A boring World Cup highlights deeper issues in cricket

The 1992 cricket World Cup reserves a special place in the living memory of the cricket fan. The coloured jerseys, the white balls, and the day-night matches are remembered for their then novelty; you can still find fans holding on to memorabilia from that tournament as if an ethereal truth about cricket was woven into them. When the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced a return to the 1992 format for the 2019 edition— each team was to play everyone else in the round-robin stage —fears about a ten-team World Cup were mitigated by nostalgia for a time when everything seemed just right.

But like many fond memories from younger days, even the 1992 World Cup is tarnished now. Nostalgia, it turns out, can deceive one badly. As the 2019 competition makes the case for it to be called the most boring World Cup ever, the myth about the essentially good format is busted. There is nothing inherently great about a long phase where each team faces off against the others. In fact, it can be mind numbingly trite.
The 1992 World Cup, however, still scores on one count. The tournament at least expanded the number of teams from before – unlike this year’s edition. Now we have a closed house party where the exit door does not open for days, no matter whether you are enjoying it or not. We are stuck. With nineteen matches left, at the time of writing, and the identity of the semifinalists already known. Read More

Article Source -> Business Standard