ICC Cricket World Cup: Is reduction in number of participating teams in ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 a fair idea?

ICC should try to popularise the game by expanding instead of curtailing participating teams.

With Associate nations competing with top teams in ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, thereby proving themselves to be tough competitors, it has become quite clear that cricket is no longer the game of just a few nations. Consequently, the decision of the International Cricket Council (ICC) to reduce the number of teams for ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 event has raised eyebrows and drawn criticism. Ayush Gupta analyses whether it’s a fair decision.

Ever since the game of cricket evolved in England and was globalised, it has been limited to just a few nations. It started with Australia and spread to South Africa, and later inducted West Indies, New Zealand and India. Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, and Bangladesh followed.

The ICC Cricket World Cup, each time being held ever since, has just always represented the top eight teams with a maximum number of 16 teams till date, unlike the FIFA World Cup, which represents 32 nations.  ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Complete Coverage

Interestingly, despite the fact that England is the parent nation of the sport, it continues to remain the only major European powerhouse. However, since the turn of the millennium, other European nations have started making their way in and have made a huge impact so far. The likes of Ireland, Scotland and Netherlands are have made a good impact in the game. Of these, Ireland has had the biggest impact and has caused a couple of upsets in the recent past, beating Pakistan and Bangladesh in ICC Cricket World Cup 2007, England in 2011 and West Indies in their opening encounter of the 2015 edition. The team has also proven its dominance in the past four years, reaching the 10th spot in the One-Day Internationals (ODIs) ranking, making it eligible for Test status recognition. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: POINTS TABLE

However, ICC has recently announced that it would bring down the number of participating teams in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 from 14 to 10. Ireland batsman, Ed Joyce has slammed the decision taken by ICC, claiming that this decision would harm the sport and instead of expanding the game, ICC has taken a step to shrink the game. He also claimed that this could well be their last World Cup and would find it hard to qualify unless they are granted Test status or finish top eight in the ODI table, which would not be possible if they are not playing regular ODIs with the top teams. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: SCHEDULE & MATCH DETAILS

The debate here is that Ireland is undoubtedly a strong force in the world of cricket despite being an Associate nation, as they have regularly caused an upset by beating a top team in the grandest stage. However, playing against the top team once in the World Cup would not just be enough for them to make it to the next World Cup or make them strong enough to finish in the top-eight of the ICC ODI table in order to qualify directly.

The plan that ICC here could come up with is that it should make the Associate nations play against the top teams in the world several times a year in order to make them more competitive and strong enough to be able to challenge the top teams for the higher spots in the ICC ODI table.

A top 10 finish for Ireland and granting them Test status would indeed make them a top team and boost their chances to qualify, if they happen to play Test cricket with the top nations and touring them on regular basis. Doing that a the top nations would also give them a chance to move above in the ODI table, if they happen to put up a commanding performance with few victories as well.

Thus, it is clear here that ICC should try to popularise the game and the World Cup by expanding the participating teams instead of curtailing it. If cricket needs to stay alive, ICC must take steps to grant Associate nations Test status and make them play against the top teams in order to make the sport more competitive. This will also help ICC earn world recognition from Affiliate nations as well, who could become the future Associate nations and start expanding it in their countries as well.

This would help make ICC Cricket World Cup a star global event like the FIFA World Cup and draw millions of viewers from around the world.

(Ayush Gupta is a reporter at CricketCountry. A passionate supporter of Manchester United, he idolises Roger Federer)

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