Twenty/20 World Cup in the offing

ELMO Rodrigopulle reporting from Australia

PERTH, Sunday - Sri Lanka Cricket will also bid at the auction to conduct the first ever 20/20 tournament if and when the International Cricket Council decides to validate this style of game.

The ICC Board which meets in Dubai in March will have to decide whether it is now appropriate to introduce an international Twenty20 event and, if so, when and in what form.

If this tourney gets the nod from the ICC Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka, with newcomers Malaysia, Bermuda, Thailand and United Arab Emirates will bid to host the initial tournament.

Scotland, Nepal, Hong Kong and England have also expressed interest in hosting future Twenty20 tournaments.

Twenty20 cricket had its first go in England when it was conducted for county teams in 2003. When Australia slogged it out with South Africa at the Gabba in Brisbane on January 9, a record crowd of 3,894 jam packed the ground and lapped up the thrilling action.

According to Malcolm Speed, ICC Chief Executive, there is world wide interest in the concept and it was interesting.

According to Speed, the ICC has been consistently reviewing the role that Twenty20 cricket could play internationally and this response indicates that there is a strong interest from many parts of the cricket world in this style of cricket.

Peter Young, Cricket Australia's Public Affairs Manager, confirmed its bid to conduct the event.

'The public has embraced it and the players enjoy it. You just have to get your head around the fact that it is not cricket as you know it. Our strong gut feeling is that we are attracting new people', said Young.

If the ICC gives the green light for the holding of the Twenty20 World Cup it would most likely be scheduled between the World Cup and Champions Trophy.