Conspiracy theories and the WC’07 Super 8 schedule
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Prem Panicker’s Rediff piece on the World Cup super 8 scheduling seems to have touched a nerve (going by the comments on the article). Apart from the fact that if it’s true leading to the assumption, then the ICC does not expect any upset victories (unlike the previous editions), the only thing that worries me is the prospect of India not playing enough weekend games.
Yesterday I noticed (via the schedule on my Willow.tv subscription) that if India beat Sri Lanka (and) West Indies beat Pakistan (and) there are upsets involving these teams, then India would finish B1 and Pakistan would finish D2 and their much awaited clash will be on a weekend (on April 1).
But now after Prem’s article, the ICC seems to have edited the schedule to say “TBC” on the post-group stage games. However, the schedule on Indya.com (official internet partners for WC’07) still shows “D2 vs B1″ on April 1st (click here for PDF version).
But it is frightening to see (if what Prem says is true) that the ICC does not expect any upsets. Wait, I could even argue the other way - that this time the ICC is so sure about its whole anti-match fixing activities that it does not expect any upsets! Ha!
Either way, all I care about is India’s weekend games! So they better keep the whole D2 vs B1 type thing and seed the teams all over again based on their performance in the preliminary stages. That way I can at least watch the weekend games live!
ÜberDesi
I http://murungakka.blogspot.com
March 6th, 2007 at 1:24 amCanada is going to win the cup, pathine iru…
VC http://poop-v2.blogspot.com
March 6th, 2007 at 11:37 amI don’t see anything earthshakingly bizarre (as Mr. PP would have us believe…….heheheheh. I said PP) about what the ICC has done.
It is not like they have said that “irrespective of the results in the group stage, only the 8 main cricketing nations will play in the next stage.”
All they have done is fixed the seedings of the qualifying teams beforehand.
And yes. They have done this in an effort to maximize revenues. Like any idiot (including Mr. PP…..again. heheheheh) would do.
VC http://poop-v2.blogspot.com
March 6th, 2007 at 1:51 pmholy crap. i just went back and saw that the first commenter on that page has said the same thing as me.
mlc
March 6th, 2007 at 5:48 pmseri, tt suren has said the same thing as u. adhu “surenna” nu irundhaa, “haiya! ivvalo compatablity-a” nu neenga kadalai potu, varuthu yeduthu, ensoi-ey pannirkalaam. a la VC style! ippo yaen “suren” oda compatablity paakavendiya nelamai? yenithing yintresting about u that we shd know;-)? kavalaipadaama sollunga! ME, me and anantha will continue to b yr pals;-))!
VC http://poop-v2.blogspot.com
March 6th, 2007 at 10:17 pmmlc: indha maadhiri oru joke adikkarathukkaaga ’surenna’ -nnu neengala oru paer undaakkareengaley. idhu ungalukey over too-much-a illai.
mlc
March 7th, 2007 at 12:17 amVC! adhu gender-a specify pannanum nu undaakina paer! joke adichaalum real name le dhaan adikanum nu solreengala? seri. “surenna” is actually “surina” spelt differently (like swami/sami .. magesh/mahesh … thamizh/tamil & lots more!)and it means goddess! poruma? ungalukosaram, baby names ku poyi, theydi kandupidichaen! ippo yenna solreenga saar??
superstarksa http://superstarksa.com
March 7th, 2007 at 7:53 amVC: Indha mlc veetukku auto anuppanum nu nenaikaren. Enna? Pesi paapoma? Illa ippove thattiduvoma?
VC (yes, another for you!): Ya, I realized what you said. But like I said, I want more india games during the weekend. I don’t know what kind of change this thing will cause. Adhu dhaan bayam.
mlc: No response for you!
Vetti!
I: Un vaaila darbai only!
shakester http://www.blogger.com/profile/4521582
March 7th, 2007 at 10:42 amI’m amazed how much of a stir this seems to have caused! I think the silly thing is that the ICC didn’t clearly specify its rationale, or set out this aspect of the schedule well in advance.
All it actually does it base the 2nd round on the original seedings and not the group standing- this doesn’t afffect anything in terms of points; it only helps fans, administrators and the media to plan their lives accordingly.
btw, I had read this article as well, but I can’t seem to see that its by Prem Panickerji.
mlc
March 7th, 2007 at 11:40 amaaaayyeeee! yaarap-paaththu inna sonney??? yen ootukey auto varumaa?? yen pettai pakkam vandhu paaru!! indha “blade pakkiri”, “aruva arumugam” range le yenaku “maanja mlc” nu innoru paer keedhu machchi!!! ni anupura auto-va naasthi panni, aththa lorry le yaethi unnaandayey thiruppi anupuvaen!! yen kiitey ey vaaa! mavaney!!
superstarksa http://superstarksa.com
March 7th, 2007 at 12:00 pmShakestar: But it is flawed all the same. And it screws the viewers and ticket holders too. If someone had noticed this before and scheduled trips for part of the Super 8 stage based on the ICC’s flawed rule, then any change now could end up costing these ppl a lot of money or a chance to see some of the games they had wanted to see in the first place. I don’t know. I havent analyzed this too much. But like I said, I might not get to see some games that I thought i’ll get to see, if this stupid thing is true!
VC http://poop-v2.blogspot.com
March 7th, 2007 at 1:47 pmanantha: let me put your mind at ease. Based on my interpretation of the schedule, no matter what happens in the group stage, if India qualifies for the super 8s, it will be B2 and will never-ever-ever-ever-ever be B1. So barring some major unforeseen string of upsets (emphasis on string), the super 8 schedule should pretty much be as shown in the schedule page. which means Ind-Aus is on a Saturday, Ind-RSA is on a Saturday and Ind-Pak is on a Sunday. Now go and nimmadhiyaa thoongu.
superstarksa http://superstarksa.com
March 7th, 2007 at 2:20 pmVC: So you mean to say, India cannot top the group at all? If the normal rules apply, India topping Group B will make it B1! Thats what i am worried. I am too lazy to go and look at the schedules to see what that means. So I will just fret and fume in here instead!
maanja mlc: ayyeh dho da! Inna kuvura. Naanga inna summava kundhikku nikkarom? namblukkum indhe ellam theriyum ma…
VC http://poop-v2.blogspot.com
March 7th, 2007 at 3:25 pmanantha: illabaa! B1 does not denote the team that tops group B and B2 does not denote the team that comes 2nd in group B.
If India & SL qualify, India is B2 and SL is B1 irrespective of who defeated whom in the group stage.
If, if, if, if India & one of the other B teams (Bermuda, Bangladesh) qualify, India is still B2 and the other B team is B1, again, irrespective of who defeated whom.
If SL & one B team qualify, then SL is still B1 and the B team is B2.
If Bermuda & Bangladesh qualify, I will give up cricket altogether.
superstarksa http://superstarksa.com
March 7th, 2007 at 4:08 pmVC: I understood what you meant. But I dont like that rule. I think the teams should be B1 and B2, based on their group performance. This is a logical step. Till I read this thing I thought it was performance based. Between what I think should happen and what the ICC thinks, I think there will be some discrepancies. If these discrepencies lead to more weekend games, I am totally for it. But if the ICC goes and changes everything to suit my logic and I lose weekend games, I will be pissed, even though no one is really to blame.
mlc
March 7th, 2007 at 5:42 pmanantha! adhey dhaan mey naanum sollikiraen! neenga auto anupina naanga poo parichinirupoam nu kanauvu kaanaadhey!!! un side lendhu auto vandhichina, yen side lendhu tata sumo varum! dhumthoondu auto-kellam asarra aal na kadaiyaadhu ba! vvatttaa!
vc: indha b1 b2 … namba h1 h4 maadhiri dhaaney! aaaa! ippo pirinjipochiiii! ni sooper-a yesplain panrey ba;-))!
shakester http://www.blogger.com/profile/09867656927031786562
March 8th, 2007 at 10:54 pmUm, myself thinking VC is making it quite clear to you anti, yes?
I agree that ‘logically’ the team with most points should top the group, but in this case topping or not is absolutely irrelevant t o the next stage of the tournament. Foreg, if we best Sl we take those points against them into the next stage, or we dont if we lose. beating the rest in the group, total points are not of any value as such.
The iCC arent going to change anything. Only a serious upset (a few of them rather), can change that. But I agree- this ‘logic’ and this shcedule should have been highlighted many moons ago.
shakester http://www.blogger.com/profile/09867656927031786562
March 8th, 2007 at 10:55 pm*best Sl= beat SL
VC http://poop-v2.blogspot.com
March 12th, 2007 at 5:00 pmanantha: looks like there is a chance you may end up being pissed.
superstarksa http://superstarksa.com
March 13th, 2007 at 9:32 amI know I know… There is a chance that India might have JUST one weekend game in the super 8s
USC Trojan http://usctrojan98.blogspot.com
March 14th, 2007 at 1:44 amI read in the paper that the first and second place within the group is going to be determined by the current world ranking and not by their points position.
I know, it surprised me greatly too.
superstarksa http://superstarksa.com
March 15th, 2007 at 2:26 pmUSC Trojan: Long time no see, though I do read your posts on DC. Anyways, that troubled me till people pointed out that in the Super 8s everyone meets everyone. But I countered that by saying that my only problem is that they fixed stuff so that the nicest games could be on TV on weekends and their idea of nicest does not gel with mine. I want all of India’s games on the weekend!