THE NEXT STEP FOR AFGHANISTAN

In less than 20 hours from now, Afghanistan will play against their neighbour Pakistan in an ODI at Sharjah. It will be the first time that Afghanistan will be competing against a Test-playing nation in an ODI. Their first Test-playing opponent in a Twenty20 International had been India during the World Twenty20 Championships 2010. Now they play the longer version of the game against a country with whom they share a longer border.

The Afghan team has been very impressive in its short cricketing journey thus far. Those who have watched the movie 'Out of the Ashes' will know about their rise from the World Cricket League Division 5 through to the ODI status. And it did not stop there. They won the ICC Intercontinental Cup 2009-10, by managing 6 outright wins in 7 First Class games, including the finals against Scotland at Dubai. In the current version of the same (i.e. ICC Intercontinental Cup 2011-13), they are standing currently at the 3rd position after 2 matches, behind Ireland and United Arab Emirates.

No one really expects Afghanistan to beat Pakistan in the one-off ODI to be played tomorrow at Sharjah. But what everyone would dearly like to see is a good fight. They are unlikely to match the Pakistan team in skills, but who wouldn't love to see them show some spark on the field!

Their next major assignment after this ODI shall be the World Twenty20 Championship Qualifiers to be held in mid-March, followed by the World Cricket League Championship (2 ODIs) and the ICC Intercontinental Cup (1 four-day First Class match) assignments against the Netherlands at their adopted home grounds in the UAE.

They have been now, for quite some time, a team that I have fascinatingly followed. I wish them all the luck in these fixtures, and hope that their fairytale stretches on for a long time.

FIVE WISHES FOR 2012

Would love to see them batting together once again!

There are a lot of things I would love to see happening in 2012... but I have picked out over here, five of them that I dearly wish for:

1. Get That 100 And Then Many More

I hope it happens in a few days time now at Sydney. He's got three there already, and with a Test average of more than 200 at SCG, there's every chance that the 100th ton for Sachin Tendulkar finally arrives there. I wish to see that 100th ton out of the way, and then many more runs and tons from the Little Master in 2012. India will be playing Test cricket against Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and England over the next 12 months... so lets have another special year (like 2010) in 2012 from Sachin Tendulkar!

2. Cheteshwar Pujara Gets Back In

His last appearance in the Indian squad was a year ago... in the Third Test during India's Tour of South Africa. An injury in the IPL caused Cheteshwar Pujara to miss virtually the entire remaining 2011. He made a comeback for Saurashtra mid-way through the Ranji season, but could not get back his form that saw him force his way into the Indian team. With Saurashtra not making it to the quarterfinals (they came very close), and his spot uncertain in the West Zone team, it could be a difficult path for Pujara now. Taking into consideration that Virat Kohli has been given his chance at No. 6 for India in Tests with Rohit Sharma right behind him, Pujara will have to work extremely hard and pray for a little bit of luck along the way. I too will be praying for him... and hope to see him reclaim his spot in India's Test squad very soon!

3. Afghanistan Qualify For The World Twenty20 Championships

The Qualifying Tournament for participation in the World Twenty20 Championships 2012 will be held in United Arab Emirates from 13th to 24th March 2012. A total of 16 teams will fight for the meagre 2 spots open for them in the main event. Realistically, the teams that have a good chance to make it through are Ireland, the Netherlands, Afghanistan, Canada, Kenya and Scotland. I would love to see Afghanistan make it through once again, and participate in their second major global tournament after the 2010 edition of the same. Having followed Afghan cricket closely for the past one year, I find the prospect of Afghanistan in top-flight cricket a very realistic and exciting one!

4. An Exciting U-19 World Cup

The Australian state of Queensland will be hosting the U-19 Cricket World Cup in August 2012. I love watching the U-19 World Cup tournaments for they show up a lot of unknown exciting talent... and not always from the regular cricketing nations. The highest wicket taker in the 2010 edition of the U-19 World Cup in New Zealand was a fast bowler from Papua New Guinea! India is place in arguably the easiest group - Group C - alongside the West Indies, Zimbabwe and Papua New Guinea. I would love to see the Indian juniors perform well and for a lot of young, new and exciting talent to emerge from this tournament.

5. India Gets A Small Measure Of Revenge In November - December

India will be hosting England for 4 Tests at the end of the year in November and December. There is nothing Indian fans would like to see better than a reverse whitewash after the humiliation faced over the English summer of 2011. But one's got to be realistic here... the English cricket team in Test cricket is a fantastic one, and though they are not the most comfortable playing in sub-continental conditions, they can still be a handful. A good pace attack can work in any condition on earth, and the South Africans have shown that admirably in India - twice! But I would love to see India gain some big wins over England during the winter season, and show them why this land came to be known as the Final Frontier!

THE WORLD CUP REMEMBERED

Just a few hours remain for 2011 to end in my part of the world, and as I looks back at it, the biggest and the most lasting memory remains that of the World Cup 2011 hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh from 19th February to 2nd April.

I was planning to write a post on my sporting memories of 2011... but since so many of them were coming from this one particular event, I thought I should first compile my World Cup memories, and then proceed to the sporting memories of 2011. So here are my top 10 memories from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011:

1. Six And The Celebrations

The obvious first - the six that finished the World Cup! MS Dhoni's strike to win the World Cup finals and the celebrations that followed that hit shall remain memories to last a lifetime... and not just till the end of the year! Those images were magical and I can still recall them vividly - Yuvraj Singh was sobbing uncontrollably, Sachin Tendulkar was being carried around the ground on his teammates' shoulders, Virat Kohli's quote, and the celebrations once MS Dhoni received the trophy from ICC President Sharad Pawar! Cricket had never before been so emotional!

2. Ponting's Last Masterpiece

It was an eagerly anticipated match - the 2nd Quarterfinal between India and Australia at Sardar Patel Stadium, Ahmedabad. And though it came for a losing cause, Ricky Ponting played an innings befitting his calibre! It was virtually a risk-free masterclass century that guided Australia to a competitive first innings score of 259. There were other moments in this match that still remain fresh in my memory - the winning hit by Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina's first major contribution in the World Cup, Zaheer Khan's knuckle ball to bowl Michael Hussey, et cetera. But it was that Ponting hundred, eventually his last innings as the captain of Australia, that stands out... for it could scarcely have been any better!

3. Purple-Headed Destroyer

Yes, that is what he did - he destroyed them! Kevin O'Brien came to the crease in Ireland's match against England when his team was 106 for 4 in the 23rd over, and then saw them slump to 111 for 5 in the 25th over. Chasing a target of 328 to win at Bangalore, Ireland had no chance. But no one told this to Kevin O'Brien! He needed just 50 balls to reach his 100... the fastest ever in World Cup history! From the time he came to bat till the time he reached his 100, Ireland scored more than 6 runs in all but 3 overs. And when he got out on a 63-ball 113 with 6 sixes and 13 fours, they were well on their way to cause what was the biggest upset of the event. The Irish veteran Trent Johnston came at the fall of O'Brien's wicket and was present at the end when the win was sealed... just as he'd been there to hit the winning runs against Pakistan four years ago to cause their other big upset in World Cups!

4. #MOAG - Mother Of All Games

When India beat West Indies in the last league match, everyone knew that there was a chance of an India-Pakistan semi-finals at Mohali. And when India beat Australia at Ahmedabad, it was confirmed... a good 6 days before the match! A scramble for tickets, an excited build-up, cricket diplomacy in action, and the day finally arrived! The quality of cricket was not the best, but the occasion and the crowd more than made up for it. Virender Sehwag's attack on Umar Gul, the chances to Sachin Tendulkar en route to 85, Wahab Roaz's ball to get Yuvraj Singh for a golden duck, Suresh Raina's finish, Umar Akmal's attack before getting bowled out to Harbhajan Singh, and then the finish when Misbah-ul-Haq skied a catch to Virat Kohli off Zaheer Khan - some of the moments that still linger from the Mother Of All Games.

5. Muralitharan's Last Match In Sri Lanka

He was carried on his teammates' shoulders around the ground after the semi-finals had been won by Sri Lanka against New Zealand. Arguably Sri Lanka's greatest cricketer ever, Muttiah Muralitharan played his part in the World Cup for Sri Lanka. His final over in international cricket in Sri Lanka was a treat to watch too. Starting from around the wicket, he switched to over the wicket for the last few balls... and on his very last delivery, trapped Scott Styris plumb in front with a massively-turning off-break to finish off his home career in style. What a cricketer!

6. Tied At 338

The match should have been held at Kolkata, but had to be shifted to Bangalore. After a scramble for tickets where a few fans got hurt, the match began and the crowd loved it. Sachin Tendulkar hit a sublime century, which included 5 sixes - 2 of those came off consecutive Graeme Swann deliveries as he started a new spell. It was a message to the English skipper Andrew Strauss that his best bowler means nothing to him! Strauss took that message to heart as he produced his own masterclass innings of 158 after Tim Bresnan had cleaned the Indian tail with a 5-for. It took a beauty from Zaheer Khan to remove Strauss and bring India back into the match with 2 other wickets. Apart from the last ball single that resulted in a tie, there was another moment to remember from this World Cup - Munaf Patel's blinder (no pun intended) to remove Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell's LBW that wasn't! The infamous 2.50 meter rule denied Yuvraj Singh the wicket of Ian Bell after the field umpire Billy Bowden decided not to overturn his original not out call.

7. Ross Taylor Massacre

He was reprieved - twice! Both times by Kamran Akmal off Shoaib Akhtar's bowling. He made them pay! Ross Taylor, who was not in the best of form, capitalised on those errors by Kamran Akmal (which earned him a lot of jokes on Twitter) and smashed a brilliant century against Pakistan that included some violent hitting at the end. His ferocious hitting resulted in 28 runs being leaked off Shoaib Akhtar's last over and 30 runs off Abdul Razzaq's. Helped by Jacob Oram at the other end, Taylor was ferocious as they compiled an 80-odd run partnership at the speed of light! When Kamran Akmal's turn came to bat, he edged one to Ross Taylor at slip... and the Kiwi was in no mood to return Akmal's favours earlier that day! He grabbed the ball in his hands and the Black Caps celebrated.

8. The Whirlwind Start

It was arguably the best bowling line-up of the World Cup they were facing. The best fast bowler of the present era was to start the proceedings. None of that mattered! Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar began in a hurry... sprinting away to a 100 in just the 12th over. Tendulkar pulled South Africa's best bowler Dale Steyn for a six behind square leg after Sehwag had typically started the innings with a first-ball boundary. Sehwag scored a 73, Tendulkar 111 and Gautam Gambhir too compiled a 69 before the middle and lower order just gave away, as 9 wickets fell for 29 runs. The fact that India did not even manage to bat the entire 50 overs, falling short by 8 balls, eventually proved to be decisive as South Africa managed to seal a win thanks to Robin Peterson's cameo at the end!

9. Pakistan End Australia's Streak

Pakistan was the last team that had beaten Australia in a World Cup match. That had happened way back in 1999. Since then Australia had been triple World Champions and were looking to continue that streak when they faced Pakistan in their Group A match at Colombo. Umar Gul bowled beautifully and Kamran Akmal managed 3 catches as Australia was bowled out for 176. Then a young Pakistani batsman Asad Shafiq played a mature hand aided by the veteran Younis Khan, followed by another youngster Umar Akmal providing the finishing touches. A big performance was needed to finish off Australia's big unbeaten run in the World Cup... and that is just what Pakistan delivered!

10. England Keep Us Entertained

First, they almost goofed up against the Netherlands. Then they did the inconceivable against India as the match ended in a tie. Then they actually goofed up against the Irish, followed by snatching a win from the jaws of defeat against South Africa. Not satisfied, they then snatched defeat from the jaws of victory against Bangladesh before winning their most convincing win against West Indies - by 18 big runs! Lots of flashes of memory come to mind from England's World Cup campaign - Ryan ten Doeschate's magnificent hundred at Nagpur, some stuff already mentioned above from the India and Ireland matches at Bangalore, Robin Peterson's opening over and Stuart Broad's finish at Chennai, and of course the celebrations after Mahmudullah's and Shafiul Islam's rescue act at Chittagong... England single-handedly kept Group B alive!


There were lots of other moments to remember... Sehwag deciding to bat through the innings and almost doing so in his 175 at the World Cup opener, Chris Mpofu's rocket throw to run out Ricky Ponting that infuriated him to break a TV, Pakistan's tight win over Sri Lanka, Kemar Roach's and Lasith Malinga's hat-tricks against the Netherlands and Kenya respectively, West Indies skittle out Bangladesh for 58, an unknown Canadian teenager Hiral Patel's attack on the Australian pace trio as Canada scored 62 in their first 6 overs, Zimbabweans applauding and shaking hands with Steve Tikolo after the Kenyan legend was dismissed in his final match, and South Africa's choke against New Zealand amongst others.

THE OTHER TIER BATTLE BEGINS

It's not quite Test cricket... but it's the closest a lot of cricketers who deserve to play Test cricket will get to Test cricket!

The ICC Intercontinental Cup is about to begin in less than an hour from now (weather permitting) at Aberdeen, as hosts Scotland will try to overcome a stern challenge of the Netherlands. Scotland finished as the runners-up, losing to Afghanistan in the finals, in previous season (2009-10) of this tournament, which is the only place where the players from Associate and Affiliate nations of the ICC get to play First Class cricket as a part of their national team.The limited-overs leg of the tournament will also run alongside the First Class matches in the 2011-13 season. The first round fixtures are:

I would like to see more teams, in further rounds, do what Kenya and UAE have done - that is, schedule the Limited Overs leg before the four-day First Class match. It will be beneficial for the away team this way. But more than anything else, I am most interested in seeing how Afghanistan copes up with the pressure of expectations this time round.

Afghanistan had a dream run last time, winning 5 matches and drawing 1 to a Zimbabwe XI. They started with a draw against the Zimbabwe XI, and then had a close 1 wicket win over the Netherlands. It was more convincing after that as the three-time defending champions Ireland was beaten by 7 wickets, followed by a 6 wicket win over Canada. Former champions Scotland was then thrashed by 229 runs, and then Kenya too was thrashed by 167 runs. In the finals against the Scots, they prevailed again by 7 wickets, despite being 41 runs in the deficit after the end of the 1st innings in a low-scoring game.

They are on a 6-match winning streak at the moment, and it will be interesting to see if they manage to extend it against Canada early in August. Afghanistan came in playing their first Intercontinental Cup in the last season, and ended up winning it. They were, to an extent, a surprise package last time. But the teams will be better prepared to face them this season, and if any team had made the mistake of taking them lightly last time, it will not happen again!

I hope there is some good quality cricket played in this season of the Intercontinental Cup, and I will definitely be keeping an eye on all the matches and results. If anyone knows where I can get the streamings or the video highlights of these matches, please do let me know.

ICC'S 'WORLD' CUP PLANS FOR 2015

By now, we all know about ICC's ridiculous decision to keep the Associates out of the 2015 World Cup to be hosted by Australia and New Zealand. The fact that they have decided on a 10-team World Cup restricted to the 10 Full Members of the ICC only for the 2015 edition means that it will be the first time in the history of Cricket World Cups that not a single non-Test playing nation shall take part. Amongst all the regressive decisions taken by the world body, this is second to none.

There is outrage and disgust over this decision. A lot of tweets have been addressed to ICC's official twitter feed. A new Twitter Feed by the name of Cricket Justice has been formed by people against this decision. People have been writing to the ICC, and its commercial partners, to express their anger and non-support to this decision. In fact, even I intend to email them in a day or two. I don't know if all this will make a difference, but I intend to play my part in any way (howsoever small) that I can!

The most important bit, which I would like all my viewers to do (if they have not already done it), is to sign this online petition initiated by Tim. I have put in my signature and the message already (No. 243), and last I checked, there were more than 900 people who had signed in their support to the petition. Please do the same.

Another very important measure that we must all undertake in our own small ways is show more interest in the cricket played by these 'minnows'. I will not be large on the blogging or tweeting scene over the next two months because of upcoming examinations, but I will definitely follow the matches of the World Cricket League Division 2 (starting 8th April), ICC Americas Division 2 World Twenty20 Qualifiers (starting 10th April) and other World Cricket League Divisions / World Twenty20 Qualifications / Intercontinental Cup fixtures a great deal more than I have done in the past, and I urge everyone to do the same for the benefit of our game.

I hope and pray that ICC takes cognizance of this outrage and disgust that people world over have shown towards this decision, and moves towards changing it. This decision has obviously been taken by the Boards of all the Full Member nations together, and is quite obviously intended towards the protection of the weaker ones amongst the Full Member nations. Given that ICC has 105 members registered as 10 Full Members, 35 Associates and 60 Affiliates, this decision really does come as a huge setback to the sport.

Here is what the Irish coach Phil Simmons had to say about this: "I'm afraid the next World Cup will be like the American World Series - you are crowned World Champions but the world did not take part - congratulations to India on winning the last real World Cup. Finally - congratulations to ICC for pulling the game we love back ten years!"

It's not just 10 years... it's a lot worse!

(P.S.: Please DO NOT FORGET to sign the petition, if you have not already done so!)

CRICKET - THE FUTURE

Over the last 4 weeks, the Group stage of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 was contested across 13 cities in 3 South Asian countries. The top-8 Test teams have eventually managed to make it to the quarterfinals, a prediction made by a lot of people well in advance. While for 4 of these teams, the ride was easy and straightforward; for 4 others, it was an up-and-down adventure!

Two teams, by general consensus, have been the most exciting teams to watch in this World Cup… and to no one’s surprise really, they are both from Group B – England and Ireland! There were a total of 11 matches involving these 2 teams, and 10 of them were definitely worth a watch. The only one-sided match where either of these teams was involved was the Ireland v. South Africa match at Eden Gardens, where South Africa won comfortably by 131 runs.

The Difference

However, the similarities between these two teams end here. The path ahead for England is very clear – win 3 straight matches and lift the World Cup, or lose in the interim and return home for some rest after a hectic few months of non-stop cricket! The path for Ireland is not quite so clear though. They have an ODI scheduled against Sri Lanka in a couple of months’ time, when the latter go on a tour of England, and they have a few fixture scheduled in ICC’s Associate tournament structure. But what next?

England host Sri Lanka followed by India in the coming months. Then they will visit India for their cricket tour in October. As for Ireland, I doubt if they will get to play this much cricket over the next 4 years, by the time the next World Cup comes calling in 2015.

So when the time comes for them to play in the Qualifying round for World Cup 2015 against the lowest-ranked teams amongst the Full Member countries, there is a good chance that they may be found wanting. Ireland did not get a lot of cricket to play over the 4 years separating their impressive performances in 2007 and 2011, yet they managed to put up a fine effort in the latter edition. THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT IF THEY DO NOT PLAY MUCH CRICKET OVER THE NECT 4 YEARS, THEY WILL AGAIN MANAGE TO PUT UP A FINE SHOW AGAIN IN 2015! Far from it, in fact!

Ireland in World Cup 2011

Cricket Ireland did a tremendous job in these four years from 2007 and 2011. They must be applauded for that. But in their achievement, they have pointed out to the ICC a mistake made by it. With their performances, they have clearly made a statement to the ICC telling them that had they been allowed to or made to play more top-level competitive games in this intervening period, they might well have been able to close out the games against Bangladesh and West Indies, where they were in a winning position, but lost out partly due to inexperience. They could have easily won those 2 games and finished 3rd in the Group B – the Group of Death – have would now have been in Colombo awaiting their Quarterfinal clash against Sri Lanka, while England would have had to be in Dhaka ready for South Africa, and West Indies on the flight home!

I believe that most cricket followers would opine that Ireland performed better in this World Cup than Bangladesh. The latter may have had more points, but one look at the NRRs of both these teams will give you an idea of the level of competitiveness that they played with. Bangladesh lost 3 matches in the World Cup – in one, they allowed the opposition to score 370 runs (the highest score of the tournament thus far), and in the other two, they were bowled out for paltry scores of 58 and 78 (two of the three lowest scores in this tournament thus far). A lot more was expected from a Test nation playing in conditions that were ideal for their brand of cricket.

Ireland, a minnow and an Associate, won only 2 matches – in one, they stole a win from England when all hopes seemed just about extinguished, and in another, they comfortably chased down a target in excess of 300 (with more than 2 overs to spare) against another Associate, the Netherlands, showing them in no uncertain terms, that they are ‘the best amongst the rest’. In the four matches they lost, they put up a hard fight in three, and were in winning positions in two of those three before losing out as much to inexperience as to the opponents.

However, the biggest difference between Bangladesh and Ireland in this World Cup, in my opinion, was not in the performances, but in the mindset. I recall one incident that I would like to bring to everyone’s notice. During the pre-match cricket program for the Bangaldesh v. West Indies game, the broadcaster aired an interview of Bangladesh’s bowling coach Ian Pont who made a remark that did not go down well with me, and even one of the studio experts. When asked about their chances of winning that match against West Indies and getting into the race for Quarterfinals qualification, Pont said that the team management had indentified that match as one of the four that they would target a victory in – the other three being against Ireland (already won at that stage), England and the Netherlands. Compare this to the Irish coach Phil Simmons’ comments where he said that the team was there to win. The Irish captain William Porterfield too stated on numerous occasions that the team would go for a win in all games that they play, regardless of the opposition, and given the way he captained the side and placed his fields, he certainly stuck to his promise.

The Problem for ICC

Numerous people have said during this World Cup that the Associate nations need more exposure against the top sides so that they may improve. Most of them were those associated with the Associates – Jimmy Kamande, Steve Tikolo, William Porterfield, Phil Simmons, Peter Borren, Ryan ten Doeschate, Ashish Bagai and others, but there have been a lot of other people, amongst the average cricket followers too.

I know that it will be difficult for ICC to do so. It makes little commercial sense to have a series, howsoever small, between a team like India or South Africa or Australia or England and Ireland or the Netherlands or even Scotland or Afghanistan. Moreover, these matches may not be contests as well… they may just end up being massacres that will force the ICC to stop this practice. So I have tried to think of a solution or two for the ICC, and how it can go about maximising the growth of cricket in these centres.

Possible Solutions

One of the most commonly suggested steps, which I would wholly support, is to organise frequent tours of ‘A’ teams of the stronger countries to the Associate countries. More exposure to good quality cricket in home conditions followed by more exposure to good quality cricket in alien conditions when they themselves will tour these countries for ‘A’ team matches should definitely show improvement.

There are also people who are suggesting that when major nations go on Test tours, they should play their warm-up matches against the Associate nations in that region. While Sri Lanka will just be playing an ODI match each against Ireland and the Netherlands during their tour of England later this year, I would also like to see more First Class matches involving Associate teams and Test teams. This again poses a commercial problem because the Home Boards lose out on revenue if Associate nations play the practice matches, instead of a team registered under that Home Board. For example, the BCCI would lose out on revenue if England plays their practice matches on tour to India against Afghanistan, instead of the Board President’s XI team. It also deprives the young home cricketers of a chance to impress the selectors ahead of the main series. But in my opinion, these two problems are not grave enough that they should stall the potential progress of cricket as a sport.

Over the last few days, I have had another couple of ideas in my mind. One of them is to organise a few big-team tournaments in the smaller countries, e.g. ICC Knock Out Tournament of 2000, which was held at Nairobi, Kenya. I would love to see every alternate Champions Trophy and every alternate World Twenty20 Championships held at smaller cricketing countries. There are a number of benefits of this. One, this will definitely help in improvement of infrastructure at those places and allow better facilities to that country’s cricket team in future. Two, the best way to popularise a sport in a new territory, in my opinion, is to take the best practitioners of the sport to that territory, and allow them to showcase the sport in the best of lights over there.

The other idea that I have had is a two-tier Test Championship. The ICC has already shown interest in the concept of Test Championships to lend more meaning to the game of Test cricket. My solution would just involve adding another tier to that Test Championship to help the game grow. In the ICC Inter Continental Cup, where the Associate nations play First Class cricket, 7 teams took part in 2009-10, including a Zimbabwe XI that wanted to get a bit experience before their return to Test cricket this year. The winner of this tournament was Afghanistan, with Scotland, Zimbabwe and the three-time defending champions Ireland taking the next three spots. So, apart from Ireland, there are a few other Associates as well, who look very promising for the future of our sport, and can be included in the two-tier Test Championships.

Test Cricket

My last solution involves integration of ICC’s current plan of a Test Championship as well as the ICC Inter Continental Championships. There are 105 members recognised by the ICC – 10 Full Members, 35 Associate Members and 60 Affiliate Members. A further 24 non-members are under constant ICC scanner to be enrolled as Affiliate Members. If this plan of Two-tier Test Championships is planned, organised, and executed properly, in a few years’ time, we could have at least 35-40 of these member countries (including all of the Associates and a few Affiliates) play First Class cricket at various levels, with a real chance of breaking into the top-level by the process of promotion and relegation.

As it stands today, 15 Associate / Affiliate members have already had a chance to participate in the Inter Continental Cups over its various seasons, which even includes territories where you wouldn’t know cricket existed, like Cayman Islands!

The Need to Dream

The reason why I think a Two-Tier Test Championship (and Multi-Tiered in future) is necessary for the game is to give the lesser Associates and Affiliates a chance to dream big about competing at the biggest stage called Test Cricket. Afghanistan was once in Division 5 of ICC’s World Cricket League. But they knew that they could still qualify for the World Cup 2011 if they won or ended up as Runners-up in all the subsequent league matches they play. And thus, they had a dream! This dream was possible only because they could see a way of fulfilling it. And they almost accomplished their dream, missing out by a very small margin during the World Cup Qualifiers, having zoomed up through the lower leagues.

How will cricket see sustained development in these places if youngsters do not dream of becoming cricketers? I come from India, a country that stands at about the 140th rank in FIFA’s team rankings. As a 10-year old, I only played cricket and dreamt of becoming a cricketer. Football never crossed my mind as a serious sporting career because of my country’s low profile in that sport. In my country, as things stand, an average footballer will never achieve anything big, and football as a career is feasible for only those who are extraordinarily talented and have a decent chance of making it to the European Leagues.

A lot of countries have a low profile in cricket too, which the ICC must better. When the profiles of these Associate countries in cricket increase, and they see a realistic chance of playing at the highest level of our sport, the youngsters there will be bold enough to think and dream of a career in cricket. There will be more number of cricket professionals, as there are in Ireland today.

The performance of Ireland in the World Cup 2011 has given ICC a chance to work on developing the sport further and taking it to new shores. It has made ICC see beyond its traditional big-powers and gauge the level of development amongst its smaller members. I dearly hope and pray that ICC does not let go of this chance, and for once, takes a step that would benefit our sport rather than just its coffers!

(Note: I have purposely not made any reference to development of cricket through ODIs and Twenty20s in this post. The reason is this - I believe that these two formats of the game, particularly the smallest one, are the best vehicles to spread the game in far corners of the earth.

Soulberry from The Cricket Watcher's Journal puts it well when he says "T20 is the best vehicle for it provides a pleasure factor with the least debate in a new recipient's mind. The process of acculturization employs what is available to create a context - the desire for fun outing that doesn't consume or encroach upon existing vitals and the clarity of simplicity which helps acceptability because there are no tedious debates they have to understake in their minds over Cricket. And all you need is a park and a TV camera cabled up to an OB van to get started with T20."

However, my dream extends beyond the growth of merely the shorter formats of the game in these lands. I, as already stated, would love to see Test cricket take wings and spread just as much. That is why the solutions offered in this post are all related to Test cricket and First Class cricket. The Twenty20 format is bound to grow without a lot of effort from the ICC. Test cricket's growth will require effort.

There is a good chance that ICC may rest on it laurels of having spread cricket wide just on the basis of popularising Twenty20 cricket everywhere. However, that is not what I want to see ICC stop at. Hence, this post makes no reference to Limited Overs Cricket of any form.)

FINALLY, AN ICC DECISION WORTH APPRECIATION

For a good part of last two months, I have been getting more and more incensed by some of the decisions taken by ICC. The 10-team World Cup for 2015, defending Billy Bowden's decision of Bell non-LBW, then changing the UDRS rules again, reprimanding William Porterfield for public criticism and not acting against Graeme Swann for his share of public criticism after he had already been fined for swearing at the umpire!

But finally, ICC has taken a decision that I can support. They have decided to drop Ashoka de Silva as an umpire for some of the crucial matches coming up, and relocated him to the dead rubbers remaining. So whereas earlier he was scheduled to stand in England v. West Indies and sit as a third umpire in India v. West Indies matches, he will now stand in the Zimbabwe v. Kenya match and be the fourth official during Ireland v. Netherlands game. (Report)

Ashoka de Silva has given some shockers in this World Cup, and though some of them have been corrected by UDRS, that did not stop him from giving a howler even with the help of UDRS. I have already stated that I consider him the least elite of ICC's Elite Panel of Umpires and frankly, do not find him competent enough to be a part of it.

However, wrapped in this news was something unusual. In that news report, ICC has listed a certain Tyron Wijewardene as the third umpire for the Australia v. Pakistan match. I wonder how does he end up having this job without having officiated in a single match so far in this World Cup. We are coming to the end of league stages and an umpire who has not yet been a part of the World Cup will be officiating as a third umpire in a match between two heavyweights that would potentially decide the group toppers! WEIRD!

Oh well, I am again coming to terms with the fact that there is hardly going to be a single decision taken by the ICC that I will completely agree to! Maybe, I should run it one day... at least, that would help me avoid disagreements with myself!

ANOTHER UDRS BLUNDER

A lot of people believe that Ashoka de Silva is the least elite amongst the ICC's Elite Panel of umpires. How he is deemed to be competent enough to officiate in a tournament as prestigious as a World Cup remains a mystery to many. In today's Ireland v. West Indies game at Mohali, he gave a howler (despite having used DRS) so large that it would have made Billy Bowden look a genius!

At 41.3 overs, Ireland were 199 for 5, requiring another 77 runs to beat the West Indians off 51 balls. Gary Wilson, batting on 61 off 61 balls was on strike, accompanied by a newly-in Alex Cusack. Despite having lost a couple of quick wickets, Ireland were in with more than a decent shot at the victory target. West Indian captain Darren Sammy was bowling... and on his next ball, Ashoka de Silva virtually decided the game in favour of West Indies.

A back-of-a-length off-cutter struck Wilson on his front pad as he was late in getting his bat down to guide the ball towards third man. When the ball struck his pad, his bat was behind the pad and came down later to meet the ball as it rolled to the left of the point fielder. As Wilson set for a single, Sammy appealed for an LBW decision and saw Ashoka de Silva raise his finger. Wilson immediately called for a review. Now have a look at the sequence of images below:

One look at just the three images, and any person who knows a little bit about the UDRS and the laws of LBW will immediately say that the umpire should reverse his decision. However, Ashoka de Silva decided to go with his original decision because allegedly, he believed that the batsman had not offered a shot to that delivery. What rubbish!

How does a man who is batting on 61 with a strike rate of 100 play a non-shot when his team needs more than 8 runs an over to win the game! Forget the situation of the match. Just read what the Irish skipper William Porterfield had to say about this: "The word we are getting at the minute is the umpire went back upstairs to check if he hit the ball before the impact on the pad and if it was pad first, or bat first. Surely if you are asking if it was pad first or bat first, you know he is playing a shot. In my opinion they got it wrong."

Simple logic that puts the argument to rest! If the umpire wants to see three replays to determine whether it is pad first or bat first, then there should be no doubt that a shot was attempted. Forget the fact that it was clearly a shot being attempted as Wilson tried to run it down to the third man... just ask yourself when do you say that no shot has been attempted. In my opinion, where the bat makes no deliberate attempt to make contact with the ball and does not make contact with the ball, one can say that no shot was attempted.

With the images, over the video footage and by Porterfield's crystal clear logic, I think it is very easy to conclude that a shot was clearly attempted on that ball. Yet when the umpire decided to rule it out with the commentators claiming that it must have been because of a non-attempt at a shot, my mind wandered off in search of some other explanation. And this is what it came up with...

I believe that the moment Ashoka de Silva saw the yellow light saying "Wickets: On Field Call", he presumed that his call will stand. He didn't bother to use his brain and see that when there is a clear green light saying "Impact: Outside", it should be Not Out regardless of the original decision. I believe that he had trained his mind into thinking that every time a yellow light saying "On Field Call" is displayed, he will not be required to reverse his decision, irrespective of whether there are other red or green lights!

I purposely placed three images up there in this post. I'll explain why. In my view, if the ball is pitched outside the line of leg stump, the review should stop there and the path of the ball should not be shown further ahead by the broadcaster to make it absolutely clear that it is a Not Out call.

Where it pitches in line or outside off, but the impact is not within line, again the broadcaster should stop right there (like in the first image). Now here, if the umpire feels that the batsman has not offered a shot, then he should request the broadcaster to continue with the projection... or else, the decision is made. At least, this will ensure that the viewers will know for certain that the umpire was genuinely in doubt of a shot being offered rather than some other reason!

I have a feeling that had the broadcaster restricted his projection till the first image instead of going on till the second image, Gary Wilson may well have survived. I know I am questioning the aptitude of Ashoka de Silva and might even be a bit biased against him, but then I cannot help it for a man who has had all 4 DRS reviews against him (before this match) in this tournament overturned and then comes up with this shocker deserves no less, in my opinion!

And if you look at the third image, you might well say that the decision should have been "Not Out" even with the naked eye. That ball is barely clipping the outside of the off stump as per Hawk Eye! Even if it were striking in line, most umpires would have given that Not Out and called right for their decision. How he gave this to the bowler casts a doubt over his umpiring abilities!

PEARLS FROM RAVI SHASTRI'S COMMENTARY

Ravi Shastri is the last name I would put in a list of commentators I would love to listen to in every match. And after today's India v. Ireland match at Bangalore, he's gone completely off that list!

As if punishing the listeners with the most boring cliques was not enough, today Ravi Shastri went a step ahead and completely massacred up a piece of trivia information that he was giving on air. It's not the first time that he's given his listeners a wrong piece of trivia... it does happen quite often... but what made me swear at him today was that he completely killed a piece of trivia he was giving about a cricket match, in which he himself was involved, all the while when their stats man Mohandas Menon was right there to give him the correct piece of information!

When Yuvraj Singh reached 40* today, Ravi Shastri was on air giving out the information that Yuvraj has become just the 2nd player in a World Cup match to score 40 runs and take 5 wickets. For good measure, he added that Kapil Dev was the first one to have done it in 1983 against Australia at Trent Bridge (5 for 43 and 40 off 27 balls). Fine up until now!

Here's what he said after that (I wrote it down on a scrap of paper immediately for the fear that I might misquote him later): "(that performance) set India up for the semi-finals at Old Trafford" and "sent Australia out of the competition".

Now here's the truth. As mightily impressive as that performance was from our captain Kapil Dev, it did nothing to "set India up for the semi-finals", because as it happens, India went on to lose that match by a huge margin of 162 runs. What did set India up for the semi-finals was India's win (courtesy Kapil Dev) over Zimbabwe later on, and more importantly, India's win against Australia in the reverse fixture at Chelmsford. Had India lost that match to the Aussies, the two teams would have been level on point, and the Australians would have had a better Net Run Rate giving them the semi-final berth.

Since we lost that match where Kapil's all-round performance was recorded, it was impossible for us to "send Australia out of the competition" then. We played 3 more Group matches after this loss before playing in the semi-finals. I don't quite understand how he could forget such a magnificent all-round performance wasted on a loss!

What baffled me even more was that Ravi Shastri was a part of that loss against Australia and was not a part of the win that came later against Australia. So it beats me how he could muddle it all up!

Here was I, sitting in my living room, raising my eyebrows immediately to his mighty assertions, when I was not even born in 1983! And the man who was a part of our squad back then was completely botching up the facts of our glorious 1983 campaign!

SAVE THE MINNOW CAMPAIGN

I have written an article in support of the participation of the Associate teams in the ICC Cricket World Cups, in light of the recent decision by the ICC to have a 10-team World Cup in 2015. That article has been published on the wonderful FreehitCricket website, and you can read my article here.

RYAN TEN DOESCHATE

This is coming a little late, but it had to come. With one match, where he scored 119 runs and grabbed 2 wickets against England, Ryan ten Doeschate (popularly called "Tendo" by his teammates) has become a very popular name in a lot of places, including but not restricted to England and India. His performance at Nagpur was the highest score made in ODIs by a player from an Associate team against a Test-playing nation... but more importantly, his performance was a retort to ICC's decision of reducing the number of participants in the next World Cup to 10 teams.

There has been quite an uproar over ICC's decision to discontinue with the practice of inviting the associate and affiliate members to play at One Day International Cricket's biggest event - the ICC Cricket World Cup. In the midst of this uproar, there have also been people who support this decision by the ICC.

Ryan ten Doeschate's performance was a gentle reminder to all of them and the ICC to reconsider their opinions and this decision. Netherlands' and Ireland's performances over the few chances that they have had at the highest level indicates that they are a cut above the rest of the playing field amongst the ICC's associate and affiliate members. Had ICC been a little more proactive in Kenya after 2003, they might also have been a part of this group. If ICC decides to be a little more proactive in Afghanistan, they might become a part of this group in the near future.

I'll do another blog post about this decision by the ICC... but now, I have to talk about Ryan ten Doeschate. A few numbers first for those who are unaware:

Even if one were to say that he's played only 4 ODIs against Test-playing nations, the response shall be that he still manages to average 54 with the bat and 38.67 with the ball. Plus, his numbers in Twenty20s (both Internationals and otherwise), List A matches and more importantly, First Class cricket are also extremely impressive.

His century against England at Nagpur was as calm and composed an innings as you are ever likely to see by any classy batsman while setting up a competitive total for his team to defend. Despite cramping during the latter stages of his innings, he still came on to bowl in order to play his part in defending the total of 292. That Netherlands could not win does not at all indicate that Ryan ten Doeschate did not deserve to be in the winning side.

What endeared me to him the most was his reply when asked whether his century might prompt his native country, South Africa, to recruit him for the next World Cup. "No, I don't think so. I don't think like that. I know this might just be my last World Cup considering next edition will have 10 teams. But I have been playing county cricket (Essex) where I have played with lot of top cricketers. In a few months time, I would be playing in the IPL which will be another big stage." (Source)

He is obviously not interested in playing for an international team other than the Netherlands... for whom he qualified because of his lineage. He was born in South Africa and learnt the intricacies of plying his trade in England with Essex. So I think I might be fair in assuming that playing for Netherlands holds a different value to him... something that I am amazed no one from the media has bothered to ask him about.

In an age where players has switched their commitments at the international level, he comes across as a breath of fresh air. In fact, had Netherlands still possessed the services of their erstwhile pacer Dirk Nannes, they might even have pulled off an upset against England. Not to be... as Dirk Nannes was seen playing for Victoria against New South Wales in Australia just about half a day after Netherlands had lost a close match.

I hope that he and his team do manage to sustain a similar level of performance over the rest of this World Cup... and he keeps giving us, his new fans, more reasons to flaunt his new nickname "Ryan ten Dulkar" all over Twitter.

THOUGHTS ON DAY 3 OF WARM UP MATCHES

Zim 244 - 8 in 50 overs, Ire 245 - 6 in 49.3 overs - Ire win by 4 wickets

Ireland had put up a tremendous fight while chasing New Zealand's 300+ score in their first warm up match. This time, they went one better... they chased down Zimbabwe's score with 3 balls to spare.

Ireland got on top early (Zim was 12 - 3 in 8th over)... but Zimbabwe fought back first with Taibu's 45 and then with Chigumbura's 103* in just 81 balls. Irish skipper Trent Johnston bowled a superb first spell of 5-2-9-2. While batting, Ireland had partnership stands of 40s for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th wicket. But the 5th wicket stand of 99 between Andre Botha (79) and Kevin O'Brien (62*) was the decisive stand for the match. As they say, a set batsman should see the team through till the end in a run chase... and Kevin O'Brien did that by guiding Ireland to a win with 3 balls to spare. They have issued a warning bell for their Group B opponents!

Ken 263 - 5 in 50 overs, Neth 264 - 8 in 49.1 overs - Neth win by 2 wickets

Kenya batted quite well... with their young 20-year old opener Seren Waters making an unbeaten 126. Rakep Patel scored a 59-ball 64 at the end in a 129-run stand with Waters to see Kenya to a formidable total. But they did not know that the ICC Associate and Affiliate Player of the Year Ryan ten Doeschate had something special in store.

ten Doeschate had done his bit with the ball (10-0-47-2)... but decided to do more. He came in at 87 for to in the 16th over, when the Dutch were starting to lose their early momentum (they had raced to 67 for 0 in 10 overs). Soon with Steve Tikolo running amok, Netherlands slumped to 130 for 7 in 30 overs. Tikolo's gentle off-spin had almost sealed the game then. But the Dutch still had Ryan ten Doeschate at the crease.

In a display that would have pleased even the King-Rescuer VVS Laxman, ten Doeschate upped his scoring rate and though he lost his steady partner Buurman for 29 after an 82 run stand, he remained till the end with an unbeaten 92-ball 98 (3 fours, 4 sixes) to see his team through. The No. 10 Mudassar Bukhari played a small cameo of 20* (15 balls, 2 fours, 1 six) that proved crucial in the end, because when he came in, his side still needed 53 runs of 34 balls. But the man of the moment was definitely Ryan ten Doeschate. Fantasy Team players... are you reading this?

Aus 217 all out in 47.1 overs, SA 218 - 3 in 44.2 overs - SA win by 7 wickets

Don't be fooled by that 218 for 3 from South Africa. Two of those three (Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla) retired themselves after a 100+ opening stand so that the other batters could have some batting practice. The third wicket, that of Faf du Plessis, was a run out!

Australia got off to a miserable start. Their best form batsman, Shane Watson, was out for a 4th ball duck... lbw to Dale Steyn. Brad Haddin (who did not play the 1st warm up against India) got run out for a duck in the 4th over... Australia was 6 for 2. A 122-run stand between captain Ricky Ponting (55) and vice captain Michael Clarke (79) followed. That would prove to be the only substantial contribution from the Aussie bats for the day... and if I may dare to call it so, their saving grace!

Dale Steyn was the top bowler with 3 wickets for South Africa. In what was a surprise to me, Robin Peterson also managed 3 wickets though he was a tad expensive at over 5.50 an over. Australia really need to brush up their spin-tackling skills!

Smith (65) and Amla (60) put on 131 runs and then retired in that order within 3 overs of each other. Faf Du Plessis was sent at No. 3 to get a bit of practice, but was run out for 12 with South Africa on 157! JP Duminy used this time in the middle to stroke a 47* on his favourite Indian ground at Bangalore. South Africa eased home to a very comfortable win at the end.

WARNING NOTE: Do not count Australia out. They entered the 2007 World Cup in a 5-match losing streak. They won every game in that tournament.

WI 281 all out in 50 overs, SL 282 - 6 in 47.3 overs - SL win by 4 wickets

West Indies put up a very decent batting performance to post a competitive 281. But they would know that the score should have been a lot bigger. Chris Gayle provided a fiery start with a 38-ball 58, and Darren Bravo's 54 was a perfect foil. However, they was no one to play a big knock and no substantial contributions from the middle order and the lower middle order, where the highest score was 39 by Sarwan. Lasith Malinga and Rangana Herath (3 wickets each) were impressive for Sri Lanka with the ball.

Sri Lanka's chase was built on the back of three main contributors... their three of the four most important batsmen! A ballistic 50-ball 62 from Dilshan followed by calculating knocks of 71 and 55 respectively from Sangakkara and Samaraweera. Despite a minor flutter at the end, where they lost 3 wickets for 28 runs, they reached the target comfortably. Sulieman Benn, with his 3 wickets, was the only West Indian bowler to have numbers worth noticing.

Pak 285 - 9 in 50 overs, Ban 196 all out in 41.4 overs - Pak win by 89 runs

Even though Pakistan put up a very formidable total, it was built on the back of just one big partnership - 152 runs for the 4th wicket between opener Ahmed Shehzad (103) and Misbah-ul-Haq (100). The rest of the batting did not fire as Rubel Hossain and the irrepressible captain Shakib Al Hasan picked 3 wickets each.

When the star Bangladeshi opener Tamim Iqbal fell for a golden duck on the first ball of the innings, their chase was all but over. Imrul Kayes and Junaid Siddique got 39 and 38 respectively, but no one could do more than that. Kayes plays a perfect foil for Tamim when Tamim clicks... but Bangladesh really need to find a solution for Kayes' slow batting when Tamim does not fire. It can have an effect of completely stalling the progress of their innings. For Pakistan, the evergreen Abdul Razzaq picked 3 wickets (including Tamim), while Mohammed Hafeez and Abdur Rehman chipped in with 2 each.

THOUGHTS ON DAY 1 OF WARM UP MATCHES

So the countdown to the start of Cricket World Cup 2011 is on its last stretch... less than a week to go now. The warm up matches have begun, and on the first day, we had 5 of them. Here are a few random thoughts on those matches:

WI 253 - 8 in 50 overs, Ken 192 all out in 45.3 overs - WI win by 61 runs

Ramnaresh Sarwan scored a 125-ball 123 to guide West Indies to a 250+ score, aided by Dwayne Bravo's 56-ball 54 towards the end of their innings. While West Indies will be delighted with Sarwan and Bravo, they need to be wary of the fact that their top order misfired once again. 65 for 4 in the 20th over against Kenya is not a good score... and it was surprising to see that they did not send Kieron Pollard for a hit. He could have done with some practice ahead of the main tournament. But the biggest surprise was that Chris Gayle did not figure in the 12-man team that took part in the warm-up game.

As for Kenya, the veterans Thomas Odoyo and Steve Tikolo were good with the ball. While batting, Collins Obuya made a composed half-century and had he gotten a little more support after his 70-run second wicket stand with Seren Waters, Kenya could have made a serious push towards the target. Though Roach and Russell combined well with the ball, they could not get breakthroughs with the new ball. Kenya has shown promise on the land where they first rose to prominence way back in 1996!

SL 351 - 5 in 50 overs, Neth 195 all out in 47.3 overs - SL win by 156 runs

It was a typical Sri Lankan performance against a minnow, especially on the home ground. The Dutch were soundly thrashed, first by the Sri Lankan batting unit where everyone got starts and then by the bowling performances of Fernando, Perera and Herath. Sri Lanka, however, should be concerned by the fact that none of their batsmen could score a big hundred in batting friendly home conditions, with a run-a-ball 78 from TM Dilshan being their highest score.

Though Tom De Grooth and Bas Zuiderent showed a bit of a fight, Netherlands were never expected to, nor did they, get anywhere close to the target. The only thing that they did well was playing Ajantha Mendis, who had figures of 1 for 40 in 8 overs, that 1 wicket being the 9th to fall... not the figures you'd normally associate with a mystery bowler against a minnow on his home conditions.

Can 112 all out in 37.3 overs, Ban 113 - 1 in 19.2 overs - Ban win by 9 wickets

Bangladesh put in a thoroughly efficient performance to dismantle Canada completely... so efficient it was that they may now be regretting the fact that their batters did not really get a good hit in match conditions before the World Cup. Though Razzaq went wicketless, the other spinners led by skipper Shakib Al Hasan grabbed 6 wickets in a good bowling performance. Except for the skipper Ashish Bagai, no Canadian could muster a solid performance.

While chasing, Tamim Iqbal got the hosts to a flyer... and the match was over within a few blinks. 7 fours and 3 sixes in a 50-ball 69 meant that other than the openers, no one else got any decent batting practice. This was a new Bangladesh side... way different from the one that lost to Canada by 60 runs in the group stages of 2003 World Cup! They have come a long way!

NZ 311 - 6 in 50 overs, Ire 279 all out in 48.2 overs - NZ win by 32 runs

New Zealand must have had a comfortable win in the end, but all credit must go to Ireland for the fight that they put in into their chase. The Kiwis relied on a 134-ball 130 from Martin Guptill and then cameos from Ryder, Taylor, Franklin and Styris to set up a good total... the perfect example of how a batting unit should function! If the Kiwis can manage it against tougher oppositions, they could be well on their way to another good World Cup performance.

While they didn't find much cheer while bowling, the Irish chase was well built. A brilliant and fast opening stand, followed by more good top-order partnerships kept them in the hunt for quite a while. Unfortunately for them, their middle order and lower middle order could not keep up with the challende and they folded in the 49th over. While Porterfield, Stirling, Joyce, Niall O'Brien and Johnston did well with the bat, the bowling performer of the day was the wily Kiwi skipper Daniel Vettori... 4 for 42 in 10 overs, and good support from Kyle Mills. The Kiwis should be overall happy with this performance, especially given the run of performances they have had of late!

Zim 152 all out in 41.5 overs, SA 153 - 2 in 23.3 overs - SA win by 8 wickets

Though Zimbabwe was dismissed for 153 only, it was as unlike a South African bowling performance as you are ever likely to see. I say this because 6 of the wickets were picked by spinners, though Morne Morkel was extremely brilliant and threatening in his 6 overs, 3 for 16. Imran Tahir got a game and got 3 wickets... which makes it interesting to see whether he'll make the cut for the first XI above Johan Botha and Robin Peterson.

Taylor's 40 was the only bright spot for Zimbabwe during the whole day... where they were later carted around by Amla, Smith and Kallis. That Kallis hit 3 sixes during his unbeaten 39-ball 49 should tell you something about his injury status! However, like Bangladesh, even South African batsmen (except these 3) missed a golden chance to get some batting practice under their belt!

A NEW IDEA FOR WORLD CUP FORMAT

The World Cup is back to a 14-team format from the 16-team format tried out in the previous edition. The format for 2011 is similar to the one used for 1996 edition, except that only 12 teams played back then. The concept of Quarter Finals will be used only for the 2nd time in cricket World Cups after 1996.

I am one of those people who like to see minnows in action. I know that ICC is of the opinion that minnows shall be given exposure against the top teams in the Twenty20 format... but I like to see them play top teams in ODIs too. The reason why I feel that they should get more ODI games against top teams is that ODIs are closer to Test cricket than Twenty20s.

In future, I would love to see an expanded Test pool. I would love to see the smaller teams like Ireland, Netherlands and Kenya be a part of Test cricket. I was absolutely delighted when the news had surfaced some time back that the Irish cricket has ambitions of breaking into Test cricket arena. I would love to see it happen sooner rather than later. And that's why I believe that ODI experiences will help them more in this regard than Twenty20s.

That is why I was happy to see 16 teams competing in 2007, even though I did not really approve of the format. Even this time round, even before the first ball is bowled, there are complains about the format and how it will be a drag towards the latter half of the first round.

There were 51 matches in 2007 and there will be 49 matches in 2011. The format that I have in mind have more matches than these - a total of 57 matches with 16 teams. But it will have lesser number of meaningless matches than these two formats.

Here's my format:

16 teams in four groups - A, B, C, D.

Stage 1 is a Double Round Robin, where each team plays the rest in its group twice (like it happened in 1983 and 1987). This stage will thus stage 48 matches (16 teams playing 6 matches each).

The teams that finish top-2 in each group shall advance ahead. The team that finishes 3rd will not advance, but will have automatically qualified to be a part of the next World Cup. The team that finishes 4th will have to play a qualifying round to be eligible to feature in the next World Cup.

Stage 2 is slightly different (inspired by the IPL format this year). Here are the matches in this stage:

Match 1: Pre Quarter Final 1 - A2 v. B2
Match 2: Pre Quarter Final 2 - C2 v. D2

Match 3: Quarter Final 1 - A1 v. B1
Match 4: Quarter Final 2 - C1 v. D1

Match 5: Quarter Final 3 - Winner of PQF 1 v. Loser of QF 1
Match 6: Quarter Final 4 - Winner of PQF 2 v. Loser of QF 2

This will be followed by Semi - finals and the Finals.

Well, this is my format consisting of 57 matches (48 + 6 + 2 + 1). Here are what I see as advantages in this format:

1. It obviously allows a chance to the smaller teams to compete against the bigger teams, and twice at least against each big team in their group. This will give them a chance to improve on their mistakes that they made in the first match, and see if they make any progress in the second "revenge" match, as it used to be called in 1983 and 1987.

2. Unlike 2007 where 16 teams featured, there is a lesser chance of big teams exiting in the first round itself since they will have 6 matches in comparison to 3 that they had back then. So even if they do suffer an upset, they should still comfortably get in to the next round.

3. There will be motivation to fight for the top spot in the group as it would mean the team is one step closer to the semis. And even if the team falters in that step, it will still get another chance to be in the semis because it finished first in the group.

4. For a change, minnows will not be playing just to make up the numbers or "for pride". They will have an added motivation to finish 3rd in the group to secure a spot in the next World Cup. Minnows usually don't get to play matches in such big events where something is at stake. This will be their big chance to play matches for a spot in a premier tournament. If they know that they have qualified to feature in the next World Cup, they can start preparing and planning a squad four years in advance.

The biggest drawback of this format, as I see it, is that it is way too lengthy. 57 matches might be a bit of a drag to many fans. And there aren't a lot of people who would like to see minnows in action in so many matches. After all, high profile matches attract the crowds, not Ireland v. Netherlands games!

However, I had to put forth this idea the moment it struck my head. Usually, such ideas strike me in my sleep and this one was no different! I would love to have your feedback on what you may deem to be other pros and cons of this format or any suggestion or improvement to this format or a completely different format altogether.

15 YEARS ON - WHAT HAS NOT CHANGED?

The sub-continent is getting ready to host the 10th edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup from 19th February 2011... a spectacle eagerly awaited! All the 15-member squads have been announced by the respective boards of the participating teams and I am sure most of the 210 players selected to be a part of this extravaganza are aiming for glory!

This World Cup will be held in the sub-continent for the first time in 15 years. The last time that it was held in 1996, it marked the first occasion when a co-host (Sri Lanka) walked away as the winners. Will it be the same this time round?

12 teams took part in the World Cup 1996... and 11 of those return to be a part of the 2011 event. The only one to miss out from the 1996 group is the United Arab Emirates... and the 3 new teams who will be making their sub-continental World Cup debuts will be Canada, Ireland and the co-hosts Bangladesh themselves.

Interestingly, 8 of the 210 players selected for this World Cup were also a part of their teams' set-up 15 years ago in the 1996 World Cup. And amusingly, the team that has the most number of players today from the 1996 era is... Kenya! They have 2, whereas Australia, India, Netherlands, South Africa, Sri Lanka and West Indies have 1 each.

These men are:

Australia - Ricky Ponting
India - Sachin Tendulkar
Kenya - Thomas Odoyo
Kenya - Steve Tikolo
Netherlands - Bas Zuiderent
South Africa - Jacques Kallis
Sri Lanka - Muttiah Muralitharan
West Indies - Shivnarine Chanderpaul

For Odoyo, Tikolo and Zuiderent, it marked the start of their international careers. For Ponting, Kallis, Muralitharan and Chanderpaul, it marked their World Cup debuts. Tendulkar had already played in the 1992 World Cup.

Interestingly, four of these eight men figured in the semi-finals in 1996. If we were to replace Chanderpaul's West Indies with Kallis' South Africa, we might well have the semi-final line-up for 2011... though I can already hear the English cricket fans vehemently disagreeing.

The youngest of these 8 is the Dutchman Bastiaan Zuiderent, who is a little short of his 34th birthday. And if he remains fit enough and Netherlands competitive enough, he may well go on to play the 11th World Cup in 2015 in Australia and New Zealand! But unless Tendulkar continues to play till then, I will not be able to do such a blog comparing 2015 to 1992!

WE JUST LOVE OUR CRICKET!

Two kids watching their team Afghanistan in action against Ireland...

COLOURFUL CRICKET

Various shades of cricket...

EOIN MORGAN: MAN ENOUGH?

Eoin Morgan, you beauty! Another brilliant finish... and Morgan's now scored an ODI century against the mighty Australians at Rose Bowl. No mean feat that! And to top it all, it was a match-winning century... guiding his team to the finish!


Eoin Morgan is some talent! A lot of people talk about his switch from Ireland to England. I am of the opinion that allowing such switches might harm cricket in the long run. It will hinder the development of smaller cricketing nations... and will stagnate the game... not allowing it to grow!


But then I also wonder... had Morgan continued playing for Ireland, would we have seen him play such delightful knocks? Certainly, he would not have had a shot at Test cricket. He might have just been awarded the Best Associate Player by ICC... and it would have ended there. The switch to England was in his best interests... for his development as a cricketer.


However, it does not end here. To really justify this switch, he must do a lot more for English cricket! He must play well consistently over a longer period of time. He has had a tremendous last few months... but the purple patch will not last forever. He is bound to be pulled back. There will come the troughs! Then, he could become the next Ed Joyce and disappear from the English setup... thinking of a return to Irish cricket. Or he can overcome those moments and emerge bigger and better.


A lot of talent in every field is wasted because talent in itself is not enough. The ability to rise from your darkest hours is what marks you as different from the rest of the field. That is what separates the man from the boys. Does Eoin Morgan have it in him? Only time will tell if this boy can mature into a man...

HOW TWENTY20 FAVOURS THE UNDERDOGS

When Twenty20 was invented... and particularly when international T20 matches began... a lot of people said that this format of the game will really bring the minnows into the game and that it will give a chance for them to cause upsets.

In 2007, Zimbabwe beat Australia and Bangladesh beat West Indies. In 2009, Netherlands beat England and Ireland beat Bangladesh. The theory was vindicated. In 2010, no minnow managed to beat a top-8 team. So, was it a tournament without any upsets? I don't think so. It had one of the biggest upsets of them all. England winning a World Cup tournament... it has to be an upset.

England were never the favourites... they were just 'strong contendors'! How many strong contendors have we seen fall by the wayside in many a World Cup tournaments... India in 2010, Australia in 2009, West Indies in 2007, Pakistan and India in 2007 ODI World Cup, South Africa in 2003 ODI World Cup... the list will never end.

But in my books, the English team was not even a strong contendor. South Africa and England could never be strong contendors for me... atleast till now. England have managed to change that.

All through these years, England had not managed a single ODI World Cup dsepite having reached the finals in 1979, 1987 and 1992. There is no specific reason why they could not win it... especially in 1992... they had a strong team then. So it should not be surprising that their first big win in a World Cup has come in the Twenty20 format... the format that is meant to suit the 'underdogs'!

So what say? Is someone placing their money on South Africa for the next Twenty20 World Cup? Someone said they were 'underdogs'...

CRICKET - DILUTED SEASON BEGINS

With the World Twenty20 Championship coming to an end, a hectic schedule of cricket for Indian cricket fans has come to an end. In 2010, after a non-interesting and futile ODI tri-series in Bangladesh with the hosts and Sri Lanka, India played a 2-Test and 3-ODI series back home against South Africa. That was followed by a month and a half long Indian Premier League 2010, and five days later, it was the World Twenty20.

Now, about a couple of weeks of rest will be by a tri-series in Zimbabwe with the hosts and Sri Lanka and a couple of Twenty20s with the hosts from May 28. In June, the team travels to Sri Lanka for the Asia Cup. Not a very interesting schedule, I'd say.

Even on the world cricket front, we have:
1. South Africa's tour of West Indies for 2 T20s, 5 ODIs and 3 Tests
2. New Zealand v Sri Lanka in USA for 2 T20s
3. Bangladesh's tour of England for 2 Tests and 3 ODIs (and 2 ODIs v Ireland, 1 v Scotland and 1 v Netherlands)

I can hardly imagine following each of those tournaments / tours religiously. So I consider myself lucky that I take genuine interest in other sports too. The European club football season has almost ended (just waiting for the Champions League final between Inter Milan and Bayern Munich on May 22 in Madrid), but there is the FIFA World Cup in South Africa from June 11 to look forward to.

There is always the Formula One season to follow. Three Grand Prix scheduled over the next month and a half (Turkish 29-30 May, Canadian 12-13 June, European 26-27 June) will provide some action for sport - starved people like me. And then, there will also be the French Open (beginning May 23) and the Wimbledon (beginning June 21) to look forward to.

So for me, a cricket-diluted season has begun with the end of World Twenty20 at Barbados. My support will be extended to the likes of Wayne Rooney, Sebastian Vettel, Adrian Sutil, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick and Justine Henin more than Suresh Raina and his Team India.