The ICC's absurd Cricket World Cup schedule turns to dust in the first week

And why does the first proper knock out match not take place until the final week?

Answer: Because the International Cricket Council (ICC) needed to create a schedule which ensured that India were not knocked out early, which included no fewer than nine matches in which they could guarantee that India would take part - and which could therefore be exploited by sponsors, advertisers and the media.

Indian commercial interests dictated the World Cup schedule

The overblown World Cup schedule has a group stage with deliberately one-sided contests between the seeds and the minnows before the lucrative round-robin matches between the major nations begin. This artifice allowed the ICC to market to sponsors the fact that they would have a whole series of matches in which they could promise that the big beasts would be on display - with television audiences guaranteed. And there is no bigger beast in the cricket jungle than India who always attract huge television viewing figures across the country whenever they play. The four 'global partner' sponsors of the World Cup (Pepsi; Hero Honda; LG and Hutch) are all major players in the Indian market and the sole reason for their sponsorship was the guarantee of TV exposure - especially in India. Similarly the India media pays vast sums to obtain rights to India's matches and to allow them to sell space to advertisers.

The events of last Saturday have thrown the ICC into disarray

On Saturday 17th March the ICC's commercial promises turned very sour indeed when first India and then Pakistan were beaten by two unfancied teams in their groups - Bangladesh and Ireland respectively. For Pakistan cricket it was not just a humiliation but a commercial disaster. Cricket in Pakistan is not just the national sport but a national obsession and much commercial sponsorship was linked to the World Cup and to the assumption that Pakistan would progress to the 'Super Eight's' with its guarantee of six juicy matches to exploit. But instead of massive TV audiences for matches against India, Australia, England and the rest Pakistan will soon be on their way home and their sponsors and advertisers will be counting the cost of this abject failure.

Whilst Pakistan's early departure is a commercial calamity the possibility that India may join them on flights back home is an unmitigated disaster. The reality is that the Indians will have to beat Sri Lanka next Friday to have a chance of qualifying - then it may all be down to run rate and other tie-breakers between India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to determine which two teams progress. For the ICC what is at stake is not just the millions of rupees that might have been wasted, but the willingness of sponsors to gamble again for World Cup 2011. The ICC is busy selling its wares for the next tournament - wares that will look pretty shoddy if they can't deliver Indian participation throughout.

ICC needs to maximise its World Cup revenues

The ICC has only one reliable source of revenue and that is from the Cricket World Cup. True they try and create other tournaments from time to time (the notorious and facile 'Super Series' for one) but really their only property of any significant value is the World Cup. When I worked for Shell I was responsible for discussions with the ICC's agents about possible sponsorship opportunities. For the cricket lover it was a dispiriting experience as it was clear from my discussions that Nasser Hussain's remark about the ICC's Malcolm Speed '… I never detected [in Speed] an interest in the spirit and future of the game…the priority was always money' was the raison d'être of the whole ICC operation. Since then the ICC has continued to be characterised by the chase for money (as in the current World Cup) and the naked pursuit of power and reward by their officers. Darrel Hair was hung out to dry last year to keep the Pakistan Cricket Board happy - a despicable way to treat a sincere and loyal employee. And Speed and his acolytes have continued to enjoy their tax-free income in their new tax haven home in Dubai. Big salaries and luxurious lifestyles have to be funded somehow and cricket takes second place in this - it's a business.

India and Pakistan's departure from this World Cup may be a blessing in disguise

I am a big fan of Indian cricket and to see them come home early from the Caribbean would be a shame. But if they do join Pakistan in having to leave prematurely then it might just be the spur that world cricket needs. Let international tournament schedules and structures stop being primarily designed to fill the ICC's coffers and more designed for the fans. Maybe we should have a World Cup every two years - but a competition that lasts four weeks not seven and which has logic in how it is organised. Let the ICC be forced to abandon their grandiose and foolish 'development' schemes and concentrate on providing a proper framework for all international cricket - a role they largely abrogate today. It's high time to back those national cricket boards that are fed up with the ICC's self-serving arrogance - and that is most of them!