The ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 will be contested by 14 teams which have been 'seeded' and divided into two Pools:

Pool A Pool B England (1) South Africa (2) Australia (4) India (3) Sri Lanka (5) Pakistan (6) Bangladesh (8) West Indies (7) New Zealand (9) Zimbabwe (10) Afghanistan (12) Ireland (11) Scotland (13) United Arab Emirates (14)

The first round of the competition will be the Pool stage.

Each team will play every other team in their Pool. Points will be allocated for each match in accordance with the system described in clause 21.10.1 of these playing conditions, which will apply throughout the competition.

Following the Pool stage the top 4 teams in each Pool will progress to the quarter-finals as follows:

The quarter-final match-ups will be determined by the finishing positions from the pool stage.

Quarter-final 1 - A1 v B4

Quarter-final 2 - A2 v B3

Quarter Final 3 - A3 v B2

Quarter Final 4 - A4 v B1



The quarter-final dates and venues are:

Wednesday 18 March -SCG, Sydney

Thursday 19 March - MCG, Melbourne

Friday 20 March - Adelaide Oval

Saturday 21 March - Wellington Stadium

The quarter-finals will be allocated using the following principles;

Hosts

o AUSTRALIA and NEW ZEALAND play their QF matches in their home country.

Fairness

o All teams have sufficient time to travel to their QF venue and prepare for the match.

Certainty

o Fans and teams are provided with as much certainty as possible to work out where their QF is likely to be played.

It is proposed that the following criteria be followed in the allocation of QF matches to venues;

QF Criteria 1 - Allocation of Host teams to QF Venues

a) If AUSTRALIA qualifies to play in a QF, then it will be played at the Adelaide Oval on Friday 20 March, regardless of where AUSTRALIA finishes on the Pool A table.

b) If NEW ZEALAND qualifies to play in a QF, then it will be played at the Wellington Stadium on Saturday 21 March, regardless of where NEW ZEALAND finishes on the Pool A table.

QF Criteria 2 - Allocation of 2 "next highest ranked" Pool A teams to QF Venues

c) If SRI LANKA qualifies to play in a QF, then it will be played at the SCG on Wednesday 18 March, regardless of where SRI LANKA finishes on the Pool A table.

d) If ENGLAND qualifies to play in a QF, then it will be played at the MCG on Thursday 19 March, regardless of where ENGLAND finishes on the Pool A table.

QF Criteria 3 - Allocation of other Pool A teams to QF Venues

e) If one "host" or "next highest ranked" Pool A team fails to qualify for the QF Stage, then the venue that was allocated to the QF involving that team will instead host the QF involving the other Pool A team that qualifies.

f) If more than one "host" or "next highest ranked" Pool A team fails to qualify for the QF Stage, then the venues that were allocated to the QF matches involving those teams will instead host the QF matches involving the other Pool A teams that qualify. Of the other Pool A teams that qualify, the highest placed team will play in the first (earliest) unallocated match, the second highest placed team will play in the second unallocated match, and so on.

For example: "Host" team AUSTRALIA and "next highest ranked" team ENGLAND do not qualify for the Quarter Finals, replaced by BANGLADESH (in position A3) & AFGHANISTAN (in position A4). BANGLADESH (A3) (being the highest-placed) will play team B2 in the first (earliest) unallocated match on Thu 19 Mar at the MCG, while AFGHANISTAN (A4) (being the second highest-placed)will play team B1 in the second unallocated match on Fri 20 Mar at Adelaide Oval.

SEMI-FINAL PERMUTATIONS

The semi-final match-ups will be determined by the finishing positions from the pool stage.

Semi-final 1 - Winner QF1 (A1 v B4) v Winner QF3 (A3 v B2)

Semi-final 2 - Winner QF2 (A2 v B3) v Winner QF4 (A4 v B1)



The semi-final dates and venues are:

Tuesday 24 March - Eden Park, Auckland

Thursday 26 March - SCG, Sydney

There are two principles that will be used to allocate QF winners to SF venues;

Hosts

o AUSTRALIA and NEW ZEALAND will play their SF matches in their home country, unless they are drawn to meet each other in a SF, in which case the match will be played in the country of the team that finished higher on the Table at the end of the Pool Stage.

Certainty

o Once it is known whether AUS & NZ can meet each other in a SF, QF winners will be allocated to a SF venue.

The allocation of Semi Finals to the dates / venues will be made using the following criteria;

SF Criteria 1 - AUS & NZ qualify for the QF Stage and can meet in a SF

a) If AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND can meet in a SF, the SF involving the winners of the QFs involving AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND will be played in the country of the team that finished higher in Pool A out of AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND; unless

b) The higher placed Pool A team out of AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND loses its QF, and the lower placed Pool A team out of AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND wins its QF, in which case the SF will be played in the country of the lower placed team from the Pool Stage.

c) The SF involving the winners of the QFs not involving AUS & NZ will be played at the other SF venue.

SF Criteria 2 - AUS & NZ qualify for the QF Stage and cannot meet in a SF

d) The SF involving the winner of the QF involving AUSTRALIA will be played in Sydney on Thursday 26 March.

e) The SF involving the winner of the QF involving NEW ZEALAND will be played in Auckland on Tuesday 24 March.

SF Criteria 3 - Only one of AUS or NZ qualify for the QF Stage

f) If AUS qualifies for the QF and NZ doesn't, the SF involving the winner of the QF involving AUS will be played in Sydney on Thursday 26 March.

g) If NZ qualifies for the QF and AUS doesn't, the SF involving the winner of the QF involving NZ will be played in Auckland on Tuesday 24 March.

SF Criteria 4 - Both AUS & NZ don't qualify for the QF Stage

h) The winner of the QF played in Wellington on Saturday 21 March will play in the SF in Sydney on Thursday 26 March. This means the two SF teams that know their match-up first will play in the first SF, and the teams that are last to know their SF match-up last will play in the second SF.

FINAL date and venue:

Sunday, 29 March - MCG, Melbourne