da betsul： Dissent and criticism of the ICC’s decision to cull Associate nations fromthe 2015 World Cup intensified further on the opening day of the currenttournament
da aviator aposta： Osman Samiuddin in Hambantota19-Feb-2011Dissent and criticism of the ICC’s decision to cull Associate nations fromthe 2015 World Cup intensified further on the opening day of the currenttournament. Grant Flower, Zimbabwe’s batting coach, and Canada’s captainAshish Bagai added their voices to a growing chorus of dissatisfactionthat has, if not overshadowed the opening days, then dampened a little thecelebratory nature of the occasion.Already a number of Associate countries, foremost among them Kenya’s chiefexecutive Tom Sears, have hit out at the ICC’s reaffirmation on Friday ofa decision taken in October last year. Afghanistan and Netherlands havealso weighed in: “Our players are always motivated but those comments weredisappointing,” Netherlands team manager Ed van Nierop told .”I can’t see what it does for the global element of the competition bygoing back down to 10 teams. I guess the proposals for the Twenty20 are abit of a bonus but the World Cup is still the premier ICC tournament.”Notably, Graeme Swann also chipped in, saying the decision had taken the’world’ out of the World Cup.But on Saturday came the most articulate and extensive questioning fromBagai, ahead of his side’s game against Sri Lanka in Hambantota. “TheWorld Cup should involve as much of the world as you possibly can,” hesaid. “It’s a shame and very disappointing for players like us who werelooking for opportunities to play against the best in the world. That’sthe only way to improve as cricketers, as nations. It’s really going tohold back the growth of the game. If they want to keep it to 10 teams,which they want to do, that’s fine, but it’s never going to be a globalsport that way.”The trade-off, according to the ICC, is that more Associates will beinvolved in the World Twenty20: the next edition will have 16 teams now,but they have yet to decide how the final ten teams will be selected forthe next 50-over world tournament. The recommendation to cut downAssociates’ participation, incidentally, was reached at the ICC’s boardmeeting in October by a working party made up of David Collier (England),James Sutherland (Australia) and N Srinivasan (India) with no Associaterepresentation, and only Dave Richardson of the ICC.But the increased T20 participation doesn’t tally with the efforts ofAssociate nations to ultimately push for Test status, the format, Bagaiarguing, not ideal for that purpose. “You can see where the ICC is headedand the direction they think cricket is going. It might be a commercialmove because T20 sells the best globally. I don’t think it’s going to helpmany countries produce top level Test cricketers.”Flower said the decision was a step “backwards”, arguing that smallercountries need more exposure, not less, an argument echoed by Bagai. “It’sa big challenge to get these games every four years,” he said. “By thetime we’re used to playing these teams the World Cup is over. The only wayto play well against them is to keep playing them repeatedly. The boardsof the top Associates have asked for more games throughout the four yearsso we can get some practice against some good quality opposition duringthe years outside the World Cup.”This is the fourth time Canada – one of four associate teams in thistournament – is participating in the game’s showpiece event and the thirdin succession since 2003. Though they only have a win over Bangladesh toshow for that time Bagai believes the country’s cricket has built anidentity and homegrown base of players that deserves to be showcased moreoften.”[The Sahara Cup games between India and Pakistan] did inspire a lot ofpeople in the country,” he said. “Back in 2000 we had a lot of new joinersand infrastructure development at that time tremendously helped us.Tournaments like that are always helpful for smaller countries to generateinterest and get media involved and generate revenues, which is veryimportant for us. More of those are needed.”On Friday, their Sri Lankan coach Pubudu Dassanayake said the move was a”severe setback”. Rizwan Cheema, one of their key players, said the50-over game was a must for development. “If you want to look at it fromanother perspective, you have to have competition and give small teams anidea to play against big teams and increase confidence. Otherwise cricketwill stay in nine countries. We all aim for Test status because cricketreally changes when you get to that level,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “It’snot a good feeling, because at Associate level we haven’t really gotanything else to play against big teams.”The most memorable recent Associate performances in the tournament includeKenya’s semi-final run in 2003 and Ireland’s performances in the 2007edition.
