The associate's thread

[Arthur Crabtree]

Ach! I went back up looking for your previous link and I clicked on Al's by mistake. Human error. I'll try again.

[Dr Cricket]

Dhoni answered some question on Associates in the press conference.
Wants Associates to play more games but just not against India because of fatigue.

Dhoni in PC: We have to formulate a way for giving associates more games. But please not India, India cant play any more games.Dhoni in PC: We have to formulate a way for giving associates more games. But please not India, India cant play any more games.

MS Dhoni in PC on ten-team 2019 WC: "There's plenty of stuff on my table right now. Let the ICC sit in their a/c room and decide."

MS Dhoni in PC on associate teams: They have improved with every game. Overall cricket is developing. Have to give more opportunities #CWC15

[dan08]

Maybe India could play associates instead of Sri Lanka or other full members all the time..?

At least he agrees with the inclusion of the associates at the World Cup.

So many high profile players have spoken in favour of them recently, surely the ICC will give in to all the pressure?

[Dr Cricket]

Be tough to do it since all full members teams are dependent on india playing them.
Plus BCCI have promised them games any reduction would be catastrophic for those boards.

[rich1uk]

Be tough to do it since all full members teams are dependent on india playing them.
Plus BCCI have promised them games any reduction would be catastrophic for those boards.

that's shortsighted however

all full members should be encouraged to have more tri-series events instead of just bi-lateral ODI series and have an associate as the 3rd team

[dan08]

I would like to see it mandatory that all touring sides play associates as a warm up for the main series. Of course we want them to have their own series but to be honest it's unlikely to happen right now so this would be the next best thing. Far more value in England playing Afghanistan or UAE as a warm up for a Pakistan tour than Pakistan A or a club side.

So something like this...
Teams touring England - play warm-up against Ireland, Scotland and/or Netherlands.
Touring SA - play Kenya, Namibia (although both may be a bit too weak at the moment).
Touring Australia/NZ - play PNG.
Touring Pakistan (UAE) - play Afghanistan, UAE.
Touring Asian sub-continent - Afghanistan, UAE, Hong Kong or even Nepal.
There's no strong associate in the Americas but hopefully one day - Canada, USA or Bermuda will be an option.

[Dr Cricket]

That actually not a bad idea Dan.
Rich the problem with the tri series is that no boards want to host them because of the neutral games.

[Dr Cricket]

Plus I reckon the Associates would be a better warm up game for the test/odi teams.
It is quite normal for boards to provide very poor teams for warm up games and generally the intensity isn't really there from the opposition.

[rich1uk]

That actually not a bad idea Dan.
Rich the problem with the tri series is that no boards want to host them because of the neutral games.

but that is what is short-sighted , it shouldn't just be about money but growing the game

i would much rather watch a tri-series that a meaningless 7 match bi-lateral series

should also be more A team tours from the top teams to associates

[braveneutral]

I would like to see it mandatory that all touring sides play associates as a warm up for the main series. Of course we want them to have their own series but to be honest it's unlikely to happen right now so this would be the next best thing. Far more value in England playing Afghanistan or UAE as a warm up for a Pakistan tour than Pakistan A or a club side.

So something like this...
Teams touring England - play warm-up against Ireland, Scotland and/or Netherlands.
Touring SA - play Kenya, Namibia (although both may be a bit too weak at the moment).
Touring Australia/NZ - play PNG.
Touring Pakistan (UAE) - play Afghanistan, UAE.
Touring Asian sub-continent - Afghanistan, UAE, Hong Kong or even Nepal.
There's no strong associate in the Americas but hopefully one day - Canada, USA or Bermuda will be an option.

Mexico!

[Aidan11]

Did somebody say Mexico?

[andy]

done pretty well havent they.... no one's disgraced themselves, and theyve been competitve,hope the ICC reconsiders its plan for the next world cup

[ChrisQ]

I would like to see it mandatory that all touring sides play associates as a warm up for the main series. Of course we want them to have their own series but to be honest it's unlikely to happen right now so this would be the next best thing. Far more value in England playing Afghanistan or UAE as a warm up for a Pakistan tour than Pakistan A or a club side.

So something like this...
Teams touring England - play warm-up against Ireland, Scotland and/or Netherlands.
Touring SA - play Kenya, Namibia (although both may be a bit too weak at the moment).
Touring Australia/NZ - play PNG.
Touring Pakistan (UAE) - play Afghanistan, UAE.
Touring Asian sub-continent - Afghanistan, UAE, Hong Kong or even Nepal.
There's no strong associate in the Americas but hopefully one day - Canada, USA or Bermuda will be an option.

Excellent idea.

I think for the Americas the team they should play is Canada which has been the most consistent (and stable and serious) out of the trio of Canada, the USA and Bermuda over the years. Of course it would probably requiring inviting Canada to tour the West Indies to play in a warm up match against a full member team visiting the WI but that would be in Canada's benefit and the Canadians could also get in some practice playing some West Indian domestic sides (clubs like Queen's Park CC), islands (like say...Saint Vincent and the Grenadines or Saint Kitts) and territories (like the Leeward Islands, Windward Islands, Guyana or even territorial second XIs).

Overall I think it might be good policy to incorporate all the associate and affiliate teams currently in the ODI Championship and World Cricket League from Divisions 1 to 3 (basically the World Cricket League Championship teams and Division 3 teams) in such a scheme. And to incorporate them for all formats such that these associate/affiliate teams would play 2-day matches, 50-over matches and 20-over matches. As a result it would look like this:

Teams touring England - play warm-up against Ireland (ODI Championship), Scotland and Netherlands (both in the WCL Championship).
Touring SA and Zimbabwe - play Kenya, Namibia (both in WCL Championship) and Uganda (Div 3).
Touring Australia/NZ - play PNG, Hong Kong (WCL Championship) and Malaysia and Singapore (both in Div 3).
Touring Pakistan (UAE) - play Afghanistan (ODI Championship), UAE (WCL Championship).
Touring Asian sub-continent - Afghanistan (ODI Championship), UAE, Hong Kong, Nepal (WCL Championship), Malaysia and Singapore (both in Div 3).
Touring WI - Canada (Div 3)

That puts 14 other teams with a chance to play matches every year against full members with the full members not being disinclined to do so on account of worries of an upset (it would be warm up matches after all when they would be experimenting anyway) and not have to worry about playing these teams in full matches which might take away from money earning match times against other full members.

[mikesiva]

'With every passing world event the trends point to Associates becoming more competitive still. The ICC only developed an interest in expansionism in the mid-1990s. Only now is the first generation of cricketers to develop since then benefiting from much-improved domestic structures. Most importantly, there are a lot more of them. Since 2005, official participation numbers in cricket have risen six-fold in the UAE, quadrupled in Ireland and Scotland, and risen by 30 times in Afghanistan. So while David Richardson described "relief" at the performance of the Associates in the World Cup, those in the ICC who follow them more closely do not share his feelings. "I haven't been surprised at all. What we've shown in terms of competitiveness generally has been exactly what I hoped for," Done says, noting that the Associates also toppled three Full Members in the 2014 World T20. "We've had four or five really good opportunities to secure more wins and just haven't got across the line. We'd all be a bit disappointed as a collective." Still, that the Associates' showing this World Cup has converted so many to their cause amounts to that rarest of things: a triumph for the ICC. It only makes the will of Australia, England and India to contract the World Cup look more myopic.'

http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/co ... 50235.html

[Making_Splinters]

Have the associate sides become more competitive? Aside from Ireland they've only been game amongst themselves, and there's been more than enough pages dedicated to the underlying reasons why Ireland are the exception.

The fact of the matter is, as soon as the next World Cup starts, very few will even notice that the associate sides are missing. Today's news is tomorrow's chip paper as they say.