DHAKA: ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat defended Friday the ruling body's decision to cut the number of World Cup teams from 14 to 10 in the 2015 edition, saying smaller countries would do better in a less-skillful Twenty20 format. The International Cricket Council, which decided on the team reduction last year, has faced criticism for a move which is set to exclude the likes of non-Test playing nations Kenya, Ireland and the Netherlands from the 50-over World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in 2015. Lorgat told a news conference that 50-over cricket was “more skill-based” and that the world body wanted to spread the game through the Twenty20 format instead. “We felt in the past few years that Twenty20 is the format best disposed to develop the game and provides a better environment for competition,” Lorgat said. “Twenty20 is the format needed to develop the game and we plan to increase that (world championship) to 16 teams.” The most recent World Twenty20 event, won by England in the Caribbean last year, was a 12-team championship. The 2011 World Cup, which opens Saturday in Dhaka with Bangladesh's game against fellow co-host India and closes on April 2, is a 14-team event. The ICC maintains that countries like Kenya, Ireland, Canada and the Netherlands will have a chance to qualify for 2015, though that process is only likely to be decided in April. However, Ireland batsman Ed Joyce told the Associated Press that reducing the number of places at a World Cup, and making it harder for the Irish team to qualify, would hinder cricket's development in the country. He said offering an extra four places at the World Twenty20 instead was “small consolation.” “It would be a backward step for us not to be at the (50-over) World Cup,” Joyce said in a phone interview from the team's hotel in Dhaka. “It's disappointing, but it's out of our hands.” Joyce, who also played one-day international cricket for England, said he understood why the ICC was placing more focus on the shorter Twenty20 format for developing nations, but added: “I don't completely buy it. “I don't see why it (an expanded World Twenty20) should affect the number of teams at the 50-over World Cup.” Lorgat's comments came a day after Cricket Kenya chief executive Tom Sears criticized the ICC for having a 10-country tournament in 2015. Sears told the Associated Press in a phone interview that a reduced tournament was “a farce” and that smaller countries “need to play at World Cups to improve.” Separately, Lorgat also felt the World Cup had become too long in recent editions. “We have shed some days in this particular event. In a 14-team format, this was the most compact way we could produce the event. Regardless of T20 cricket, World Cup is our flagship tournament. We want to ensure that all three formats survive,” said Lorgat, who also confirmed that the format in this edition was made to help top teams come through the group stage. “You can't predict competition, but this tournament gives a chance for best teams to qualify for the knockout stage,” said Lorgat. India and Pakistan both failed to make it to the knockout phase at the 2007 event, which used a different format to this year's edition. Lorgat also clarified that host teams would get to play in their own country in the knockout stage. “In the case of the quarterfinals and semifinals, hosts will play at home. In the event of two hosts clashing, the higher ranked team will be the host,” he said. Two quarterfinals are scheduled to be held at Dhaka while Ahmedabad and Colombo are scheduled to host one each. The venues for the semifinals are Mohali and Colombo. The host country rule will also apply for the semifinals in Colombo on March 29 and Mohali on March 30.
