Eoin Morgan: only one winner when it came to club or country © Getty Images

In his column in the Sunday Tribune this week, Ger Higgins highlighted the problem, laying the blame at the door of the ECB.

"There is ample evidence that Irish cricket is being systematically plundered by English counties," he wrote. "The fact that there are a dozen-odd players attached to counties wouldn't be much of a problem if they played fair about player release. But they don't: already this season Morgan, Niall O'Brien and William Porterfield have "opted" to play for their employers ahead of their country. Even an ICC regulation that players must be released for ODIs failed to prise that trio from the clutches of the counties. And it is a similar story with Scots players.

"It is about time that the ECB showed some leadership and told the counties to allow their Irishmen and Scotsmen to play internationals. A FIFA-style regulation could be introduced where a player who is not released must not play for the club on any of the days of the Irish game."

Continue reading "Only one winner in county v country debate"

Zimbabwe's withdrawal from the ICC World Twenty20 in England in 2009 has opened the way for a third Associate county to be invited from next month's ICC World Twenty20 Qualifiers.

The leading Associates meet in Belfast between August 2 and 4 with the top two gained an automatic place in the main event the following June.

"The third associate will come through the qualifiers in August this year," Samir Inamdar, the chairman of the ICC's Affiliates and Associates, told Cricinfo. "I have had a conversation with Giles Clarke, the ECB chairman, who has agreed that it is logical to replace Zimbabwe with an Associate."

Samir Inamdar, the chairman of Cricket Kenya, was elected as the chairman of the Associate and Affiliate members of the ICC at the annual conference in Dubai.

Inamdar, who was already one of the three representatives of the non Test-playing countries on the ICC executive board, replaces H.H. Tunku Imran who stood down because of his commitments with the IOC.

Inamdar, who polled 26 votes, is joined on the ICC executive board, by Imran Khwaja (Singapore, 22 votes) and Neil Speight (Bermuda, 21). Rene van Iashort from the Netherlands received 18 votes while Israel’s Stanley Pearman, who was a sitting representative, finished bottom of the pile with 16 votes.

Next week's ICC annual get-together promises to have more than its fair share of politicking, posturing and controversy. But, unless there is a major about-turn, it should also be a watershed for the Associates and Affiliates.

In 2009, income from the ICC's six-year media deal with ESPN-Star, worth over US$1 billion, kicks in, and while the game's big boys will still keep the lion's share, the rest will see substantial increases in their incomes.

Continue reading "Future bright beyond the Test world"

A fascinating report in The National highlights that while the IPL might bring massive rewards, most international players, especially those outside the top flight, live a more modest existence.

UAE allrounder Khurram Khan reckons that it costs him money to play as he has to take unpaid leave from his job with Emirates airline.

"He might play a match, then be flying out on the night of the game to Melbourne on a 20-hour flight. Just imagine how hard that is. If he plays a four-day match, he would almost certainly then have a four-day job with his work to Melbourne, or Tokyo, or Jakarta.”

Much is spoken about the expansion of the international game, and if, as expected, proposals for a significant increase in funding for the Associates is approved when the ICC meets in June, then their progress should be further boosted.

But cash and goodwill can only go so far. What is widely agreed is that to improve, the leading Associates need to play more, and against the elite top ten Full Member countries. And that is where the problems come.

A casual glance at the international schedule will show that the major countries are on an almost constant global tour. In part this is because of the requirements of the Future Tours Programme, but more often than not the large gaps in that schedule are filled with lucrative one-day tours or tournaments.

In an ideal world, there would be time for India or England to undertake ambassadorial tours to Kenya or the Netherlands. But given the choice between a lucrative three-match series against commercially attractive opposition containing star names or a trip to a cricketing outpost in Africa or Europe, it's not a contest.

Click here for the full article

Warren Deutrom, the chief executive of the Irish Cricket Union, has warned that a failure to qualify for the next World Cup will have a seriously detrimental affect on leading Associates.

"Non-qualification for two out of the existing six ODI countries will have a materially detrimental effect on the profile of the sport in that country, therefore ability to attract finance, therefore ability to attract (and pay for) top teams to visit, therefore ability to tour abroad to play competitive cricket,, therefore ability to move forward on and off the pitch."

Click here for the full interview.

The number of people actively participating in cricket outside the Test-playing countries increased 17% in 2007, according to the ICC.

The research, carried out by the ICC's development program, was collated from 33 Associate and 58 Affiliate members. It showed that there were 338,051 male and female players in those countries in 2007, an increase of 49,158 on the previous year. Since 2002, when there were 144,047 participants, there has been a 135% rise.

Click here for the full story.

As revealed by Cricinfo last month, the 2011 World Cup will be shortened and the main victims of the change will be the Associate countries who will have their numbers cut from six to four.

"It is a move we both feared and expected and it's not great news for the Associates," Warren Deutrom, the chief executive of the Irish Cricket Union, told Cricinfo. "Neither is it a great vote of confidence in the ICC's own High Performance Programme.

Click here to tell us what you think of this? Is it the start of the gradual elimination of smaller countries from the World Cup or a necessary and welcome move?

Jersey became the 33rd country to be granted Associate membership at the ICC Annual Conference held last week at Lord's.

The decision comes after a successful 12 months for cricket on the island and makes Jersey the 11th European Associate Member joining the likes of Denmark, Ireland and Netherlands.

Cameroon, The Falkland Islands, Peru and Swaziland were awarded Affiliate membership, taking the total number of ICC members up to 101. Jersey was the only country to be granted Associate Membership.

The Falkland Islands were elected with only one dissenting voice. Argentina abstained in the week that marked the 25th anniversary of the end of the Falklands War.

	Jeremy Bray chose not to represent Ireland ... because he can earn more playing club cricket © Getty Images

Continue reading "Bray highlights issues facing Associate players"

A very rare high for Bermuda at the World Cup © Getty Images

A year or so ago, Bermudan cricket looked to be heading for great things. Despite the restrictions of a tiny population, the game, which has strong roots on the island, was thriving.

Continue reading "Another Caribbean crisis"

Martin Williamson has written an article which highlights the pressures players for Associate countries face as they compete with the budgets of the Full Members.

In expanding the game, the ICC has, rightly, offered more matches to the Associates. On top of any ODIs they can persuade Full Member countries to give them, as well as tournaments they arrange among themselves, they participate in the Intercontinental Cup, the World Cricket League and the four-yearly ICC Trophy. But that expansion has not taken into account that the players remain amateur.

The flaw in the ICC's plan is that the increased demands have not been backed by additional funding. In the year ending April 30, 2007, Scotland were scheduled to play 46 days of cricket (including warm-ups for tournaments) as a national side; the numbers for the other Associates are similar - Bermuda 45, Canada 43, Ireland 42, Kenya 37, Netherlands 24. That does include time spent preparing, travelling and acclimatising.

The direct funding they receive for that from the ICC amounts to US$215,000, of which $125,000 is not actually handed over to the boards but is retained by the ICC and used to offset other costs, such as paying for coaches and hosting training camps. Compare that with the lowest-ranked Full Member, Zimbabwe, who will receive around US$10 million with no requirement to account for how it is spent. In the same period, they had 37 days cricket scheduled. That really puts into perspective Ireland's achievement in Jamaica.

Will Luke and Andrew McGlashan have chosen their best XI from the Associates. Click here to see their choices and let us know what you think.

The 2007 edition of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack was published this week, and in it Tony Munro takes a look at life beyond the Test world.

Four new countries – Bhutan, Kazakhstan, Tonga and Swaziland – are included in this year’s Cricket Round the World section. This takes the total of countries, regions and territories featured since the feature began in Wisden 1993 to 107.

Steve Tikolo, Kenya's captain, has pleaded for more international exposure for his side, as well as the other leading Associates.

Kenya exited the World Cup after losing to England on Saturday, but Tikolo said that unless the major countries agreed to play the Associates, then the standards would never improve.

Continue reading "Associates need more high-profile matches"

Scotland have underlined their position at the top of the ICC Associate ODI rankings after good performances in the World Cricket League in Nairobi. Kenya, who beat Scotland in the final, are not included as they are part of the main rankings until 2009.

Scotland beta Netherlands, Canada and Ireland in the tournament, giving them a 69% win rate against other Associates, well clear of Netherlands in second place. Ireland ate third after a disappointing event, Canada are fourth and Bermuda fifth.

The ICC has announced the regional winners of the ICC Development Program Awards 2006 with Guernsey, Jersey and Ireland coming out on top for the European Region.

Continue reading "Guernsey, Jersey and Ireland big winners for Europe"

It won't get many column inches in the mainstream cricket press, but the World Cricket League, which started in Nairobi yesterday and continues into next week, features the best of the rest, the six sides just under the ten Test-playing countries. For the two finalists, the rewards are bountiful - a place among the big boys in the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa this September, along with $250,000. For countries used to surviving on annual handouts from the ICC of less than $200,000, that's big money.

Continue reading "A long way from home"

A very interesting article in Kenya’s Standard about Henry Osinde. Born and raised in Uganda, he is back in neighbouring Kenya this week to play in the World Cricket League. But he has turned his back on Uganda and is now a member of the multinational Canadian side.

Without a touch of irony, he said that "Uganda cricket has a good development programme, but the problem is to get it to next level." He added, with another turn of the knife, that he had no plans to visit to offer any support.

An interesting article in the Montreal Gazette on immigrants in Canada who are spreading the cricket gospel. But this raises a bigger question … if the game is played predominantly by first-generation expats, can it be said that game is growing?

Since beating higher-ranked Bangladesh at the last World Cup in South Africa in 2003, Canada has stepped up recruitment of immigrants like him, as well as Canadians living abroad, to play on the team.

And with organizers spending more money on the sport - paying for cricket classes in high schools and colleges, building indoor arenas in Ontario and investing in such specialized training equipment as automatic bowling machines - the future of Canadian cricket looks bright.

Martin Williamson looks at what message is being sent to the Associates by the ICC deciding to appoint Darrell Hair to officiate in their tournament ... and do the ICC even know where they stand.

Continue reading "Mixed messages from Dubai"

Martin Williamson reviews the Kenya-Bermuda one-day series and looks at what the games mean for both sides

Although the three-match one-day series between Kenya and Bermuda hardly registered on world cricket's Richter scale, in the battle for supremacy among the game's second string it had greater significance. And with the World Cup less than four months away, it provided a much-needed fillip to the Kenyans but left Bermuda with many more questions than answers.

The 3-0 scoreline does not flatter Kenya who outbatted and outbowled Bermuda, and who certainly looked the far more professional and fitter side in the field

Continue reading "Associates heading in opposite directions"

According to CricketEurope, the ICC will expand the World Cricket League to five divisions:

The leading five European nations have already won places in the first three divisions: World Cup qualifiers Ireland, The Netherlands and Scotland in Division 1 (which will take place in Kenya in January-February next year), Denmark in Division 2 (planned for Namibia in November 2007), and Italy in Division 3 (planned to take place in the USA in summer 2007).

But with an eight-team Division 5 tournament now planned for the first half of 2008, five places in which are assigned to the next ranked country in each region, Norway are guaranteed a slot, along with Afghanistan, Argentina, Botswana and the Cook Islands.

The three remaining places will be allocated by the ICC Development Committee when it meets in December, and those allocations will be based on the rankings of the next group of countries. This means that Jersey, runners-up to Norway in this year’s European Second Division tournament, and possibly even Germany, who finished third, will be competing with The Bahamas, Panama, Nepal, Singapore, Mozambique, Zambia and Japan for those last three positions.

Read the full story at cricketeurope.net

The ICC, Melbourne Cricket Club and Cricket Victoria have joined forces to establish an equipment drive event for the ICC’s East Asia-Pacific (EAP) Region at the Boxing Day Test between Australia and South Africa. Pads, bats - and in particular, balls - are sometimes scarcely available (or too expensive) and with the game's increasing popularity in the region, organisers hope the public will donate their old equipment to a worthy cause:

The initiative calls on all Victorians to donate their unwanted cricket gear by bringing it with them to the MCG. A collection point will be set up outside Gate 6 on days one, two and three of the Boxing Day Test. The equipment will be distributed to countries such as Fiji, Cook Islands, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu.

The ICC's Winter Training Camp has been about more than simply improving players from the six Associate countries to have qualified for the 2007 World Cup, and the rewards are there for all to see. As Richard Done, the high-performance manager, explained:

The future continued development of Associate and Affiliate countries depends not just on the improvement of playing standards but also on the continued improvement of all parts of the cricket support network. Coaching is a key element of this process.

There is real evidence that the players from Bermuda, Canada, Holland Ireland, Kenya and Scotland will benefit from their participation.