Speed wants shorter World Cup

Malcolm Speed plans to reduce the next World Cup by a week

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International Cricket Council chief executive Malcolm Speed has admitted the current World Cup tournament has been too long.

The 47-day event has come in for criticism from some quarters after struggling to sustain mass interest.

And Speed the next World Cup - to be held in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in 2011 - needs to be shorter.

Speed said: "We listen to criticism, and there has been a lot of it from people saying it's been too long, so we'll look to make it shorter.

"We'll seek to reduce this 47-day World Cup by seven or 10 days, and hopefully we'll get it down to somewhere between five and six weeks next time.”