Why the allocation of the 2019 World Cup to England and Wales should be a cause for back-slapping and declarations of how much it shows us to be in the vanguard of the global game beats me. The 2011 tournament was out of the question, as was 2015, although the ECB might have had a punt at it.

Instead, as reward for keeping out of the way, came a Twenty20 fiesta in a couple of years' time and plenty of time to plan for the big one, that is, if the game has not imploded by then and there is anyone else other than India to play in it.

In fact it would have been odd if the 2019 agreement had not come, given that the last competition was in South Africa and Zimbabwe, the next is in the Caribbean, followed by the four Asian countries and then Australasia. That does not leave much else before the round starts again.

Perhaps these things ought to be done on a rota rather than a bid basis, which might at least save on some of the wheeling and dealing that seems to be part of the decision-making process.

Earlier in the week, for example, it emerged, through the voice of Shaharyar Khan, the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman, that, with voting split, it was the decision of the West Indies board to go with the Asian bid rather than Australia and New Zealand that proved decisive despite a historical support for Australia and England.

So why the change? Money, of course. In return for a crucial vote, a suggestion was made by India and Pakistan, who between them are not short of a bob or two, that they might be able to ease the burden on West Indies cricket, which is in severe financial difficulty, by helping to reduce their debts into one easy payment, if you like. A PCB official has been quoted as saying: "It was a case of telling West Indies, 'you support us and we will help you revive cricket in the West Indies.'" Deal or no deal? You cannot blame West Indies for snapping the hand off Asia's very own Noel Edmonds.

It is not the first time that the Asian bloc has out-manoeuvred the rest, not least England, when it comes to World Cup bids.

In the early 1990s the decision had already been made that the 1995-96 competition should go to this country. However, a request from Ali Bacher that South Africa, newly readmitted to the International Cricket Council, should be allowed to bid (on the spurious grounds that they had never staged one) was given approval by the ICC president Colin Cowdrey.

This was a flabby piece of committee work, because Jagmohan Dalmiya, India's power broker even back then, demanded that India too should be allowed to tender. Cowdrey might have headed this off at the pass by suggesting they had every opportunity previously without doing so, but chose not to.

South Africa subsequently fell by the wayside and England and India went head to head. England had four countries onside - Australia, West Indies, South Africa and New Zealand - with Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe opting for India.

England needed one more vote but at five votes to four, it had to go to the associate countries, all of whom had a single vote compared with the major countries, which had two. For their participation in the vote, the associate countries were promised £100,000 each, should India win the day. This was not much pro rata for, say, Bangladesh but a great deal for Gibraltar with its handful of players, in addition to airfares and expenses in order to travel to Britain for the final vote.

It did, however, leave England a further four years in which to plan a tournament that has become a byword for ineptitude. The opening ceremony included a risible speech from Tony Blair and a five quid box of Brocks fireworks; a song, one of Dave Stewart's more forgettable efforts, not released until after the hosts had been eliminated ignominiously, (the accompanying video depicted a spoof of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest); and a discourse on what a funny game cricket was from a woman called Anneka, whose claim to fame was that she swanned around in helicopters and had a big arse.

Still This Time We'll Get It Right. Or has that been done before?