The groups for the 2011 World Cup have been decided. While the format has not been formally disclosed by the ICC, they have indicated that it will be a quarter-final format i.e. top 4 in each group play in the QFs. The tournament is going to be shortened to 49 matches (from 51) and to around 5 weeks (from 6 weeks).

I personally am not a fan of the QF format, but what the hell can I do about it. I think the Champions Trophy is a better deal than the World Cup. My own ideal format for the World Cup is as follows: have 14 teams, of which 4 teams get byes into a Super-8 round (previous champs, most recent CT champs, most recent T20 champs, #1 ODI team, etc). The 10 remaining teams are divided into two groups of 5 each, and play each other. Top two in each group join the other 4 in the Super-8. In the Super-8, everyone plays each other and top 4 go to the semis. It will be 51 matches (same as 2007), but with at least two matches a day, it can comfortably be completed in 5 weeks or less.

Anyways, I'm not the ICC chief so I can't decide the format. So, without further ado, I present the 2011 World Cup groups:

Group A - Australia, Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Canada, Kenya.

Group B - India, South Africa, England, West Indies, Bangladesh, Ireland, Netherlands.

Read more at: http://www.cricinfo.com/wc2011/content/current/story/428712.html

First, some history. Back in the late 90s / early 00s, the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations (FICA) selected 55 players for induction into an unofficial Cricket Hall of Fame. These inductees included pretty much all the greats who had been retired for five years or more. The list is included at the bottom of this post for easy reading, and is also available here.

In January of 2009, the ICC finally recognized this list and decided to draft new inductees into the Hall of Fame every year during the ICC Awards Ceremony.

The new inductees for 2009 are: Wasim Akram, Steve Waugh, Herbert Sutcliffe, Clarrie Grimmett, and Victor Trumper. A group of people extremely deserving to be the first new inductees. However, I am surprised that Sutcliffe was not included in the original inductees.

Any bets for next year's inductees? Remember, they have to be retired for at least five years to be inducted. Courtney Walsh is a no-brainer for me, as is Andy Flower. Martin Crowe is another possibility. Maybe Richardson and Haynes too? Ranatunga and DeSilva could also be contenders. Azharuddin probably deserves it but the whole legal crap might be an issue (same with Hansie Cronje, but he is not as deserving as Azhar). In the bowling department, Waqar and Allan Donald, perhaps? Ambrose too?

What are your thoughts? Would be interested in hearing them.

I think the ICC Hall of Fame is pretty cool and look forward to the annual inductions.

The initial inductees are listed below.

Sydney Barnes, Bishan Bedi, Alec Bedser, Richie Benaud, Allan Border, Ian Botham, Geoffrey Boycott, Donald Bradman, Greg Chappell, Ian Chappell, Denis Compton, Colin Cowdrey, Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar, Lance Gibbs, Graham Gooch, David Gower, WG Grace, Tom Graveney, Gordon Greenidge, Richard Hadlee, Walter Hammond, Neil Harvey, George Headley, Jack Hobbs, Michael Holding, Leonard Hutton, Rohan Kanhai, Imran Khan, Alan Knott, Jim Laker, Harold Larwood, Dennis Lillee, Ray Lindwall, Clive Lloyd, Hanif Mohammad, Rodney Marsh, Malcolm Marshall, Peter May, Javed Miandad, Keith Miller, Bill O’Reilly, Graeme Pollock, Wilfred Rhodes, Barry Richards, Vivian Richards, Andy Roberts, Garfield Sobers, Brian Statham, Fred Trueman, Derek Underwood, Clyde Walcott, Everton Weekes, Frank Woolley, Frank Worrell.