Published: Mar 17, 2014, 01:40 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 17, 2014, 01:40 PM (IST)
We are not about to discuss the standings of Nepal or Hong Kong in terms of the world economy here; nor is the writer interested in knowing as to which of these nations will win the battle of the minnows in the ongoing qualifying matches for ICC World T20 2014 held in Bangladesh. So whether any of these countries do manage to make a big splash or even a small ripple by standing up to the ‘giants’ of the cricketing world in the ongoing tournament (provided they qualify for it in the first place), Vineet Varma has a look at how the ‘smaller’ nations have not been given their regular dose of competitive action against the Goliaths of world cricket and what can be done to reverse the trend.
If you consider the format of the ongoing ICC World T20 being held in Bangladesh then to the average cricket fan the mathematics are simple with eight International Cricket Council (ICC) affiliated teams being seeded and placed in two groups of five teams each, and two Associate member nations making up the rest of the numbers after undergoing a qualifying tournament prior to the start of the main event.
Now though it is common logic to predict that teams of the calibre of Afghanistan and Zimbabwe will not last in the face of some ‘serious’ cricket by the likes of say an Australia or even the West Indies; it is still evident that such teams get to play against the ‘bigger’ teams only once in a while as to when a competition like the World Cup takes place, while for the rest of the year they slog it out in front of near empty stands with their other Associate ‘brothers’.
There have been examples of upsets in world cricket: Ireland, for example, had got the better of more fancied opponents like Pakistan and Bangladesh in ICC World Cup 2007 and England in ICC World Cup 2011; still it may be foolhardy to expect the same of them every time they face the bigwigs in a tournament of the World Cup’s calibre.
That is not saying that teams like Ireland or Afghanistan are not worthy of cutting it out in the international cricket scene; a lot of work, however, still needs to be done by the ICC if it really wishes to accommodate such teams a more even platform to compete with the traditional powerhouses of the sport.
Though clubbing all the ‘weaker’ teams in a round-the-year league and expecting them to topple the nations plying their trade in the upper echelons of world cricket once in a while is almost as ridiculous as asking for the impossible, still there may be a way as to which the Associate nations may go a notch up in their regular game and provide more competition to the countries who are already an established force in the game.
The best step ICC can take in order to raise the standards of the Associate nations is to step out of the routine of these teams playing each other in yearly leagues and schedule a tour or two against the stronger nations several times a year.
Of course, the fact is that the popularity of the sport will be greatly diminished if such a plan is indeed put in place and the ICC will even risk out on regular cricket watchers shying away from a live coverage of say an Ireland-India game, thanks to unparalleled boredom being wrought out because of the one-sided nature of the contest, still it may be a small price to pay for the bigger riches that await the cricketing world in the near future. Greater interest can be obtained if the match is hosted in Ireland or in one of the smaller venues of India.
Come to think of it, if countries like Ireland and Afghanistan even compete twice a year against top-notch opposition like say Australia or South Africa the experience that they gain by playing against some of the finest cricketers in the world cannot be matched by any Associate tournament or league and it will surely bode well for such countries in the near future.
But if you take the case of nations like Kenya or Zimbabwe, then it has been a collective failure on the part of the ICC to at least give these former ‘elitist’ countries a shot at redemption thanks to their helpless schedules which has left both nations scraping it out on the fringes of international cricket.
Both nations were once considered to be the next ‘big things’ in international cricket thanks to their solid performances amongst the traditional powerhouses and were expected to gain or maintain Test status (Zimbabwe was already a Test-playing nation). But all that vision has now gone down the drain with neither Kenya nor Zimbabwe being able to put up a decent show amongst the other Associate nations of their level.
Kenya had faded away after their miracle run to the 2003 World Cup semi-finals whereas Zimbabwe fell into the lower depths of world cricket after the country was thrown into disarray thanks to the regime of Robert Mugabe.
With their chances of replicating their past glory all but very slim ICC’s handling of the Associate nations has now been thrown into the spotlight with lack of competitiveness or for the matter of fact lack of vision being the main cause of concern. There will be the odd victory by an Ireland or an Afghanistan in a tournament or two, but still is that enough for the ICC to bring cricket as a mainstream sport in other countries apart from the bigger teams?
The answer will be a resounding no. Apart from the traditional powerhouses cricket is yet to become a serious passion amongst the public of the Associate nations and requires some catching up to do if they are ever to rub shoulders with the bigger teams on a regular basis.
Hosting a qualifying tournament for the Associate nations on the eve of a major tournament will only help the ICC to use the teams to fill up the numbers and if real change has to occur in the lower echelons of cricket then the first step that the concerned authorities must do is to organise regular tours for these countries against the ‘Big Eight’.
The next step will be to maintain a schedule which goes about unchanged without any hindrance over a particular time period which will ensure that the Associate nations will play more often in the big league and their level of competitiveness will increase automatically.
The third and final step will be to use popular domestic tournaments like the Indian Premier League (IPL) or the Big Bash League to allow entry for players from the Associate nations in the respective franchises which is undoubtedly the best way for any player to get world class experience against some of the finest talent in the game.
(Vineet Varma is a writer at Cricket Country. He can be followed @Vinfire19)
