Australia play waiting game on 2011 World Cup bid

James Sutherland: 'We'd certainly like to think that we're not that far from hosting a World Cup' © Getty Images

Australian cricket officials have yet to decide whether they will make a formal bid to stage the 2011 World Cup in light of India's campaign to host the tournament.

Until the last few months, it had been widely believed that Australia, possibly with New Zealand, would be awarded the event under the ICC's informal rotation policy, but the Indian board stepped in and made it clear that it was going to bid as well.

While the final choice will not be made by the ICC until June, James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia chief executive, said that his board would not decide on whether to bid until after the next ICC executive meeting, which will be held in Dubai at the end of February.

"We're definitely interested in hosting major ICC events, including the World Cup, but we're still waiting for an indication from the ICC about the bidding process and what we need to do," Sutherland told Reuters. "There's a chief executives' meeting in February and we hope to find out the details and the timeline then, though obviously that doesn't leave us much time.

"We'd certainly like to think that we're not that far from hosting a World Cup, if not 2011 then certainly 2015. Our main concern is getting the best for world cricket, and if scrapping the rotation policy is the best thing for world cricket, then we'd support that. We'd certainly be interested in any ICC event. But the reality is that most of the commercial revenue comes from Asia, especially India."

The ICC indicated at its board meeting in October that a new formal process of bidding for major events was in the pipeline.

Jagmohan Dalmiya campaigned hard for the tournament to go to India. "I am told that Australia is a strong contender for the 2011 World Cup, but we will make a strong pitch for it," he said in October. "Not only four of the 10 Test-playing nations - India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh - are from the subcontinent, but the region generates the maximum funds for world cricket. It is only fair that every third World Cup should be held in our part of the world."

While Dalmiya's ousting from the Indian board will alter many things, the desire to host the 2011 World Cup is not likely to be one of them.