World T20 format leaves Ireland and associates out in the cold

For all its accomplishments, it seems there are still one or two little things the International Cricket Council struggles with. Like staging major international events, and supporting the development of the sport around the world. Which is unfortunate, since these are really the only two things it needs to do, and essentially comprise all four components of the ICC’s official ‘mission statement’:

“Provide a world class environment for international cricket

Deliver ‘major’ events across three formats

Providing targeted support to Members

Promoting the global game.”

The ICC’s latest ‘major event’ started in India last week, where eight teams have been fighting each other for the final two spots in what has been named the “Super 10” stage of the World T20, but should really just be known as “the World T20”. Officially, these preliminary matches were described as the “first round” of the competition. Unofficially, they were simply another bunch of qualifying games for the emerging teams, on top of the 51 they played in Ireland and Scotland last year.

One set were staged at the VCA stadium outside of Nagpur. Tickets weren’t actually available at the gate, but could be bought at the city’s old VCA ground, way back in the city centre, 10 miles and 40 minutes away. Which meant that on match day many fans were locked out of the ground, including a group who had travelled over from Scotland to support their team. The second set were taking place at the picturesque HPCA ground in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh. Which also happens to be the home of the BCCI’s honorary secretary, Anurag Thakur. A fine idea, but for the fact that, statistically, March is the city’s wettest month outside of the monsoon season and there were no reserve days scheduled.

In the end four out of the six games in Dharamsala were spoiled by rain, with one abandoned before a ball was bowled, and another before a result was possible. Unfortunately, these happened to both be crucial matches: Netherlands v Oman, and Ireland v Bangladesh. The Netherlands had already lost their opening game to Bangladesh by eight runs. The washout meant they were knocked out. So, a tournament they had spent the last year preparing for – they played the first of the 11 games in their qualifying campaign on July last year – was over after three hours of cricket. Likewise Ireland, who lost their opening match to Oman, were eliminated when their second match against Bangladesh was called off after eight overs.

The good news is that the Netherlands will likely get another shot at competing in a ‘major’ ICC event in 2020, because the World T20 no longer takes place every two years, but every four. Ireland are at least allowed to try and qualify for the 50-over World Cup, which has been cut down to 10 teams. To do it, they will likely need to win through a qualifying competition against three other teams placed between 9th and 12th in the ICC’s ODI rankings, one of whom may well be Bangladesh. Which just happens to be where the qualifying tournament is being held. As for the Dutch, their captain Peter Borren was, understandably, pretty fed up. “Guys have put a lot of work into this campaign,” he said. “We sit here now after playing three hours of cricket against Bangladesh, where we came up short. It’s extremely disappointing.”

Borren explained that his biggest problem now was going to be how best to persuade his young players to stick around for another four years, on the chance that they’ll have better luck next time. He spoke about his bowler Paul van Meekeren, who is 23. Van Meekeren delivered all of six overs in this tournament, the most by any of the Netherlands’ bowlers. In all, he took six for 28. “It’s pretty hard to tell a guy like Paul van Meekeren, for example, who bowls four overs, gets two for 17 against Bangladesh, that there might be another opportunity, if we get really, really good cricket over three-four years’ time. It’s pretty tough.” In the meantime, Van Meekeren and his team-mates have two international matches to prepare for later this year, against Nepal and Afghanistan.

The one positive aspect of the World T20 format is that it had the unintended effect of gathering together so many agitated players in the same place at the same time. Borren's was only one of a series of gloriously ornery press conferences held by the competing teams. The Irish skipper, William Porterfield, also joined in: "The ICC has the tournament in two phases because they will lose a lot of revenue if one of the 'top nations' go out to any of us in the early rounds." Porterfield spoke up on this very issue during the World Cup last year. He says that his words fell "on deaf ears". Worse than that, "after the last World Cup there were quite a few people at the top table who were quite happy that we missed out on run rate. It makes it a bit easier for them to ignore all the comments and let it die over time."

Then there was Scotland's captain, Preston Mommsen. "Since the 2015 World Cup I have played in one ODI match – in 12 months," Mommsen said after his team lost to Zimbabwe. "So, you tell me how I'm going to improve my skills and develop as a cricketer." The match was, he pointed out, the first he had played against Zimbabwe in his six-year career. On Sunday, after Scotland had beaten Hong Kong, Mommsen added: "I think if you're having a qualifying tournament for a World Cup, then it needs to be a qualifying tournament, not a qualifying tournament for another qualifier. I think that's unfair." Between the three of them, Mommsen, Porterfield, and Borren have done their countries proud. Trouble is that as soon as the tournament starts this Tuesday afternoon, their words will be largely forgotten. And by the time it ends on April 3rd, their participation will be a footnote.

There are, Borren said, many good people working at the ICC. “But maybe above them there is a sort of malaise towards associate cricket. To grow further in the game, we always hear it is not commercially viable,” Borren said. “To be honest there is money somewhere. There is a lot of money in cricket … we don’t need that much. We are not looking for millions and millions of dollars. Just a very small percentage of this huge amount.” The Netherlands joined the ICC in 1966, so this is their 50th year of membership. “‘People keep saying ‘fair enough’, ‘fair enough’, but there is no real change,” Borren says. “That can be extremely frustrating. Real change would be welcomed in the world of cricket.” Borren was part of the team that beat England at Lord’s in the World T20 in 2009. And the team that beat England again at Chittagong in the World T20 in 2014. He was watching the highlights of that match just the other day. “We think, ‘Hang on, everyone likes watching that, everyone likes watching new teams do well, you know – give us the opportunity.”

Let the last word go to Borren. He has earned it. On Monday evening, he sent a good luck message to Afghanistan, one of the two teams to make it through. “Good luck to @ACBofficials in the wt20. Thank goodness the tournament won’t be spoiled by too many of those pesky ‘associate’ teams.”

(Guardian service)