Two prominent World Cup cricket captains have made well-publicised announcements this week. Andrew Strauss opined that there were too many games in the tournament while Ricky Ponting, when not playing the TV-wrecking rock star, expressed his view that the Associate countries shouldn't really be tainting the competition. I know that's not exactly what he said but I'll lay odds that's what was in his mind.
I am all in favour of the lesser-known sides getting the opportunity to play the big guns in cricket's premier international tournament, and always have been. I've written before about the excitement of a Kenya, Ireland or Bangladesh trimming the sails of one of the Test-playing nations every now and again. However, after seeing Kenya being trounced by New Zealand, Zimbabwe being humbled by Australia and Canada humiliated by Sri Lanka, I did wonder whether results were proving me wrong. Then came the Netherlands against England, and I knew I was right!
The sight of Ryan Ten Doeschate flaying Broad and Anderson to all corners of the ground at Nagpur was magnificent for all but the most partisan England fans. No matter how poor the fielding, to score almost 300 against one of the World Cup favourites was a great achievement. Skipper Peter Borren's evident disappointment after Bopara struck the winning runs proved how close his side had come to creating a genuine upset and I hope they continue to perform well in their remaining five matches.
Today, Collins Obuya's entertaining innings against Pakistan demonstrated that there are some decent players in cricket's lesser-known outposts, even if Kenya clearly don't have the all-round firepower to trouble the top teams, and the class of Shahid Afridi, Umar Akmal et al told in the end. We've yet to see Ireland in action but on their day they are capable of doing well, including a number of seasoned professionals in their line-up.
In his comments, surely Ponting doesn't actually fear the Associate sides? He may be genuine when he says they can't develop by being thrashed in the World Cup but I disagree with him. How can they improve as players and teams if they are never allowed to pit themselves against the best? The World Twenty20 is irrelevant in the grander scheme of things, i.e. being good cricketers. Even if no Associate teams win a game in the remainder of the 2011 World Cup, I would support their right to participate.
To exclude them in 2015 to eliminate the less media-friendly (and less lucrative) fixtures is in my mind an awful decision. I don't think Sri Lanka would be the world-beaters they are today had they not been given the opportunity to grow from their whipping-boy status in the 1970s and 1980s to become the major force they are today. I know Ireland, Kenya and Canada simply don't have the resources and passion for cricket to rival Sri Lanka or even Bangladesh in the future, but they deserve to have their spell in the spotlight. And if that means seeing more superb innings from the likes of Ten Doeschate and Obuya, I'm sure I'm not the only person to believe that.
