Australian David Warner has criticised the format of the World T20 tournament, saying the schedule is too compressed.

Warner has called on the World T20 to be a longer tournament to allow for greater breaks between matches.

The main component of the current World T20 lasts for little over two weeks, with plenty of matches squeezed into a very short space of time. Australia had just two days off following their tournament-opening loss to New Zealand to prepare for their match against Bangladesh, and will have only one day off between facing Pakistan and India in Chandigarh this weekend.

‘Definitely, Twenty20 international cricket in general – the poor scheduling from everyone’s behalf [is an issue],’ Warner said. I remember we were coming home from a South African Test series and they were playing a Twenty20 game the next day.

‘How are you supposed to prepare as a unit for anything, to get used to it? But that’s just the nature of the beast. We have to deal with that … there are no excuses.’ – cricket.com.au

DELHI CLEARED FOR SEMI-FINAL ACTION

New Delhi’s Feroz Shah Kotla stadium has been confirmed as a semi-final host of the World Twenty20 after receiving the final green light from municipal authorities.

There had been growing fears that the first semi-final on March 30 would have to be shifted from the Indian capital over safety fears surrounding one of the stands.

But Chetham Chauhan, vice-president of the Delhi and District Cricket Association, told reporters at Wednesday’s match between England and Afghanistan that the final clearances had now been obtained. – AFP