took 2-51 before Williams hit three consecutive fours for the winning runs. Lehmann''s point about the schedule is welltaken. The World Cup group phase involves 42 matches in a month followed by quarterfinals and semifinals before the March 29 final. All up more than seven weeks.
Lehmann is by no means the first to question the length of the tournament. Then International Cricket Council chief executive Malcolm Speed said during the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean that seven weeks was too long. ''We listen to criticism and there has been a lot of it ... so we''ll look to make it shorter'' Speed said then. ''We''ll seek to reduce this 47- day World Cup (including warmup games) by seven or 10 days and hopefully we''ll get it down to somewhere between five and six weeks next time.'' ''Next time'' has happened twice since still with no shortening of the schedule. Although there''s plans to cut the number of competing teams from 14 to 10 at the 2019 World Cup. While New Zealand prepared to take on England on Friday at Wellington Australia''s match on Saturday against Bangladesh which is coming off a win over Afghanistan in Canberra on Wednesday remains in doubt due to a cyclone off the Queensland state coast. Australia could unleash pace quartet Mitchell Johnson Mitchell Starc Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins on Bangladesh in Brisbane on Saturday but wicketkeeper Brad Haddin admits they are at the mercy of Tropical Cyclone Marcia.
The Gabba ground is bracing itself for the cyclone to make its forecast way down the Queensland coast with the anticipated ensuing deluge of rain already putting the match in peril. In a worrying build-up the Australian team have been forced to hold training sessions indoors while the storm has left the four-time world champions scratching their heads over the potential make-up of their team. ''All the weather has done has delayed the naming of the team'' Haddin said on Thursday. ''We are not sure what we are going to get when we pull the covers up.'' The wild weather has also led to speculation that Cummins will join Starc Hazlewood and Johnson who all played in the opening 111-run win over England at Melbourne last weekend in the starting side against Bangladesh. ''Yeah there is a possibility'' Haddin said. ''If there wasn''t any weather around that probably would have been slim. ''But it''s hard to give you a team or what we are thinking because we are so unsure on what is going to happen with the weather and when they pull the covers up.''
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.