Srinivasan defends10-team WC in 2019

Melbourne:The associate cricket nations might be fuming at the prospect of a 10-team World Cup in 2019, but ICC chairman N. Srinivasan said they had no reason to feel left out as the format gives them a a good chanced of qualifying for the mega event.

The ICC's decision to reduce the number of teams from 14 to 10 in the next WC in England has been lambasted by the associate nations. The world body has also drawn criticism from some of the most prominent voices in international cricket, including Sachin Tendulkar, who has gone to the extent of saying that the idea is detrimental to the goal of making cricket a global game.

But, Srinivasan said there is not much to be concerned about. " If you look at the next World Cup, the top eight will qualify, while for the ninth and 10th team, there will be a competition between six associates. So, the associates will have a reasonably good chance of playing the World Cup. The success of the associates is actually because of the ICC's development programme," Srinivasan told Star Sports here.

As per the new qualifying system, while host England and the top seven teams will be assured of a place in the World Cup, the associates will have to fight it out against the sides outside the top-eight of the ICC rankings in the qualifiers. The could well mean that not a single associate nation would make the shopiece event.

The decision has expectedly not gone down well with well-performing associates like Ireland, which enthralled one and all with some terrific performances in this WC, missing the quarterfinal berth by a whisker.

Srinivasan said the ICC will spend US$ 300 m in developing cricket in associate nations.

"There will be an eight-year cycle during which this amount will be spent. We want the associate nations to develop a sound domestic structure, which will help having a good system" he said.

- PTI,