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Should cricket aspire to be a 'global game' or not?

D

Dazinho

School Boy/Girl Captain
Hiya - this one occurred to me as I'd seen a bit of the world cup qualifiers and it'll be sad to see some 'established' nations not there. But the drama between Scotland and Netherlands in particular was an eye-opener.

i guess the question is similar to that faced by rugby league back in the day - is expansion an agenda that cricket 'should' be following?

I've been disappointed by the fact that since getting test status (which I thought they deserved at the time) Ireland appear to have regressed slightly if anything. Bangla were pretty poor for years too and took a considerable time to get any better.

So...if Scotland and the Netherlands were given test status would it simply dilute the standard? Or be good for the game in expanding it?

Part of me wonders if we missed an opportunity with Kenya, another part thinks they 'lucked out' and had a 'golden generation' never to be repeated.

Thoughts appreciated as always - thanks in advance.
 
Silver Silva

Silver Silva

International Regular
There is a big reason why Irish Cricket has regressed ..

From 2005-2015 the Irish group of cricketers who ultimately led to Ireland getting Test Status in 2017 were able to access County cricket just like any other English player .

For example the side that toppled England at the 2011 CWC had 8 players who were in County Cricket ..

After they gained Test Status the ECB enforced their rule that no players from Test playing nations can be seen as home grown players , meaning Ireland would have to develop their own FC system and players without the assistance of County ..That FC competition has been difficult to get off the ground for Ireland which I think long term is going to affect Ireland even more .
 
SillyCowCorner1

SillyCowCorner1

Moooo
Silver Silva said:
There is a big reason why Irish Cricket has regressed ..

From 2005-2015 the Irish group of cricketers who ultimately led to Ireland getting Test Status in 2017 were able to access County cricket just like any other English player .

For example the side that toppled England at the 2011 CWC had 8 players who were in County Cricket ..

After they gained Test Status the ECB enforced their rule that no players from Test playing nations can be seen as home grown players , meaning Ireland would have to develop their own FC system and players without the assistance of County ..That FC competition has been difficult to get off the ground for Ireland which I think long term is going to affect Ireland even more .
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Also, Covid hit their development really hard
 
N

number11

State Regular
No. T20 should be the globalized format. Test cricket should be kept to the 8 proper teams. No one [fans or players] really values runs/wkts against Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Ireland or Zimbabwe [now]. They are never going to be test class. The 8 have pedigree and may go through cycles but the source material is there. Others don't have that.

Take England, I recall in 1999 when they were ranked dead last in tests. But the quality ultimately showed up again.

Be honest- when evaluating players you all exclude stats v minnows.
 
Coronis

Coronis

International Coach
number11 said:
No. T20 should be the globalized format. Test cricket should be kept to the 8 proper teams. No one [fans or players] really values runs/wkts against Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Ireland or Zimbabwe [now]. They are never going to be test class. The 8 have pedigree and may go through cycles but the source material is there. Others don't have that.

Take England, I recall in 1999 when they were ranked dead last in tests. But the quality ultimately showed up again.

Be honest- when evaluating players you all exclude stats v minnows.
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Pretty sure the same was thought about many of the nations at one point. NZ in particular comes to mind.
 
L

loterry1994

International Debutant
I don’t know about global but they should definitely work on getting those associate nations up. And try to build around them. Teams like zimbabwe you barely hear from them anymore then next 5-10 years should be about building countries like that and Afghanistan for example
 
N

number11

State Regular
Coronis said:
Pretty sure the same was thought about many of the nations at one point. NZ in particular comes to mind.
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That's not quite a 1/1 comparison. Back then the game was much more amateurish. In the modern era new teams have tons of resources lavished on them and play loads (ref: BD). They will never be an elite test side - they don't have the FC infrastructure or the cricketing culture to make it.
 
Coronis

Coronis

International Coach
number11 said:
That's not quite a 1/1 comparison. Back then the game was much more amateurish. In the modern era new teams have tons of resources lavished on them and play loads (ref: BD). They will never be an elite test side - they don't have the FC infrastructure or the cricketing culture to make it.
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People thought NZ would never be an elite test side in the 00’s and look where they ended up.
 
Y

Yeoman

U19 Captain
Bangladesh, and other nations before them, took a while to find their feet in Test cricket but are finally improving. They do however have a numerically strong player base and national enthusiasm for the game. If Afghanistan can overcome their political problems they may ultimately be able to follow suit.

Ireland, like Zimbabwe before them, were in my view prematurely promoted on the basis of success in ODIs. The player base in each case was small and it would seem unlikely that either will be a force in Test Cricket.

The other associate nations, like their counterparts in Rugby League tend to be heavily comprised of players who grew up in cricket playing countries. While they may have short term success it seems unlikely that cricket will find acceptance among the bulk of the population.
 
N

number11

State Regular
Coronis said:
People thought NZ would never be an elite test side in the 00’s and look where they ended up.
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They were regularly competitive in thr 80s through Hadlee/Crowe etc and prior still threw up the odd outstanding player. BD are terrible, and the newer lot don't merit serious consideration.
 
Y

Yeoman

U19 Captain
Even at their peak, Ireland’s ‘golden generation’ were probably better suited to ODIs than tests (had they played them), though I saw many of them in county cricket. They lacked an incisive bowling attack. I suspect that Kenya, as raised by a previous poster, would have gone the same way.

Zimbabwe arguably over-performed in the 1990s given their resources, though their base was shallow and was broken up by the political problems of the early 2000s.
 
D

Dazinho

School Boy/Girl Captain
Yeoman said:
Even at their peak, Ireland’s ‘golden generation’ were probably better suited to ODIs than tests (had they played them), though I saw many of them in county cricket. They lacked an incisive bowling attack. I suspect that Kenya, as raised by a previous poster, would have gone the same way.

Zimbabwe arguably over-performed in the 1990s given their resources, though their base was shallow and was broken up by the political problems of the early 2000s.
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Zimbabwe had a good team in the late 1990s to be fair, was tragic how politics ruined them.
 
Flem274*

Flem274*

123/5
The door should be open to anyone who wants a go. Anything else is just selfish and snobbery.

Sports take off in countries through a spark that creates grassroots support (say, a big win or qualifying for a big event) and then a heavy push by the local board to make the sport as accessible as possible to a child in school or adult social league and provides the best coaching possible for those aiming higher.

Many associates have the base infrastructure to be better at any sport than most of our test nations. Australia, England and New Zealand will be respectable at any sport they try in bulk because you can just go down to the park, play it and if you're any good there are clear and cheap pathways to move up the ranks. India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, West Indies and South Africa in places all have some pretty huge barriers for players and tbh bigger challenges to tackle in general than their test cricket ranking.

Once New Zealand actually ****ing tried to provide domestic facilities that resembled international cricket, results improved to the level they always should have been at because contrary to the excuses our board trot out, we have some huuuuuge generalised national advantages over most test sides. To take a more expensive example, once New Zealand invested in a local high quality 'wings and slicks' series for racing in the early 00s, the numbers of kiwi professional race drivers exploded and the days of an ATG talent like Scott 'arguably still top 5 in the world despite being 42' Dixon bulldozing through despite the obstacles are hopefully over. Most test countries can't do that because there are too many other barriers to getting a pile of Sri Lankan or even (the most talented) Indian kids on the grid.

The Netherlands are actually a great example of a country who could become a powerhouse if cricket can capture the public imagination. Ireland are too, and if the ICC worked alongside them rather than put up barriers to them they would already be a reasonable lower table side imo. Look at how Afghanistan, despite being a literal warzone, have already produced some genuine talent that would likely be very solid test players if they were born in SENA especially. The talent is there and the enthusiasm is growing in associate nations, they just need a hand rather than a "test cricket and world cups only for us thanks go away."
 
F

Fuller Pilch

Hall of Fame Member
number11 said:
No. T20 should be the globalized format. Test cricket should be kept to the 8 proper teams. No one [fans or players] really values runs/wkts against Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Ireland or Zimbabwe [now]. They are never going to be test class. The 8 have pedigree and may go through cycles but the source material is there. Others don't have that.

Take England, I recall in 1999 when they were ranked dead last in tests. But the quality ultimately showed up again.

Be honest- when evaluating players you all exclude stats v minnows.
Click to expand...
That's silly. Bangladesh have won more tests in NZ in the last 10 years than India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka put together and produced an ATG this century in Shakib while the Windies haven't produced any ATGs this century.
 
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