History of opening ceremony of ICC Cricket World Cups

An opening ceremony marks the start of any event, may it be a sports event or any other governmental event. Opening ceremony has a very old history relating back to Ancient Greek times when Olympics were started with a ceremony which included extravagance feasts, singing and recitation of poetry. People were presented with olive wreaths. The traditions have continued and are now considered as an integral part of the modern day Olympics. Today all major sporting events like FIFA World Cup, Olympics Games start with an opening ceremony which is watched by people from all over the world.

ICC Cricket World Cup is considered as the most important and widely watched event of the cricketing world. The history of ICC Cricket World Cup starts from 1975 when it was known as Prudential Cup. The opening ceremonies remained pretty simple till 1999 ICC Cricket World Cup. It mostly consisted of a welcome dinner followed by group photos of participating teams. Infact, opening ceremony of 1999 ICC Cricket World Cup was described as ‘pathetic’ by Wisden. Pakistan added new flavors by arranging few musical concerts on the eve of 1996 Wills World Cup held in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka but still a grand ceremony did not take place.

At last in 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup, South Africa gave a new direction to the opening ceremony of a cricket world cup. 4,000 performers gathered at the Cape Town for a ceremony which is still remembered by many people. Different themes were performed by the singers, musicians and dancers gathered for the big event. Almost 1.4 billion people have watched the ceremony. In 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup, West Indies followed the tradion set by South Africa and amazed the world by showing its wonderful colors of heritage. The budget utilized was small and only 1500 performers participated but still it was considered as the biggest extravaganza night in cricket history.

Umpires and referees of 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the list of umpires and referees who will officiate the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 being held in Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka from February 19th. The 12-member Elite Panel of Umpires will be joined by six members of International Panel of Umpires for the ICC Cricket World Cup. The six umpires were chosen by David Richardson (ICC’s General Manager of Cricket), former match referee and player David Lloyd, former umpire S. Venkatargahavan and match referee Ranjan Madugalle.

Following is the list of umpires for 2011 ICC  World Cup:

• Billy Bowden
• Aleem Dar
• Steve Davis
• Billy Doctrove
• Marais Erasmus
• Ian Gould
• Daryl Harper,
• Tony Hill
• Asad Rauf
• Asoka de Silva
• Simon Taufel
• Rod Tucker
• Kumar Dharmasena
• Richard Kettleborough
• Nigel Llong,
• Bruce Oxenford
• Amish Saheba
• Shahvir Tarapore

Enam ul Hoque-Moni from Bangladesh is named as the reserve umpire and he will be umpiring in warm-up matches.

Following is the list of match referees announced by International Cricket Council (ICC):

• Chris Broad
• Jeff Crowe
• Ranjan Madugalle
• Roshan Mahanama
• Andy Pycroft

Top ten umpires in cricket

Every sports in the world is officiated by some appointed persons referred as umpires or referees. In football, we have referees and in hockey we got umpires to officiate the match. In cricket, umpires are officials who supervise the proceedings of a match. There are total four numbers of umpires in a cricket match; two umpires are in the field, one act as TV umpire and the fourth one is the reserve umpire.

Umpires in cricket have a very sensitive position; a single wrong decision can change the direction of the game. So, an umpire has to remain vigilant and unbiased in the best possible way. In 2002, International Cricket Council (ICC) came up with the idea of Elite Panel of ICC Umpires to officiate Test Matches and ODIs around the world. It has ended a long controversy of biased umpiring by the umpires of home country. Now, this Elite Panel of ICC Umpires officiate the international matches which provides neutral umpiring.

Following are the top ten umpires in cricket:

• Steve Davis
• Daryl Harper
• Simon Taufel
• Ian Gould
• Billy Bowden
• Tony Hill
• Aleem Dar
• Asoka De Silva
• Asad Rauf
• Billy Doctove

2011 ICC World Cup champion? Anyone but Australia

The last two ICC World Cups saw the domination of Australian cricket team. That was mainly due to their superior training, best team combination and high performance but with the end last decade, its all diminishing. Australian cricket team is no longer considered the favorites for 2011 ICC World Cup. They got performance problems, injury problems and what not. So calling Australian cricket team favorites for the upcoming 2011 ICC World Cup will be unfair. But on the other side, rests of the teams have grown into a formidable strong ODI teams. While watching the on-going Australia-England one day international series, one can easily judge the high quality of performance shown by the English team. England has got the best team line up. Their recent win of ICC T20 World Cup 2010 has boosted their confidence. So, one will be keeping an eye on the Englishmen.

The scenario is changing in the other teams also. Indian cricket team and South African cricket team have shown excellent performances in the recent past. One will never forget the nail-biting series between these countries which took place recently in South Africa. Everyone knows Indian cricket team has the batting line up and on pitches of sub-continent; they can pile a huge score. Proteas on the other hand have the best in all departments; they got best bowlers, batsmen and fielders. This time they will avail every opportunity to lift the 2011 ICC World Cup trophy.

How can we forget Sri Lankan cricket team when discussing current strong teams? Sri Lankan cricket team under Sangakara have shown great strength. Their high place in ODI rankings is an evidence of their consistent performance. All the major teams discussed? Not at all. Men in Green, Pakistan cricket team and Kiwis are still left. Both the teams have problem of inconsistency. They are known as Unpredictable teams of Cricket but both the teams have right combination. One can expect miracles from these two teams. They got best all rounders which will prove to be a big advantage in the mega event. So, one should keep an eye on these teams as well.

The ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 is going to be held in Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka. The pitches will surely suit Asian teams as they will be having the advantage of spin attack but due to consistent performance by England and South Africa one cannot rule them out. So, it would be a tough call to say who will win the 2011 ICC World Cup. But it will be anyone but Australia.

ICC rankings for ODI cricket before 2011 ICC World Cup

One day international is the format which is followed in cricket world cups too. The format comprises of 50 limited over in which teams have to perform at their best. Setting up a huge target in 50 over along with defending not only requires physical fitness but is also a mental challenge. The thrilling 50 over ODI pattern has produced many extraordinary performances out of teams and is still the most watched cricket event. In 2011, the ICC rankings for ODI cricket is being led by Australia who are ranked as number one team at the moment. The ICC ranking for ODI cricket before 2011 ICC World Cup is:

• Rank 1: Australia
• Rank 2: India
• Rank 3: Sri Lanka
• Rank 4: South Africa
• Rank 5: England
• Rank 6: Pakistan
• Rank 7: New Zealand
• Rank 8: West Indies
• Rank 9: Bangladesh
• Rank 10: Ireland
• Rank 11: Zimbabwe
• Rank 12: Netherlands
• Rank 13: Kenya

Next Page »