COLOMBO, Sept 20: The Champions Trophy, which began with a contract row and TV back-up for umpires as the talking points, is under focus midway through for its poor scheduling of matches.

The prestigious 12-team event has also suffered from sparse crowds when hosts Sri Lanka are not playing and has exposed a contrast between the game’s “haves” and “have-nots.”

The gap of several days between matches has left players idling away at the team hotel or shopping or socialising.

Australia’s world champion side has opted for a break after reaching the semifinals on Thursday, taking a short flight to the picturesque Indian Ocean island of Maldives to relax before returning to face Sri Lanka a week on Friday.

Some of the Indian players, like skipper Saurav Ganguly and leading batsman Sachin Tendulkar, popped back home after last Saturday’s win over Zimbabwe.

Their next pool 2 game against England is on Sunday which also means a gap of over a week.

South African captain Shaun Pollock has criticised the long intervals between games, which has also resulted in a six-day gap between his team’s two pool games.

“There is a lot of waiting around, it is not an ideal situation,” Pollock said on Thursday.

The only advantage for his side has been an opportunity to re-group after a long off-season.

Told about the Australian Maldives plans, he joked: “I am glad they can afford to. They have played really well and have got good bonuses in the last few years.”

The tournament format has been changed from a pure knockout, but three-team pools have left little scope for comebacks with just one side progressing to the semis.

Pakistan lost their pool four game to Sri Lanka on Sept 12 and are out of the running, but have been on a long wait to play Saturday’s meaningless match against the Netherlands.

West Indies are out of reckoning, but they have already turned their attention to their upcoming Indian Test tour, as have Pakistan, who start their series against Australia after this event.—Reuters