ICC World Cup: One-Day International game is alive and kicking

In Australia and New Zealand we are all dressed up and ready to go for the ICC Cricket World Cup ICC CWC and what we believe will be the perfect vehicle to illustrate the continuing strength and longevity of the OneDay International ODI gameThere has been no shortage of people suggesting the 50over version of our great sport will eventually be squeezed out of existence by the rise of Twenty20 but if you take the leadup to this event as a barometer of the mood then nothing could be further from the truthFans are glued to the ICC Cricket World Cup warmup match between England and Pakistan at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Wednesday PICGetty ImagesThe publicrsquos appetite for Australasiarsquos first major cricketing event since 1992 is proving to be enormous More than 825000 tickets have been sold before a ball has been bowled including capacity crowds for Sundayrsquos blockbuster between India and Pakistan at the Adelaide Oval and at the Melbourne Cricket Ground MCG ndash which can hold in excess of 90000 ndash for Indiarsquos clash with South Africa The Australia ndash England encounter on Saturday is also close to putting up the lsquohouse fullrsquo signsThat 23year gap since the last ICC CWC in this part of the world has helped drive those ticket sales as this is a onceinageneration event and people are desperate to be part of it And that enthusiasm for the tournament is also reflected in other areas Television coverage will be broadcast to more than 200 territories to a potential audience exceeding 25 billion people and in seven languages The IndiandashPakistan match is likely to be the most watched cricket match of all time and of the crowd set to attend 80 per cent of them are coming from outside South Australia In terms of single sport events this tournament is second only to the FIFA World CupFrom our perspective we believe ODI cricket offers the best of both worlds it provides the big hits and attacking cricket that are the main components of Twenty20 as well as a result within the day while at the same time allowing for the ebbs and flows that characterise Test cricket our longest and longest runningformat And on top of that the format has more than 40 years of history behind it with the ICC CWC stretching all the way back to the very first edition in 1975 Footage of the action down the years together with photographs of the captains holding the trophy aloft forms part of the folklore of the sportThe last event on the Indian subcontinent in 2011 created more moments to cherish including a home win with India triumphing in Mumbai I was lucky enough to be at the final and will never forget the outpouring of emotion and the feeling of euphoria within the country when that victory was secured My eternal hope is that Australia will be able to emulate Indiarsquos achievement and lift the trophy on home soil this timeThe 1992 event the last one we hosted alongside New Zealand produced some fantastic cricket and fantastic memories for me personally As a budding fast bowler on the fringes of the Victoria state squad I watched the final at the MCG in awe and afterwards was at a hotel near the venue when the Pakistan team returned with the trophyThe players had walked from the ground accompanied by noisy and ecstatic fans and long after those players had retired to their rooms the fans stayed in the lobby chanting It is something I will never forget and just one illustration of the passion this tournament evokesThat ICC CWC has been hailed as the best yet involving as it did nine teams who all played each other in a round robin format ahead of the semifinals and that final Since then the event has evolved and this one features 14 lineups including four Associate Members ndash Afghanistan Ireland Scotland and the United Arab Emirates mdash an illustration the game is growingThe rise and presence of Afghanistan for the first time is an amazing story in itself as is the UAErsquos first appearance at the top table in 19 years while Ireland and Scotland have been consistent high achievers among cricketrsquos second tier And although the event in four yearsrsquo time in England and Wales is scheduled to be contested by 10 teams we at Cricket Australia believe that actually offers further opportunities to develop this format and provide greater context to more and more ODIs around the world every year through the recently announced qualification process via the ICC rankingsIf Associate teams are to qualify for that 2019 edition then they will need to play against Full Members on a more regular basis to give themselves the chance to move up those rankings Off our own bat we have played Afghanistan Ireland and Scotland in bilateral matches over the past three years and we will continue to do so whenever we can On the basis that it is up to all Full Members to help foster the continuing health and growth of the game by ensuring a more competitive cricketing landscape we look forward to more sides following suit in the coming months and years aheadBut that is for the future For the present we have 49 matches over 44 days at 14 venues across two countries to determine the World Champion side We cannot wait to get startedJames Sutherland played firstclass cricket for Victoria before becoming an administrator