Highly Popular, but by No Means Perfect

While the INTRODUCTION OF A ROUND ROBIN CONTEST met with the overwhelming approval of the protagonists and watchers throughout the world a local rule governing rain-affected matches was widely condemned. An analysis of the 1992 World Cup by MIKE COWARD.

- Mike Coward

The success of the first World Cup in the southern hemisphere reaffirmed the wisdom of taking the showpiece of the limited-over game to the world.

As was the case in India and Pakistan in 1987 when the tournament was first staged outside England the matches were spectacularly supported and an international television audience— this time thought to number as many as one billion — was held spell bound by the 33-day celebration of the most bankable form of the game.

But while it was a popular and highly profitable exercise which caught the imagination of the wider sporting community throughout Australasia it was by no means perfect.

Indeed, there were some serious flaws which must be addressed by the International Cricket Council when it meets to consider if England or, perhaps, South Africa will stage the World Cup in 1995.

While the introduction of a round robin contest met with the overwhelming approval of the protagonists and watchers throughout the world a local rule governing rain-affected matches was widely condemned and must be scrapped.

The rule which was principally engineered by Richie Benaud, a noted critic and commentator and former Australian captain, was seen as a nonsense on a number of occasions most notably when it quite possibly cost South Africa a place in the final against barnstorming Pakistan.

Some South African players wept openly when the rule was applied after a short, sharp, shower denied David Richardson and Brian McMillan the opportunity to score 22 runs from 13 deliveries. Had they scored the runs against a nervous England still recovering from the ignominy of defeat to the minnow, Zimbabwe, South Africa would have reached the final at their first attempt and after 22 years in the game’s wilderness.