Mascotte Stumpy ready to entertain

The mascot of the 2011 World Cup, which is an elephant, has been named Stumpy. The name was unveiled in Colombo on Monday.

This is the second elephant mascot. The first was Appu, the baby elephant, in 1982 for the Asian Games in New Delhi. The International Cricket Council had launched an online competition to suggest names for the mascot of the next year's mega-event to be held in the sub-continent. ICC has tried to imbibe morals of an ideal player into the mascot's personality by stating that the mascot believes in hard work and is always learning to master the art of concentration. He is someone who thinks cricket is the most fun game in the world and loves playing street cricket. He worships his cricket heroes, their technique, skill and character and dreams of playing in the ICC Cricket World Cup one day.

The first match of the World Cup will be played in Dhaka, Bangladesh on February 19 next year and the final is scheduled to be held in Mumbai on April 2.