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ICC CRICKET WORLD CUP

February 7, 2015

Geoff Allardice

ADELAIDE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA

GEOFF ALLARDICE: Good opportunity to have a chat today. We're right in the point end of preparations for the World Cup. We've been doing a round of venue inspections over the last week or two with our pitch consultant, Andy Atkinson, around Australia and New Zealand and all looks in good shape for the tournament. Starting this morning we've been in briefings with the teams and talking about some of the things that we normally do at the start of series around the way the game is going to be played without any specific regulations for the tournament and their expectations. So they've been good exchanges so far, and we've got briefings in cities tomorrow and Monday, and Christchurch tomorrow and Melbourne on Tuesday, and we'll catch all the teams before they play their first warm-up matches. So happy to take any questions you might have that lead up to the tournament.

Q. Do the briefings include any topic of behavior, and any push back to the move to crack down on them in the World Cup?
GEOFF ALLARDICE: Yes, they do. The briefings do touch on the code of conduct and how it's going to be applied. The main message is the umpires over the last four months or so have been quite strong in the way they've been reporting players who step over the line with the way that they conduct themselves either towards their opponent or towards the umpire or the game. And for the tournament itself, the umpires probably aren't going to do things a lot different in terms of reporting players, but I think it's with the WORLD CUP coming along, the penalties might be just a touch higher than they'd otherwise be.

Q. Does that include possibly suspension rather than just percentage fines?
GEOFF ALLARDICE: It depends on the level of offense. A level one offense you only have the option of fines, and the majority of incidents that occur in matches are at that level. So it might be stiffer fines. If players are conducting level two charges, suspension is an option. We don't take the suspending of players lightly or there is not going to be an overreaction in that regard. But I think if a player does step across the line to such an extent that he warrants a suspension, I think the referees will consider that.

Q. Obviously, the code of conduct and the penalties give some room for interpretation, so you're essentially saying for this World Cup the interpretation will go to the harder edge of the scale perhaps?
GEOFF ALLARDICE: Each incident is case by case. But I think the general view is the starting point wouldn't be at the minimum point of the range, it might be more in the middle. But as I said, each incident will be judged on its merits by the referee.

Q. Slightly different topic, but can you run us through now what form DRS is going to take here in terms of what technology will be available?
GEOFF ALLARDICE: Yeah, they'll be using ball tracking and the sneaker for all matches. So it will be applied evenly across every match in the post stage and the final stages. So the umpires all have tools and they've spent two days working through how to do the preparation for the tournaments and how to use the umpiring tools.

Q. So identity ball tracking and sneaker for every venue at every game?
GEOFF ALLARDICE: Yes.

Q. So that means no hot spot?
GEOFF ALLARDICE: Yes, no hot spot. The primary reason is that the number of cameras needed to cover all matches given the schedule was just far in excess of the number of available. So it wasn't practical to do it for all matches under the same conditions, so that was the reason we didn't go down that path.

Q. Was there objections from any of the sides competing in the World Cup to the use of DRS with obviously India's objections to it in '09?
GEOFF ALLARDICE: No, the decision was taken a long time ago that the DRS was going to be used in ICC events in this cycle from 2007 through 2015. It was used in the 2011 World Cup, it was used at the Champions Trophy in 2013, and it's used in this World Cup, so it's business as usual.

Q. Just to add to what Daniel said, the ball tracking, to what extent will it be available to the umpires? Just to the point of contact?
GEOFF ALLARDICE: No, the normal ranked. So point of pitching, point of impact, and whether it's hitting the stumps or not. So the predicted path will be used as it is in all viable matches used in areas.

Q. You never want to see particular players rubbed out of a tournament. Given the stance the ICC has taken with bowling actions over the last six months or so, is there at all a part of satisfaction that that's been completed ahead of the marquis tournament?
GEOFF ALLARDICE: I don't think satisfaction is the word. I mean, I think it's been widely acknowledged that it was a problem in the game that it started to get out of control. Particularly the umpires have taken a strong stance in reporting bowlers that have considered to have expectations, and I think the results of the testing have supported their views during that time. It's also encouraging that a number of bowlers have been able to rectify their actions in that period of time and come back to this tournament in a condition where they're able to bowl without restriction. The (Indiscernible) from Sri Lanka and Kane Williamson who have gone through the mediation process and had their actions tested and found to be legal. From our point of view, we just want bowlers bowling within the laws of the game, and that no one's getting an unfair advantage in any way. I think the system is working reasonably well at the moment.

Q. Can you outline some of your concerns in terms of corruption in the game ahead of the tournament. It's been a hot topic in terms of match fixing and illegal gambling and that sort of thing. Your concerns?
GEOFF ALLARDICE: I think you can only prepare as well as you can. I think our anti-corruption unit is as well prepared for this tournament as they have been for any along the way. The focus has been so strong on the anticorruption unit on International Cricket that the number of concerns around international matches has been relatively low. That certainly doesn't mean we're taking anything for granted with this tournament. The efforts and the manning of the matches and all of the goings on around the matches is going to be at a very high level during this event.

Q. Regarding DRS going ahead, you've talked about business as usual for this event as part of this cycle. Obviously, there is a new cycle to follow. Where are you at with talking what would happen with the DRS following this cycle?
GEOFF ALLARDICE: That's a good question. I think the arrangements are around future events, so the next event wouldn't use DRS under the current regime. So 2017 as far as ICC events goes would be the next one International event we'd look at. I think there is still negotiation to take place as to how DRS will be used in that tournament.

Q. Is that merely about the technology or wider in what the format might be entirely?
GEOFF ALLARDICE: Probably the whole lot, yes. I mean, there is work going on at the moment around reviewing DRS and the use of technology, and I think it's been status quo to the World Cup using the same system we've used for a while. But I think after the World Cup we'll revisit the last few years and see how it's going and whether the protocols that are in place at the moment are the ones that serve our game the best.

Q. The report and the oversight over that review of that, when is that due to report back?
GEOFF ALLARDICE: The sooner the better. I mean, I would like it to sit and produce mid-year, but it may be a few months after that.

Q. Geoff, you talked about legal bowling actions and remedy processes. Can you talk us through the process, what happens if a player is found bowling with a dodgey action during a match? What happens next?
GEOFF ALLARDICE: During the World Cup?

Q. During the World Cup.
GEOFF ALLARDICE: Yeah, any player that is reported for suspect action during the World Cup will need to go to Brisbane to the accredited testing center in Brisbane straightaway, and they'll go through the normal ICC testing process up there. And we're having to turn those results around as quickly as possible. So between report and results being available, we're hoping it will be around 7 days.

Q. Can a player be stopped from bowling mid-match, for example? Will your umpires have the authority to do that?
GEOFF ALLARDICE: They have the ability under the laws to call no ball. The practice in recent years has been more to report bowlers with suspect actions than to call them on the field, but they still have that capacity. You can't stop a bowler bowling in the middle of the match, but the umpires have that course of action available to them.

Q. I'm assuming that (Indiscernible) he stands suspended until the tests are cleared if he's called?
GEOFF ALLARDICE: No, the person will be innocent until proven guilty. If you've been reported for a suspect action, you might be suspended until you have the results of the testing are known.

Q. Given the rising popularity of 20-over cricket, is there much tweaking that can be done to the 50-over game to sexy it up a bit or is it pretty much just tinkering around the edges and the product stands on its own?
GEOFF ALLARDICE: I think the product is standing on its own at the moment. I mean, we're coming into a World Cup, I think you'd be hard-pressed to pick a strong favorite. Matches are quite unpredictable in the way they play out. You can have a very high-scoring matches and very low-scoring matches. A lot of it has to do with the pitches and the conditions. But I think the game has changed quite a bit over the last couple of years, and it is quite an exciting spectacle. I think the skills of the players these days and the way they can finish off in innings and hit the ball and clear the boundaries remains if you have 10 overs to go, 15 overs to go, there are very few targets that are unachievable these days, so teams are in the game for a lot longer than they used to be. So I think it's going quite strongly. Like everything we'll review it after the tournament, but I think the lead up in the last six months to one-day cricket has been quite exciting.
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