The history of sport is littered with stories of great underdog triumphs. It seems, however, that the ICC has taken the disappointing steps to prevent such stories from occurring in the future. Earlier this week they made the decision to cut the number of teams in the 2015 World Cup from 14 to 10. Those to miss out; Ireland, Kenya, Canada and the Netherlands.
As part of their announcement, the ICC did state that a qualification system will be implemented for the 2019 World Cup. But an eight-year period in the ODI wilderness will do sufficient damage to the minnows who have been cast outside of the sport's premier tournament.
What makes the decision more surprising is that it comes on the back of what was regarded by many as a very successful World Cup on the sub-continent. Few would doubt that the competition is still in need of restructuring to shorten its currently long, drawn-out format. This solution should not, however, be at the expense of the smaller countries. At very least a qualification process ought to be put in place for the 2015 tournament rather than making these nations wait for another four years before allowing them to play at the pinnacle of the 50-over game.
More than just financial repercussions
It must be recognised that these smaller nations are improving. More importantly, they will only be able to continue this progression by playing more cricket against the top opposition. Eight years with no guarantee of playing against the elite ODI teams on a regular basis will be of serious detriment to the quality of their play and their standing within the game. The financial repercussions will also be felt by those who are no longer going to be taking part in the tournament. They will play fewer ODI matches, their sponsorship and revenue will fall and the ever-present problem of the gap between the 'elites' and the 'minnows' will merely be exacerbated.
It is easy to see why a side like Ireland would be shocked and angered by the ICC's decision. Firstly, they are 10th in the ODI ranking, one place ahead of Zimbabwe who will be taking part in the 2015 World Cup. Moreover, Ireland enjoyed a successful World Cup. They beat England and were very competitive against both the West Indies and Bangladesh, far from just making up the numbers. Beyond the four teams who were at the recently concluded World Cup, this decision will also impact other sides like Scotland, who will also now struggle to secure the necessary opposition and finances to allow their game to improve.
No more giant killings
The ICC has sent an overwhelming negative message to those on the periphery of top flight cricket – you are expendable for the good of the game. They are collateral damage in the ICC's mission to reinvigorate what remains a dwindling format of the sport. As stated at the start of this piece, this is contrary to one of sports' greatest strengths. It is the 'David versus Goliath' moments that attract neutrals to big sporting competitions and the ICC are preventing such moments from taking place.
Admittedly, many of these matches involving the minnows will be predictable and one-sided but the same could be said of many sports. Football and rugby's World Cups see much smaller and weaker teams come against the best the sport has to offer. More often than not they will suitably dispatched but occasionally one of these teams will provide a memorable and historic giant-killing moment that warrants all of the previous beatings they received. The FA would not exclude teams from below League Two from entering the FA Cup, nor would FIFA cut the number of teams in their World Cup from 32 to only 24. Why, then, have the ICC pursued this course of action?
A Solution
A simpler solution for the ICC to have experimented with would have been to create more groups. Rather than having two groups of seven, why not allow an extra two teams to enter and have a standard format of four groups of four, with the top two sides progressing into a knock-out phase. That way each group would have two seeded countries and two unseeded countries in it (this would mean including Bangladesh and Zimbabwe within the minnows). Such a format would mean that the tournament could be opened up to an extra two sides as opposed to cutting it by four. It would also mean that the two teams who made it all the way to the final would only play six matches, unlike the nine matches that Sri Lanka and India had to play in this year's competition, thus shortening the tournament's length.
Ireland have said that they intend to contest the ICC's decision but it is unlikely that this is a fight they will win. In an attempt to take the necessary steps to help rejuvenate 50-over cricket, the ICC have alienated the smaller nations competing in the sport with potentially damaging consequences.