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With the ICC confirming that the 2019 Cricket World Cup will be limited to just 10 teams, this year’s edition could sadly be the last chance to see the leading associate sides bringing their own brand of colour and excitement to cricket’s biggest stage.
If any of them do somehow qualify for the 2019 draw, it will be at the expense of one of the full members, which is a ridiculous situation.
Sri Lanka and East Africa were invited to the inaugural 1975 World Cup, the Sri Lankans eventually gaining Test status and remarkably winning the tournament by 1996. Zimbabwe famously downed Australia in their first ever ODI, gained Test status and made the Super Six stage in 1999 and 2003 before their cricket suffered in tandem with their political situation.
Despite the lack of exposure to the top teams outside of World Cups, the associate members have often performed remarkably well and genuinely enhanced the tournament.
In the crazy 2003 edition, journeyman off-spinner John Davison turned out for Canada and smashed the fastest World Cup century against the West Indies while Kenya somehow eased into the semi-finals. Dwayne Leverock’s diving catch and lap of honour for Bermuda was probably the highlight of the entire 2007 tournament. And Kevin O’Brien bettered Davison’s mark with an even quicker century as Ireland stunned England in 2011.
Unfortunately much of the progress made by these teams has already been squandered. Life as an associate is perilous, with no guarantees. Kenya and the Netherlands, two of the stronger associates of recent times, have lost their ODI status. Scotland lost a tight tussle against Bangladesh in 1999 and duly returned to obscurity while their opponent has been a Test nation for the past 15 years.
There has been a remarkable lack of inclusivity from the full member teams to foster the development of these nations on the field. Tedious five or seven-match bi-lateral ODI series are preferred these days rather than including an Ireland or Afghanistan in a three or four-team tournament.
Last year I was fortunate enough to attend an Ireland versus Scotland ODI in Malahide, just outside Dublin. There was a pleasant crowd of 500, however 10,000 had squeezed into the same small club ground earlier in the season when England visited for a single match. Ireland would surely have won that game, but for Eoin Morgan and Boyd Rankin, the two Irishmen in England’s line-up.
Sadly, despite increasing interest, standards and professionalism, the possibility of playing regular internationals against full members has rarely seemed so far out of reach. I was shocked to read recently that under the new rights formula ‘the proportion of revenue given to non-Test countries has halved’.
The ICC, now dominated by the ‘Big Three’ of India, Australia and England is so sickeningly commercially focussed on the short term that the game is seriously in danger of contracting rather than expanding on a global level. Their strategy appears to involve hoarding the entire sport for themselves.
The ICC’s reluctance to back a cricket tournament at the Olympics, in part because it may cut into their own revenue, is so disappointing as it would be another legitimate forum for new teams to emerge. It could also encourage additional funding for the game in many countries. China could even catch on.
As India found out recently when the West Indies cut short their tour, it’s quite important that the Big Three still have some viable opponents to play against or it will impact their own bottom line.
However, while there is life, there is hope. Papua New Guinea and Hong Kong are now playing ODI cricket. The Netherlands responded from losing their ODI status by thrashing England, among others, at last year’s World Twenty20. For the upcoming World Cup, the UAE are back with talisman Khurram Khan at 43, the oldest player to ever score a ODI century.
Ireland and Scotland are currently tuning up in a tri-series with Afghanistan, whose appearance at their first World Cup is a truly remarkable achievement. Hopefully they can all spring some surprises on their more fancied opponents. It may be their last chance to do so.
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