More lows than highs for, World Cup so far

St.John's (Antigua), Apr 6 (UNI) With more than half of the matches -33 out of 51 - already played and 22 days left for the final, the 9th edition of the Cricket World Cup has more lows than highs points to show.

There has only been two matches which have merited attention so far, both involving Sri Lanka's fixtures, against South Africa and England.

Things started going wrong for this quadrangular mega event being held in the Caribbean for the first time and accusing fingers were pointed towards the International Cricket Council (ICC) for their overbearing attitude which ''took away the very essence of the game as it is being played here.'' ''Cricket is a party time in Caribbean and ICC with their undue and uncalled interventions and rules, left the crowd cold and that killed the World Cup,'' was the verdict.

The low turn out for the matches came as a major surprise as organisers had claimed that most of the matches have been sold out.

What shocked the organisers most was that even the matches in which India was involved when they played in Port of Spain failed to attract the crowd.

Having three teams from the subcontinent - India, Bangldesh and Sri Lanka - playing in Port of Spain was considered as a master stroke but the ''brown Package'' as it was called, failed to deliver.

The ICC's s security restrictions, high ticket prices and more stress on foreign visitors turned off the locals.

Also the much hyped advertisements that tickets and accommodation have been sold out backfired with many potential tourists simply calling off the trip.

As if this was not enough, the murder of Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer dented the reputation of the tournament.

The killing shook the World Cup to its core and there were even calls for the tournament to be called off.

To add to the woes, the two biggest attractions, in terms of support, media coverage and financial benefits, India and Pakistan crashed out of the Cup, failing to qualify for the Super Eight.

India and Pakistan's presence was necessary to boost much of the sponsorship money, merchandising and television revenue that keeps the World Cup afloat.

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