Two-tier Warmup schedule?

[Farhad]

Well, I know most of us have gone through the warmup schedule already desperate for any news on BD games. The schedule goes as follows:

March 2007

Mon 5 Bermuda v England
Arnos Vale Ground, Kingstown, St Vincent

Mon 5 Ireland v South Africa
Sir Frank Worrell Memorial Ground, St Augustine, Trinidad

Mon 5 Scotland v Sri Lanka
Three Ws Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados

Mon 5 Kenya v West Indies
Trelawny Stadium, Jamaica

Tue 6 Australia v Zimbabwe
Arnos Vale Ground, Kingstown, St Vincent

Tue 6 Bangladesh v New Zealand
Three Ws Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados

Tue 6 Canada v Pakistan
Sir Frank Worrell Memorial Ground, St Augustine, Trinidad

Tue 6 India v Netherlands
Trelawny Stadium, Jamaica

Thu 8 Bangladesh v Scotland
Three Ws Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados

Thu 8 Bermuda v Zimbabwe
Arnos Vale Ground, Kingstown, St Vincent

Thu 8 Canada v Ireland
Sir Frank Worrell Memorial Ground, St Augustine, Trinidad

Thu 8 Kenya v Netherlands
Trelawny Stadium, Jamaica

Fri 9 New Zealand v Sri Lanka
Three Ws Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados

Fri 9 Pakistan v South Africa
Sir Frank Worrell Memorial Ground, St Augustine, Trinidad

Fri 9 Australia v England
Arnos Vale Ground, Kingstown, St Vincent

Fri 9 India v West Indies
Trelawny Stadium, Jamaica

Its obvious even at first glance that the matches are all fixed so as to oppose a stronger team with a weaker one. In an effort to kick off the tournament, the last day is reserved for the real matches. Although Im not too concerned about this, I know that it can easily be construed as almost a two-tier scheme, where we're just thrown in with the rest of the minnows as the same. Im curious to know what you guys think. Any thoughts would be much appreciated...


*To head off any of the more pessimistic people on this board who are gonna say that we're the same as Canada and the rest (although arguably a good point), please reserve that for another discussion on whether there should be a two-tier system, the worst idea one could think of IMO....

[sadi]

There is no point looking for 2-tiers in every single thing. Its not like all the top 8 teams are playing each other throughout the warmup matches. Top 8 teams play a game against other top 8 and one game against the weaker teams like Canada or Scotland. We get to play a game against top 8 and one game against relatively weaker opponent. No big deal. If you are referring to the schedule, does it really make any difference?