The 2011 cricket world cup may have seen giant killings for the last time as the fourteen team world cup tournament is reduced to just ten teams in 2015. The decision; a result of ten test playing nations votes and ninety five other cricket nations not invited to the party.
The rational is wrapped up in the pretence to cut down the total number of games, but the figures don’t add up. The 2007 world cup saw fifty one games played by sixteen teams, lasting forty six days, reminiscent of Groundhog Day. The 2011 world cup saw fourteen teams and forty nine games. Astonishingly, the proposed ten team 2015 world cup comprises of forty eight games, totalling forty five group games to decide who will play in the semi-finals.
The 2007 world cup became a commercial disaster when TV ratings crashed due to Pakistan and India failing to qualify for the second round, falling to Ireland and ex associate member Bangladesh. These upsets were the catalyst to disregard non-test playing nations in 2015. To guarantee broadcasting and advertising profits in 2015 a minimum of nine games with major cricketing nations are scheduled but carry the potential for viewer burnout.
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| Giant Killers - Ireland celebrating after putting out Pakistan in the 2007 World Cup. |
For those who say there is no point having the minnows in the world cup...remember this; how would this year’s world cup have been if Ireland had not beaten England? It would have been a procession of meaningless games up to the last eight. But instead we had nail biting games in group A with England, India, Bangladesh and West Indies fighting to qualify. I can’t even remember what happened in group B it was so boring and not one game in the knock-out stages could have been described as an epic, even though the cricket was of the highest standard.
Some may say it was a fluke that an associate caused an upset, but it was not. Bangladesh who secured a series win over New Zealand last year, lost to Ireland and the Netherlands last summer. England also only scraped home by three runs against Ireland in 2009. World cups have developed associate nations into test playing nations and associates have shown that they can beat the best. As well as Ireland’s heroics in the 2007 World Cup, Kenya crushed the West Indies in 1996 and in 2003 they beat Sri Lanka to reach the Semi Final.
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| Giant Killers - A game I witnessed at my old ground, Wantage Road - Northampton. Bangladesh beating Pakistan in the 1999 world cup. At the time they were still an Associate member. |
The results of Bangladesh beating Pakistan in the 1999 World Cup and Zimbabwe captained by Duncan Fletcher beating Australia in 1983, have not only brought romance to the world cup but have also been a spring board to achieving test status. Now Ireland are knocking on the door with a professional structure in place producing test players of their own but are sadly not invited in 2015. A whole generation of cricketers will be lost to Ireland, because they will quite rightly want to play the best cricket available to them - meaning qualifying for England.
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| Giant Killers - Former team mate Kevin Curran celebrating with Duncan Fletcher after Zimbabwe, an associate nation at the time, beat Australia in the 1983 world Cup |
Imagine if the number of teams in 2011 had not been cut from sixteen to fourteen, Afghanistan would have achieved successive promotions from world cricket league division 5 to the world cup. No matter how well associate sides do in the eight world cricket leagues they can’t reach the top of the pyramid any more. Associate teams who have ambitions to become test nations, of which world cup winners Sri Lanka used to be until 1982, have no hope of getting better if they are not getting exposed against better players.
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| Giant killers - Kenya doing a lap of honour after beating Sri Lanka in the 2003 World Cup. |
The blow to the ninety five non-test nations has been eased slightly with the T20 world cup increasing to sixteen teams in 2012, however the message is misleading. Top associate nations can only enhance their chances of becoming a test nation by having good 50 over displays, this has now gone. The objective of an associate nation is to develop and hopefully develop into a test playing nation, but the jump from T20 cricket to test cricket is impossible. Therefore, the only way to get to the top of the pyramid for associate nations is to produce good T20 players but this does not develop cricketers.
ICC officials said before the world cup that no final decision had been made on how the teams would be selected for the 2015 world cup and there may be a qualifying tournament. Now, hidden in the sub-continent euphoria of India winning the most scripted world cup in history we have the final decision of a ten team world cup with only test nations invited. But, why is test cricket being used to judge one day cricket? The rankings are different and the player personnel are different. The most glaringly obvious difference is that Ireland are ranked in the top ten in ODIs and Zimbabwe are 11th. This life line to non-test playing nations does not sound convincing.
We have lost the magic of the cup.
You have absolutely hit the nail on the head Toby. As a coach in Ireland, how can I promote the ECB's 'pathway to success' if the next Kevin O'Briens are denied the opportunity to play in the World Cup? There was a notable increase in enthusiasm when Kevin smashed the England attack to all parts......the boys were thinking "I want to do that......if I train harder maybe I could'. I now here the ICC are reconsidering, let's hope they see sense and stop chasing the dollar. Laters, Brownie.
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