Sporting An Opinion

Zimbabwe has been in international cricket for a long time. And during this entire tenure, barring perhaps as couple of years in the late 1990s, they have been minnows. Sri Lanka was once a minnow. As was India (yes, face it). But India and Sri Lanka have moved up and are now the big boys. True Zimbabwe has not played for as long and when they were looking like a side that could move up, they were hit by political problems that jeopardized their existence in cricket altogether. Contests - Predict MoS | Predict MoM
 
So are they still part of World Cricket only because of their legacy? Because they were there before Ireland and Canada and Kenya? Is there no merit-based system that would allow Ireland or Kenya to replace them as a Test playing nation? The question is how long should a minnow be a minnow? If after more than 25 years of playing international cricket, Zimbabwe is still among the bottom-feeders, there is a need for change. Of late, all their cricket has been against Bangladesh and they barely won that too.
 
There was also the curious case of Bangladesh being offered Test nation status and how badly it has backfired is there for all to see. Which is why performance based systems may just be the answer. But we are not worried about who are the Test playing nations at this time. We would like to ask how long should Zimbabwe be allowed direct entry into the World Cup? Why should they not be asked to qualify? Honestly, had they been made to play the qualifiers, they perhaps would not have made it to the Caribbean. And it would not have surprised me to see some others fail too!
 
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Sri Lanka’s welcome return to form almost didn’t happen. Mahela Jayawardene was indeed lucky to be dropped on 0 off the first ball he faced. He made Bermuda pay but can he make India pay? Will India give him a second chance? With all due respect, India does have a better bowling attack than Bermuda! But Sri Lanka would be rather pleased with their margin of victory and the emphatic nature of it.
 
The bowling looked good, but there were still some chinks in the batting that could easily be exploited by better teams. They need to watch out!

Team Pages  - Bangladesh | Bermuda | Canada | Ireland

Michael Holding has been a little harsh on the lesser teams of the World Cup. Now do we mean harsh or honest? There are 16 teams in all in this tournament, of which Bangladesh, Bermuda, Canada, Ireland, Kenya, Netherlands, Scotland and even Zimbabwe will be at their best when facing another team from this bunch. When they come up against one of the big boys, they will wither. No doubts. Having said that, Kenya did beat the West Indies in 1996, Bangladesh beat Pakistan in 1999 and Kenya made the semi-finals in 2003.

From a purist angle, one may argue that only the Kenya win over West Indies in 1996 was in a match of consequence. Bangladesh beat Pakistan when they had already qualified for the next round in Kenya made the semis only because some teams refused to play all their matches and the rules of the World Cup are a little messed up.

Coming back to what Holding was saying, though, it really is a tough job for the ICC to handle the ‘minnows’, make sure they improve and one day, come to the same level as the major countries. And in true chicken-and-egg style, they won’t get better until they play with the big boys and the big boys won’t play them till they are better. So we have a situation! Not so much a situation, really, but an inconvenient occasion like when the host says something bad to a guest at dinner! The guest has the option of retorting or getting up and leaving.

Holding’s remarks were made as a speaker and he does represent the host country. These remarks have obviously hurt the associates (I know, minnows is not the politically correct term!) but there is some truth in what he says. The minnows do devalue the tournament. They don’t bring any more excitement. Their game is not as developed to play with the best and call us a bully, but we think they need to play some more with boys their age before coming to play with the big boys!

The ICC’s qualifier tournament has thrown up these many countries and perhaps it is time to re-look at the format of the World Cup. Spread over two months, the event begins on March 13 but to be honest, the real action starts only from March 27 when the Super Eight begins. The ‘Super Eight’ term is an elitist connotation and it was the ICC who came up with that! One senses a bit of conflict of ideology here!

Let’s face it. The teams that will make it to the Super Eight will not include Bangladesh, Bermuda, Canada, Ireland, Kenya, Netherlands, Scotland or Zimbabwe. These teams will offer extended warm-up matches for the major teams (ok, I will refrain from using “Big Boys”). What will they have learned? Apart from exposure, they would have gained nothing.

The ICC seriously should reconsider the format and maybe have a qualifier from among the top 8 associates to bring through only two. Hang on… isn’t that what happened in 1996? Maybe it’s time to turn back the clock.