World Cup should adopt eight-nation format: Richardson India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Former New Zealand cricketer Mark Richardson has advised that the World Cup could learn plenty from the Champions Trophy where the World Cup appears to be hitting problems is in its desire to include minnow nations who do nothing but elongate and diminish the product. "There are no minnows in this current competition, just the top eight nations going at it. Split them into two pools and 15 games gives you a full round-robin programme, semifinals and a final all within a two-week window. "When you compare that to eight weeks of drawn-out dross in the Caribbean , it's a pretty good format. Where it may let itself down, however, is if it becomes very much a case of hit or miss and the eventual winner may not reflect form teams," NZ Herald quoted Richardson, as saying. "I propose the World Cup follows the eight-nation, one round-robin format outlined above and the Champions Trophy be used to find those eight qualifiers," he said. "This is the place to include the second-tier nations and, if the Champions Trophy becomes the vehicle for final World Cup qualification and seeding, we have a tournament of genuine meaning," Richardson added.