The importance of associate nations in international cricket

The World Cup in 2015 was a spectacle in Australia. One thing that many a cricket fan notices is a niche aspect in a World Cup. The first time the Aussies hosted the World Cup in 1992 colored clothing became an instant hit. Four years later in the 1996 World Cup, the game had grown, accommodating Kenya, the United Arab Emirates, and the Netherlands. By the turn of the century, the game had grown to such an extent that the ICC Knockout (Champions Trophy) was being played in Nairobi.

The 2015 World Cup saw the associate nations breaking a whole new ground. Although not an associate member, Bangladesh beat England with some conviction. In the next group, Ireland recorded their second full member scalp by tearing down a lofty target set by the West Indies. However, on that same and fateful day, the ICC announced that the following edition of the World Cup would feature only 10 teams, four lesser than the 14 that had been featuring in tournaments thus far.

Many welcomed the change, saying that it would make the World Cup a much more competitive event. The associate nations, however, were taken aback by the decision made by the ICC. To make matters worse, instead of one qualifier, there would be two. One would be played a year prior to the event and the other just a few weeks leading up to the event. For the ICC, it was a win-win. First, to keep the number of teams down and the second would be to give the associate nations some playing time.

The World T20 2016 was to be the experimental ground for the new arrangement. However, the cricketing fraternity took notice to it all only after Peter Borren’s tweet. It read “Rain, rain go away, we play 10% of our schedule today.”

A few months back, Sam Collins and Jarrod Kimber, prominent cricket journalists and thinkers got together to do a film. The film, ‘Death of a Gentleman” showcased something disturbing to each and every cricket fan. The move to reduce the number of teams, in particular, brought a wave of emotion to the cricketing faithful.

What hurts me more as a fan were the words of Scotland captain Preston Mommsen. “Since the 2015 World Cup and now, I have played just one match.” For many, the importance of the so-called ‘minnows’ or associate nations is extremely important for two reasons.

Firstly, and this one is perhaps the most important, is the growth of the sport. William Porterfield, the skipper of Ireland enumerated the perfect examples previously. The football World Cup in 2022 is expected to have 36 teams as opposed to the 32 teams. The job of the ICC that is ever so well documented is the growth of the game of cricket. If just 10% of China take up cricket as a sport, the sport would have reached a million people, just from one country. If that is not growing the game, then I really don’t know what is.

Secondly, the associate nations are known to cause an upset every now and then. Each time an upset is caused, the fan base for cricket worldwide increases. Everyone loves a good underdog story. In the 2011 World Cup saw Ireland face up to the might of their southern neighbors England. The match played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, attracted a crowd of barely a few English and Irish spectators. However, once Kevin O’Brien put the England attack to the sword, the crowds began to come in and not a single of the 40,000 seats at the stadium was left empty. The stadium was jam packed when Ireland took on the Indians in the subsequent fixture at Bangalore. Although the Indians were given a run for their money, the Irish gained a few Indian supporters. Myself included.

Therefore, the game of cricket must certainly be changed. While many blame poor governance of the game to be the biggest problem, the associate nations have little or no say in what happens behind the locked doors of the ICC. My only will is for cricket to reach the countries with loads of bloodshed over the years.

To sum up, after Afghanistan’s win over Scotland in the 2015 edition of the World Cup, a famed blogger wrote, “ Going from 97/7 to 211/9 in a tense last-over run chase says a lot about the Afghan batting tail. But it also says a lot about the resilience of an entire Afghan generation that grew up suffering for wars they never fought!”