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Football is the biggest team sport in the world by the most important measures. What comes second after the world game is hard to measure, but one of the contenders for second spot is surely the game of cricket.
Roarer Simon Smale’s piece, ‘The Cricket World Cup could learn from the rugby league version‘, was similar in theme to what I’m about to write.
However, I’m more interested by the intriguing position that the ICC has seemingly taken – to not want to spread the game.
The CWC is contracting from 14 nations for this edition, to 10 nations for the next edition in England. As Smale quoted Ireland captain Ed Joyce saying, “We seem to be the only sport that has a World Cup that is contracting rather than expanding.”
Despite cricket’s popularity, there’s only eight Test playing nations: West Indies, England, South Africa, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Australia, and New Zealand. Although the CWC is in one-day international form, these eight nations form the backbone of international cricket. Zimbabwe and Bangladesh join these nations in being considered ‘full members’ of the ICC.
Even between these full members, there is a great disparity of quality. It was considered momentous when New Zealand defeated Australia in a two-test series a few years ago. The Kiwi players’ jubilant celebrations at the end of the game showed the enormity of the feat they had achieved. So in that sense, shrinking the 2019 World Cup is easily understood.
Yet this is a poor move on the ICC’s part. While including affiliate members such as Ireland, Scotland, Afghanistan and UAE will result in some shellackings, in a perverse way those thumpings will help cricket grow.
As Simon argued, not only do events like the World Cup gives these teams and their players exposure to high-level sport – which is essential for developing raw talent – it also invigorates the sport in those countries. Consider the attention generated by the Socceroos despite their group-stage exit in Brazil.
Furthermore, the variety of nations at a World Cup adds vibrancy to the sport, mainly because cricketers not considered for their home nation can participate for other, smaller nations they qualify for. Free-scoring Luke Ronchi (previously Australian, now New Zealand) and Irish captain Joyce (England/Ireland) are examples of this.
Also, unfamiliar nations bring unfamiliar names and approaches to cricket. How could one forget the rather hefty slow-arm Bermudan who drives a police van as his day job, Dwayne Leverock?
Additionally as Simon pointed out, sometimes the second-tier nations aren’t always crap – Ireland thrillingly beat England in the group stage, and managed to get into the Super 8 stage in place of Pakistan (Bangladesh made it there too, qualifying second in their group ahead of India).
The 1.7 billion people living in the mostly third-world South Asian region represent a goldmine waiting to be poured into cricket’s coffers. To be totally fair, it’s hard to blame the ICC – especially in this excessively neo-liberal world where everything’s to be sold off – for focussing their attention on the subcontinent and surrounds. Also, it’s a quirk of nature and history that 1.2 billion of those people live in only one country. If India was balkanised, we’d probably be looking at a 32-team CWC.
But is the ICC straying too far, and much like the dwarves in Moria, delving too deep and greedily? Last year the ICC announced that there was to be a reorganisation, resulting in boardroom power being concentrated in the hands of the Australia, India and England. There was talk too that Test cricket divisions would be introduced, with only the top four nations playing five-match Test series.
This nigh-neglect of the lower full members is troubling, especially considering the worrying reports of the West Indies’ present ill fortune. Add on further reports that youthful Anglo-Caribbean heads are being turned by the more immediate riches on offer in the variety of American sports leagues, leaving cricket in the dust. (Although Usain Bolt loves cricket – the ICC should look towards him energising interest in the game not only in the Caribbean, but in expat Caribbean and Indian communities across North America).
Although the nations represented by the West Indies are a mix of second- and third-world countries, hosting a combined population of only a handful of million and are thus not a particularly attractive region to invest in, it would still be a shame for the cricket board represented by Garfield Sobers, Viv Richards, Michael Holding and Chris Gayle to be abandoned by the ICC.
It’s hard to have faith in the ICC to administer cricket in the game and the fans’ best interests.
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