A significant tournament, say skippers

Kumar Sangakkara acknowledged the significance of the event per se as regards the future of one-day internationals and his South African counterpart Graeme Smith sang a similar tune on the eve of the tournament opener between the Sri Lankans and the host nation.
“This is going to be an important step,” the eloquent Sangakkara conceded. “In the 2007 World Cup, the cricket was great. But a lot of people thought it was way too long and there were too many teams, too many days between games.

“The true test for one-day cricket is in events like these -- the appeal of the spectators, how much of a show the players put up and how much money television networks are going to gain. I personally think it’s going to be a very good tournament. The future of all formats of the game lies in tournaments such as this and the success in that.”

Smith pointed out, “The ICC have put a lot of effort into this tournament but ultimately, the cricket played is going to define if the tournament is a success or not. The good point is that it is short and to the point, and hopefully it can capture the imagination of all the fans around the world. That’s the challenge the one-day format faces.” Sangakkara spoke for a majority of the players when he put Test cricket above the other two formats.

“Test cricket is the premium product for us,” the Lankan skipper averred. “But one-day cricket and T-20 are exciting forms of the game. Players, administrators, the press and the public should decide how much importance should be given to each format of the game.”