The associate's thread

[from_the_stands]

Big problems stateside.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci-icc/content/story/891589.html

This is not good news for a variety of reasons;

1 - The game is growing in the US, but there's no direction, and therefore an uncertain future.
2 - The slice of the US market that the ICC craves is slipping away.
3 - With the US team no where near a WC qualification, Associates might find themselves being pushed further into the cold.
4 - If the game isn't growing globally, then there is a use by date.

I really hope this mess can be sorted out, especially with the popularity of T20 seemingly on the rise. With that in mind, however, I don't have much hope for Warney's planned venture. What US cricket does have is a good set up down in Florida, where I would love to see an expansion CPL team based, featuring players from the US, Canada and Bermuda, with 3 imports; the Florida Flamingos, that might work. The American media might then take a bit more interest in the game.

I guess some good news to come out of that part of the world is that in September, in Indianapolis, an Americas squad will be created in preparation for the WICB Super50 competition next year.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci-icc/content/story/890315.html

One player who I think could become a breakaway star is Steven Taylor;

http://www.espncricinfo.com/usa/content/player/348133.html

Taylor is already on the books with the Barbados Tridents, who are off to a good start in this current edition of CPL. He could well turn to be the trailbrazer US cricket needs.

[from_the_stands]

Oman have been carving it up in the World T20 Qualifiers.

[Dr Cricket]

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/j ... d-scotland

nice article, Have to admit not watching a lot of Associate cricket but having seen the World cup 2015 and the qualifiers right now the standard and quality of the cricket is high.
Quite sad that the big 3 want to kill cricket.
ECB are joke though killing cricket in the UK and the world.

[Making_Splinters]

The World T20 qualifier between Hong Kong and Afghanistan is being looked at by the ICCs Anti-Corruption and Security Unit after strange betting patterns were seen.

[Alviro Patterson]

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/jul/22/associate-nations-cricket-world-twenty20-ireland-scotland

nice article, Have to admit not watching a lot of Associate cricket but having seen the World cup 2015 and the qualifiers right now the standard and quality of the cricket is high.
Quite sad that the big 3 want to kill cricket.
ECB are joke though killing cricket in the UK and the world.

Take anything written by The Guardian with a pinch of salt

[Dr Cricket]

it not really written by the guardian though.
being written by peter della penna and he a freelance writer and been following associates for years.

[Making_Splinters]

The Associates just like to complain and expect everything to be handed to them on a silver platter. For the first time there is a performance based opportunity for an Associate to enter Test cricket, the T20 qualifiers have hugely increased the exposure of Associate sides beyond the couple who usually get a mention, yet it is still not good enough for them?

People keep talking about how Test cricket is on the decline, the last thing it needs is three or four weak teams being added.

[dan08]

For all those people who go on about teams having to earn their status... it's so messed up now with Oman in 29th having T20I status yet 11 teams ranked higher than them don't.

In the World T20 Qualifier, half the matches were official and half were unofficial. No other sport in the world would have a tournament like that.

As for associates having an opportunity at Test cricket, i don't see how anyone expects an associate to beat Zimbabwe when Zimbabwe get 8 times as much funding from the ICC. If associates were on the same funding as Zimbabwe, they would have overtaken them years ago.

Look at China for example, ICC spend more money on one set of zing bails than they give to China in a whole year. ICC want cricket to grow there yet they only get $30k a year. If cricket was in the Olympics, China would get up to $20m from their government. Doesn't take a genius to work out what to do. But everyone knows ICC don't care about the long term.

As for associates getting exposure at the WT20Q, the story of Oman qualifying should have been the main news story. The lowest team ever (by far) to reach a world event and it was like the 7th or 8th story down on Cricinfo. Even if associates do get a mention, they aren't really interested in that. All they want is the opportunity to play matches and that isn't going to happen with the ICC contracting its world events.

[Making_Splinters]

For all those people who go on about teams having to earn their status... it's so messed up now with Oman in 29th having T20I status yet 11 teams ranked higher than them don't.

Well perhaps these "better" sides should have beaten them then. It's no different to the game at the top level where no one would argue that Bangladesh are a better side than South Africa or India yet the beat them in ODI series. If the Associates want to argue that they are good enough for a seat at the top table then they have to die by the sword as well.

I'd actually expect Ireland to beat Zimbabwe if they had all their players available. The Irish players ply their trade in a significantly better domestic competition. To be honest if you don't think the Associates could beat Zimbabwe then there is zero argument for them to be playing Test cricket.

[The Professor]

Usman Ghani put together a tidy T20 performance for Afghanistan in a win over Oman today...he's a good performer...wouldn't be surprised if an IPL outfit have a sniff.

[dan08]

Malaysia picked a player today who was born in 2000.

[mikesiva]

The ICC is so unequal in the way they treat the Associates....

They should take a leaf out of FIFA, and make the T20 World Champs more like the World Cup.

Everyone, including the hosts India, should be playing in the first round, alongside Afghanistan, Scotland, etc. If players from these teams don't get chances to play against the big boys, then cricket is not going to catch on in the Associate countries.

Somehow, I get the impression that the ICC doesn't really care about developing cricket in the Associate countries....

[mikesiva]

Putting aside the T20 Champs for a moment, here are the immediate fixtures for the Intercontinental Cup:

Sun May 10 - Wed May 13 09:00 local (08:00 GMT | 09:00 BST)
Namibia v Hong Kong
Wanderers Cricket Ground, Windhoek

Tue Jun 2 - Fri Jun 5 11:00 local (10:00 GMT | 11:00 BST)
Ireland v United Arab Emirates
The Village, Malahide, Dublin

Tue Jun 2 - Fri Jun 5 11:00 local (10:00 GMT)
Scotland v Afghanistan
New Williamfield No1 Oval, Stirling

Tue Jun 16 - Thu Jun 18 11:00 local (09:00 GMT | 10:00 BST)
Netherlands v Papua New Guinea
VRA Ground, Amstelveen

Tue Sep 8 - Fri Sep 11 11:00 local (09:00 GMT | 10:00 BST)
Netherlands v Scotland
Sportpark Westvliet, The Hague

Sat Oct 24 - Tue Oct 27 10:00 local (08:00 GMT | 09:00 BST)
Namibia v Ireland
Wanderers Cricket Ground, Windhoek

Wed Nov 11 - Sat Nov 14 09:30 local (05:30 GMT)
United Arab Emirates v Hong Kong
ICC Academy, Dubai

Sat Nov 21 - Tue Nov 24 09:45 local (05:45 GMT)
Afghanistan v Papua New Guinea
Sharjah Cricket Stadium

Thu Jan 21 - Sun Jan 24 09:30 local (01:30 GMT)
Hong Kong v Scotland
Mission Road Ground, Mong Kok, Hong Kong

Thu Jan 21 - Sat Jan 23 09:30 local (05:30 GMT)
United Arab Emirates v Netherlands
Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Sun Jan 31 - Wed Feb 3 10:00 local (00:00 GMT)
Papua New Guinea v Ireland
Tony Ireland Stadium, Townsville

Sun Apr 10 - Wed Apr 13
Afghanistan v Namibia
Venue TBC

[dan08]

Crowd for Nepal v Namibia today:

[braveneutral]

Garners a much larger crowd than CC!