Hayden backs World Cup cuts

Hayden: Backs 10-team World Cup

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Former Australia batsman Matthew Hayden has backed the International Cricket Council's decision to cut the number of teams in the World Cup.

The associate nations, including Ireland, have been excluded from the 2015 tournament, which is set to consist only of the 10 full member sides.
The decision will be reviewed by the ICC at the end of June, however, after there was widespread criticism due to Ireland's competitive showing at the 2011 tournament.
But Hayden, who won the World Cup twice with Australia, thinks the competition should be reserved for the world's elite teams.
He told The Cricketer: "I sympathise with the arguments but these competitions are about the world's finest and even though Ireland produced some outstanding cricket, which shows the support mechanisms for our developing nations are working, I still think the World Cup should be for the premium sides."
Hayden did however say that the door should be left open for Ireland if they can prove they can consistently compete with the full member nations.
He added: "I would like to see further changes to the World Cup because you do not want to disenfranchise a community.
"They need to be involved in the system that promotes and relegates. If Ireland are sitting in the top eight, there is a system where sides have the chance to miss out.
"It's not a Test-ranking competition, it's a one-day competition. I support a 10-nation tournament."
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