Ireland and Afghanistan rival Gayle for excitement

A few days ago, all the World Cup talk was about Chris Gayle's sensational double-century against Zimbabwe. However, for all the records he and Marlon Samuels established at Canberra, nothing beats an exciting humdinger between two well-matched teams.

The money-grabbing idiots at the ICC, who see only dollar signs when the likes of India, Australia and England are scheduled for Melbourne, Sydney and Wellington, don't want a tournament with too many boring games, too many one-sided contests. I agree. 8 wickets with 38 overs to spare? Hang on, that's NZ v England. 130 runs with 10 overs left? Wait, that's India v SA. 111 runs and 8 overs short? Oh, England v the Aussies.

Yet the best matches have been Ireland's victories over the Windies (a 4 wicket margin in a 600-run thriller) and the UAE (2 wickets with 4 balls remaining) and now Afghanistan's stunning last-over, one-wicket triumph over Scotland. The spectators at leafy Dunedin may have been outnumbered by the Indian flag-wavers at the MCG but would they rather have been anywhere else given the superb entertainment dished out?

Such as shame for Scotland, still without a World Cup win, but what a result for Afghanistan, worthy World Cup competitors after only ten years! They gave Sri Lanka a good game, too, while Scotland were three wickets short of a major upset against home side New Zealand.

Samiullah Shenwari's 96 was as classy and, well, perfect as any innings we have seen in the past few weeks. Not a six-fest but he cleared the ropes when he had to. The only failure was his dismissal just 4 runs short of a century. Shapoor Zadran's 70s style length of both hair and run-up didn't stop him nabbing four key wickets either. It didn't matter either that the Ireland-UAE clash featured only three sixes. Shaiman Anwan's 106 (following an ultimately unsuccessful 67 vs Zimbabwe) and Kevin O'Brien's late-innings heroics still lit up proceedings. Kev's brother Niall struck an unbeaten 79 to steer the Irish to that success against West Indies in Nelson, a game where Gayle could only scratch around for 65 balls to score 36.

These Associate stars need the spotlight that a global tournament offers. I don't care what the TV companies and organisers say: for all the cash and adulation heaped on the likes of Kohli, AB, Warner and co, we want to see some fun-packed finales. In football, FIFA has continually expanded its own World Cup, and there's talk of even more nations being allowed to qualify for the final stages. That may well owe more to politics and the power wielded by the smallest of countries but without the rise from 16 to 24 nations in the 1980s, would African nations and players have developed as much as they have? Ditto Japan, South Korea and Australia?

I think there is no chance of the current Associates being elevated to Test status in the foreseeable future but please let's have more fixtures between, say, Ireland and India, Afghanistan and Australia, and so on. Even if they are one-off bolt-ons in more glamorous tours. It would be a start and, who knows, the United Arab Emirates could become the Sri Lanka of the 2020s. In the mean time, we must all put pressure on the ICC to change their mind and develop the sport instead of pandering to the BCCI, CA and the rest.

A few more upsets in the coming weeks would be even better.