posted Mar 31, 2007

Did anyone watch any of the Stanford 20/20 highlights of matches on Sky? They went all out for the Carribean flavour and it looked like all the grounds were full and everyone had a blast. That is how to organize a tournament in the Carribean.

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posted Mar 31, 2007

Yeah, I saw bits of it... it was nuts, the ICC should be ashamed!

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posted Mar 31, 2007

Lack of caribbean atmosphere-caribbean culture is different and induces a different but unique atmosphere at cricket matches,the organizers by overly restricting what fans can do at matches created a false west indian atmosphere.How can you have a criket match in the caribbean and need special permission to bring in your conch shell,can't bring in your pot of curry and ask fans to pay ridiculous prices for drinks inside the venues.The ICC together with the LOC's tried to bring a formula that may work in England and other places and tried to fit caribbean culture into it,instead of finding or creating a caribbean formula that may work out better.The organizers tried to make too much money.With allthe emphasis on security and terrorism,how come the Pakistan coach was murdered?

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posted Mar 31, 2007

Simply poor marketing; the past success of previous world cups in much larger home markets was not understood. The present organisers just saw the dollar bills.

They didn't understand the need for a good home based marketing program and just asumed that the WC will sell itself in the international market. They made every single aspect of attending a match difficult and costly.

The organiser did not have any responsibility for the cost of hosting the WC; they leaned on a bunch of "greedy politicians" who were more interested in their legacy than good business decisions. Therefore the need to make responsible business decision was absent.

The end effect is that both the home and international market was turned off. You could not have done a worst job.

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posted Mar 31, 2007

You have ticket prices which are the equivalent of a week's wage for the locals. You can't take your own musical instruments, food or drink in. You might just get a bottle of water in there but only because the ICC are worried you might sue them if you collapse from dehydration. This is just rip-off and hassle. One West Indian fan said it felt like being 'in prison' during a match.

The money grabbing control freaks in the ICC have created a soulless PR disaster. I'm just glad I changed my mind and didn't go.

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posted Apr 1, 2007

The ICC needs to take a good hard look at itself, and then take a step back from trying to control every aspect of the game. Imposing uniform regulations/restrictions on all cricket grounds around the world is just crazy, and leads to resentment from the average cricket fan. In England, it started with the Champions Trophy in 2004, with the ridiculous restrictions on what brands of food and drink you could bring into the grounds - and has since continued so that you can't bring your own alcohol into any Test matches apart from at Lord's. Whatever money the ICC is making from enforcing brand exclusivity is nothing compared to the long-term damage they are creating by alienating fans from going to cricket matches. If you want proof, then a half-full stadium for a West Indies - Australia one-day match (in the World Cup!)is about as conclusive as it gets, and should set off some very loud alarm bells ringing - under any normal circumstances, it would be packed out, so something, somewhere has gone very wrong indeed.

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posted Apr 2, 2007

Cricket in the WestIndies Cricket has been on the decline since th viv Richards era and the exposure and attraction of American basketball.
Why dont the ICC admit the World cup is being played in the most poorest part of the World where the price of a ticket is a large percentage of the average wage as the result of poor attendances this must be the worst world cup for the men at ICC.
Malcolm speed should resign or be sacked just like Daryl hare.I cant wait for the 2011 World cup in Pakistan.India,Bangladash and Srilanka.

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posted Apr 2, 2007

ICC have succeeded in sterilizing, segregating and devastating the Caribbean cricket vibrations by systematically excluding the majority of local population. Only the up town and corporate can afford the ticket prices leaving the "people" out in the cold! When people have managed to save for a ticket they have to either carry a little food and drink, without a cover, or sit all day hungry and thirsty as the refreshments prices are almost a weeks salary for some. Seeing an empty stadium for one game with the camera man desperately seeking spectators to film , I asked if i could get in free after lunch. I was told in no uncertain terms, 'Absolutely not.' Why not let in some students? We were all kept off school loosing our Easter holiday ANYWAY

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posted Apr 3, 2007

The solutions are as obvious as they were last week: make tickets available at prices local people can afford (duh?), drop the obnoxious restrictions, and when tickets aren't selling DROP THE PRICES (I know - it's cunning isn't it?) and for pity's sake let kids in for free.

Oh, and next time why not have a format that is less boring? Apart from that, great organisation guys.

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posted Apr 6, 2007

Viv Richards himself slams the organisers of the WC....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/other_international/west_indies/6531839.stm

Totally agree with him!

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