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DURBAN, Oct 27: World Cup champions Australia will start their defence of their title in a replay of 1999 final against Pakistan at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on Feb 11, according to the 2003 World Cup schedule released here Saturday.
Fifty-four matches will be played over 43 days in the biggest World Cup yet staged. Fourteen teams will be competing, two more than in England in 1999 when 42 matches were played.
Hosts South Africa will open the tournament against the West Indies in a day-night match at Newlands in Cape Town on Sunday, Feb 9.
The Wanderers will be the venue for the 2003 final on Sunday, March 16.
Each of South Africa’s six Test grounds will stage five matches, with six other grounds in South Africa also hosting matches.
Zimbabwe will play all their six preliminary round matches in Zimbabwe, with three matches in Harare and three in Bulawayo. Two matches will be played in Nairobi, Kenya.
Only two grounds will stage day/night games — Newlands in Cape Town and Kingsmead in Durban.
One of the semifinals will be played under lights at Kingsmead. It was decided against having floodlit games at inland venues such as the Wanderers because of potential dew in February and March.
Around 1.3 billion people will watch the 2003 cricket World Cup, says tournament director Ali Bacher.
Bacher said some 800,000 spectators were expected to attend matches, while the event would be beamed to 300 million television screens worldwide, giving it a cumulative television audience of around 1.2 billion.
Bacher said arranging the programme had been one of biggest challenges he had faced because of television broadcasting requests.
“There were a number of constraints placed on us. At the 1999 Cricket World Cup, there were 42 matches played over 38 days — this one will be 54 games over 43 days,” he said.
He added it has been “a team effort comprising the United Cricket Board, the International Cricket Council and the Global Cricket Corporation (GCC).
“The GCC, who hold the television rights, made a reasonable request that 12 of the 42 pool matches be staged on certain days and at certain times in order to maximize television revenue and the global television audience.
“For example, they asked that India versus Pakistan should be a day game on a week day, that India versus England should be a day-night game, and that all Australia’s and New Zealand’s games be day games so that they could enjoy early evening prime time television in those countries.
“We have met all 12 of the GCC requests.”
Ten matches will be staged under floodlights — five each in Durban and Cape Town.
“We looked at Potchefstroom and the Wanderers (in Johannesburg) as other possible day-night venues but concluded that the dew problem at those grounds would not do justice a World Cup,” Bacher said.
COMPLETE SCHEDULE
Pool A: Australia, Pakistan, India, England, Zimbabwe, Holland, Namibia.
PRELIMINARY ROUND:
Feb 10 — Zimbabwe v Namibia (Harare).
Feb 11 — Australia v Pakistan (Johannesburg).
Feb 12 — India v Holland (Paarl).
Feb 13 — Zimbabwe v England (Harare).
Feb 15 — Australia v India (Centurion).
Feb 16 — England v Holland (East London).
Feb 16 — Pakistan v Namibia (Kimberley).
Feb 19 — England v Namibia (Port Elizabeth).
Feb 19 — Zimbabwe v India (Harare).
Feb 20 — Australia v Holland (Potchefstroom).
Feb 22 — England v Pakistan (Cape Town, D/N).
Feb 23 — India v Namibia (Pietermaritzburg).
Feb 24 — Zimbabwe v Australia (Bulawayo).
Feb 25 — Pakistan v Holland (Paarl).
Feb 26 — England v India (Durban, D/N).
Feb 27 — Australia v Namibia (Potchefstroom).
Feb 28 — Zimbabwe v Holland (Bulawayo).
March 1 — Pakistan v India (Centurion).
March 2 — Australia v England (Port Elizabeth).
March 3 — Namibia v Holland (Bloemfontein).
March 4 — Zimbabwe v Pakistan (Bulawayo).
Pool B: South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Kenya, Canada.
PRELIMINARY ROUND:
Feb 9 — South Africa v West Indies (Cape Town, D/N)
Feb 10 — Sri Lanka v New Zealand (Bloemfontein).
Feb 11 — Bangladesh v Canada (Durban, D/N).
Feb 12 — South Africa v Kenya (Potchefstroom).
Feb 13 — West Indies v New Zealand (Port Elizabeth).
Feb 14 — Sri Lanka v Bangladesh (Pietermaritzburg).
Feb 15 — Kenya v Canada (Cape Town, D/N).
Feb 16 — South Africa v New Zealand (Johannesburg).
Feb 18 — West Indies v Bangladesh (Benoni).
Feb 19 — Sri Lanka v Canada (Paarl).
Feb 21 — New Zealand v Kenya (Nairobi).
Feb 22 — South Africa v Bangladesh (Bloemfontein).
Feb 23 — West Indies v Canada (Centurion).
Feb 24 — Sri Lanka v Kenya (Nairobi).
Feb 26 — New Zealand v Bangladesh (Kimberley).
Feb 27 — South Africa v Canada (East London).
Feb 28 — Sri Lanka v West Indies (Cape Town, D/N).
March 1 — Kenya v Bangladesh (Johannesburg).
March 3 — New Zealand v Canada (Benoni).
March 3 — South Africa v Sri Lanka (Durban, D/N).
March 4 — West Indies v Kenya (Kimberley).
SUPER SIX ROUND:
March 7 — 1-Pool A v 1-Pool B (Centurion, D/N).
March 7 — 2-Pool A v 2-Pool B (Cape Town).
March 8 — 3-Pool A v 3-Pool B (Bloemfontein).
March 10 — 2-Pool A v 1-Pool B (Johannesburg).
March 11 — 1-Pool A v 3-Pool B (Port Elizabeth).
March 12 — 3-Pool A v 2-Pool B (Bloemfontein).
March 14 — 2-Pool A v 3-Pool B (Centurion).
March 15 — 3-Pool A v 1-Pool B (East London, D/N).
March 15 — 1-Pool A v 2-Pool B (Durban).
SEMIFINALS:
March 18 — 1-Super Six v 4-Super Six (Port Elizabeth).
March 20 — 2-Super Six v 3-Super Six (Durban, D/N).
FINAL:
March 23 — Johannesburg.—Reuters
