Uncertainty of cricket World Cup's knockout matches has the fans in disarray

The eight-foot-tall inflatable kangaroo did not have much say in its change of colours.
Wrapped in a toga made up of Sri Lankan flags, the message from its Australian owners was clear as to where their allegiance now lay: anyone but England.
Thanks to the uncertainty of the draw at this World Cup, yesterday's crowd at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo was unusually cosmopolitan. That said, there were not many neutrals.
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The majority of fans were dressed in newly acquired Sri Lanka shirts, but some opted to battle on regardless of the fact their country had been eliminated. There were plenty wearing Australian colours, some were in South Africa kit, while one particularly optimistic supporter was wearing the green of Ireland.
"We had hoped Australia would be playing here, but now we are here to see England's demise," said one Australian tourist, who added he was of Sri Lankan heritage.
Given that the quarter-finalists only found out which venue they would be playing at at the conclusion of the group stage last week, most travelling supporters had to make their plans either blindly or at the last minute.
Some Australians, for example, gambled on the fact their side would play Sri Lanka in Colombo, but then had to watch on television as they exited the tournament 2,000 kilometres away in Ahmedabad.
Gullivers Sports Travel, one of the International Cricket Council's (ICC) official travel agents and a leading tour provider for England supporters, have brought around 300 tourists to the World Cup.
They admit that they only had a one in four chance of guessing that England would be playing their quarter-final in Colombo, and were lucky to be proved right.
"In most events, if your chosen side qualifies from the pool stages, it is usually pretty clear where they will be playing in the knockout stages," Alister Strahan, the manager for outbound supporters at Gullivers, said.
"For example, in the Rugby World Cup, if England qualify from their pool we know exactly where they will play through to the final. In the Cricket World Cup, however, it's guess work.
"We picked the quarter-final in Colombo because it was the last one and so we created a nice package that took in both Sri Lanka and India and incorporated one quarter-final, the semis and final. England actually being there has turned out to be a bonus."
Perhaps surprisingly, given the uncertainty, vastly more people travel to watch the tournament from the quarter-final stage onwards than in the groups.
"The knockout stages for any world cup are the easiest to plan for," Strahan said. "Regardless of who is actually playing in the semis and final, there is always a market to watch them.
"For both the cricket and rugby world cups, 90 per cent of travellers will go for the knockout stages."
Some were lucky enough to be flexible with their planning. Neil Tunbridge, a consultant from England who lives in Dubai, bought a ticket at two days' notice from an online auction site.
He paid Dh200 for a ticket which he subsequently discovered had originally been complimentary, from a French expatriate with no interest in cricket, who had landed the ticket in a ballot at his workplace.
Not that he was concerned about the mark-up. The Dh200 fee he paid equates to around a third of the price spectators will have to pay to get in to the first day of the Lord's Test between England and India later this summer.
He then booked a last-minute flight with flydubai, leaving after work on Thursday evening, with his scheduled return straight after the game meaning he would be back in time for work this morning.
"It was a great opportunity to go to a game more or less on the doorstep," he said. "Cost was not so much of a limitation, being so close and with a relatively cheap ticket.
"The timing of the game was perfect as well, being able to just come here for the weekend and not take any time off from work."
Resale of World Cup tickets contravenes the ICC's terms and conditions, which state: "Tickets must not be offered publicly (including on any website) for sale."
However, given the late notice at which supporters had to plan for these matches, the black market was not surprisingly active.
On the website forum of England's supporters club, the Barmy Army, the moderator had to remind posters that touting tickets would not be tolerated. "Swaps, face value, or less only - not for profit," it wrote.
 
pradley@thenational.ae