2018 REVIEW

Doing more with less - the Associates' year

by Bertus de Jong • Published on

Scotland, unquestionably the leading Associate on the field in 2018, will nonetheless look back on the year with mixed feelings. © Getty

New stars, new competitions, and above all, new certainties has been the theme of the year in Associates cricket. 2018 was a year that began with a number of open questions regarding the future shape of international cricket outside the Full Member bubble, most are now closed, though the answers will please some more than others.

The long-expected overhaul of the Associates 50-over competitive structure was finally confirmed, with the decade-old World Cricket League making way for the new CWC League system set to commence after next year's World Cup. The new structure, hashed out in consultation with Associate boards, was designed around a bang-for-your-buck principle, looking to ensure as much international cricket as possible for the 19 Associates taking part as economically as possible.

The new CWC League 2 will see seven of the top eight Associates compete in a series of trilaterals with the eventual winner getting a shot at replacing (or joining) the Netherlands in the following CWC Super League, currently comprising the Dutch and the 12 Full Members. Meanwhile, one rung below the CWC Challenge League will see the next 12 Associate (divided into two groups of six) compete in three six-team mini-tournaments over the course of the league.

The new structure provides more cricket for some, but uncertainty for others. For the 73 ICC members falling outside the new competition, it is unclear whether there will be any formal 50-over international cricket at all. A hastily-retracted press release seemed to indicate that qualification for the Challenge League would be based on T20 results, in keeping with the ICC's pivot toward the shorter format as their preferred vehicle for development outside of a select few countries.

The announcement of universal T20I status for all of the ICC's members from next year (and already rolled out in July for women's internationals) was the most eye-catching component of that strategy, though the expansion of the qualifying process for the World T20 (now re-branded the T20 World Cup) was of more immediate significance for most of the ICC's lower-ranked members.

The Sub-Regional Qualifier tournaments played across the world this year delivered few surprises in terms of the teams making it through to next year's Regional Finals, but nonetheless saw a number of countries long excluded from ICC competition return to competitive international cricket, some after absences spanning well over a decade.

For fans of the longer form of the game, however, the news was less good. Concerns over the future of the Intercontinental Cup, the ICC's international four-day competition for top Associates, proved well founded. Even as newly-ascended Full Members Afghanistan and Ireland took their first steps in Test cricket the competition that served as the foundation for their Test ambitions has been, if not abolished, at least significantly de-funded. Aspiring Test Nations are now faced with the prospect of a still nebulous, opt-in and pay-to-play competition as their only source of regular first-class fixtures.

The quasi-demise of the Intercontinental Cup is just one of the consequences of the ever more disproportionate share of ICC surplus revenue being distributed directly to Full Members, only exacerbated by Afghanistan and Ireland's elevation, the detrimental effectsof which are becoming ever clearer, with calls for reformstill falling on deaf ears.

Equally disheartening, there is little prospect of any change to the much-criticised decision to restrict the 50-over World Cup to 10 teams. The game's most high-profile event next year will be the first not to feature a single Associate side, and despite the degree of competitiveness on show at the World Cup Qualifier there is as yet little sign of ICC reconsidering for 2023. The Qualifier itself, held in Zimbabwe in March, would have made a fine showcase for Associates cricket but was again largely played effectively out behind closed doors, with only 10 of the 34 matches broadcast. Fans around the world were denied the chance to see Nepal's historic win over Papua New Guinea to win ODI status, or Scotland's dramatic last-ball tie with Zimbabwe in their doomed campaign to secure a berth at the World Cup.

Scotland, unquestionably the leading Associate on the field in 2018, will nonetheless look back on the year with mixed feelings. Though they would narrowly miss out on qualification for next year's World Cup in England (thanks in no small part to two egregious LBW decisions and a lack of recourse to DRS at the Qualifier), the Scots will have plenty of happy memories to take from the last 12 months. Calum MacLeod's imperious 157* against Afghanistan at Bulawayo, which nearly sent the eventual champions out of the tournament, would be the standout in a normal year. This year however, it wasn't even the stand-out MacLeod. His unbeaten 140 in Scotland's one-off ODI against England at the Grange underpinned their extraordinary win over the world's number one ODI side, in what must be a strong contender for match of the year. Though Kyle Coetzer's side couldn't replicate that success in their two match T20 series against Pakistan later in the summer, they would go on to consolidate their claim to the title of Associate top-dogs with an unbeaten triumph at the Euro T20 Tri-Series in the Netherlands over Ireland and the Netherlands.

After the successes of 2017 that saw them reclaim ODI status and clinch the World Cricket League Championship - and with it the sole Associate spot in the coming ODI Super League - the Netherlandshad a more subdued 2018. A disappointing World Cup Qualifier saw the Dutch fail to make the super six stage, and on return they would suffer a further blow. After leading his side back from the wilderness of WCL Division 2 to top the WCL, reclaim ODI status and secure a place in the inaugural Super League, the Netherlands iconic skipper Peter Borren nonetheless felt compelled to step down, bowing out in sight that promised land and handing the reins to Pieter Seelaar.

Having been kept waiting for the additional funding attached to winning WCLC the Dutch struggled to finance further fixtures in 2018. Other than the Qualifier and the T20 triangular against Ireland and Scotland, a single T20 against Nepal at Lords and two home ODIs against the same opposition comprised their entire international calendar for the summer, and like the Scots they had no budget for post-season tours. A return to Tier A of the development scorecard will likely improve their situation somewhat going forward, with a limited expansion of central contracts announced late in the year ensuring at least nine of the squad will start 2019 on professional or semi-pro contracts.

The United Arab Emirates are somewhat ahead of the Dutch in that respect, and the gradual professionalisation of the UAE set-up has born remarkable fruit in the past year. After a disappointing 6th place finish in the WCLC, Rohan Mustafa's side were put through the wringer at World Cricket League Division 2 but in large part thanks to Mustafa's own efforts won through to win the tournament and a place at the WC Qualifier. In Zimbabwe they notched up wins against the Netherlands and Papua New Guinea to make the super six stage, where they would go on to knock the hosts Zimbabwe out of the tournament, Rameez Shahzad and Mohammad Naveed starring as they bested the hosts by three runs in their first-ever win over a Full Member. It was not enough to make the contracted World Cup of course, but it would secure their ODI status for another cycle and set the tone for a successful year.

The UAE would cruise through the Asia Western Sub-Regional WT20 Qualifier unbeaten a month later, and topped the table at the Asia Cup Qualifier only to narrowly lose the final to Hong Kong. At the ACC Emerging Teams Cup the Emiratis put in another creditable performance, comfortably beating Bangladesh and only missing out on the semi finals due to rain and misfortune. At home visits from Australia and New Zealand were the highlights of a busy cricket calendar, whilst the second edition of the Emirates' franchise T10 League attracted worldwide attention. However a proposed second franchise league - the T20 X - failed to get off the ground, to the disappointment of many. With the Hong Kong Blitz (the only other T20 league with reserved spots for Associate players) also cancelled this year opportunities in franchise cricket remained hard to come by for Associates.

Nepal nonetheless saw their young legspinner Sandeep Lamichhane emerge as Associate cricket's latest global star, his player of the tournament winning efforts at the extraordinary World Cricket League Division 2 https://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/100479/wcl-division-two-nepal-cricket-kenya-sandeep-lamichhane-paras-khadka] interrupted by the news that he had been picked up by the Delhi Daredevils for the IPL. Lamichhane, who first came to prominence through the HK Blitz, has since gone on to pick up gigs at the CPL, APL, GT20 and the Big Bash.

The young leggie's personal success has been matched by that of his country this year, with wins against Hong Kong and PNG at the WC Qualifier seeing them secure ODI status for the first time together with a berth in CWC League 2 and an unbeaten run at the Asia Eastern Sub-Regional seeing them through to the Asian Regional WT20 Qualifier final next year. In between they picked up their first-ever ODI victory, besting the Dutch by a single run in the second of two ODIs at Amstelveen. Back at home no less than three T20 franchise leagues compete for the attention of Nepal's myriad cricket-lovers with the most high-profile, the Everest Premier League, attracting overseas stars such as Kevin O'Brien, Kyle Coetzer and Ryan ten Doeschate to the country.

The proliferation of privately-run leagues in Nepal is in part a product of the continued suspension of their ICC membership, however, with the Cricket Association of Nepal's readmission still held up by ongoing political and legal issues. Though the ICC have made an exception to allow Nepal to continue competing internationally despite the suspension and indeed have taken a hands-on approach in the running of the national team, Nepal's situation will have to be regularised eventually.

That said, being an ICC Member in good standing at associate level seems almost more hindrance than help given the ICC's indulgence of Nepal and investment in the USA, and word is the mocking question "What do we have to do to get suspended too?" is becoming a tired joke amongst Associate reps at ICC conferences.

The USA certainly seems to have benefited from the attention the ICC has lavished on the country since USACA was finally expelled entirely in 2017. Off field progress has been slow but steady, with a new board - USA Cricket - largely in place and expected to see the US rejoin the ICC next year. On the field team USA enjoyed a breakthrough year in 2018, comfortably winning through the North American WT20 Sub-Regional, and finishing runners-up at World Cricket League Division 3 in Oman - their best ever result in the WCL - keeping them in the running for a spot in CWC League 2 and the accompanying ODI status, which will be decided at the WCL's final tournament, Division 2 in Namibia next year.

Yet the success of what is a very expat-heavy USA side at Division 3 highlighted one of the least remarked-upon but perhaps most significant changes in the Associates competitive landscape this year, namely the abolition of the Development Criteria for eligibility and the removal of the number of the number domestically-produced players in the national team as a benchmark for funding in the new development scorecard. Though the development criteria were in fact lifted in 2017, the combined effects of these changes only really began to manifest on the field this year, with a marked trend of more home-developed sides struggling to compete.

Omanwas another team to benefit somewhat from the new regulations, though their resurgence after dropping down to Division 4 predates the changes, and owes at least as much to the growing profile and professionalisation of the game in the sultanate. In Bilal Khan they have arguably the most impressive seamer in the WCL in recent years, and the left-armer was instrumental in their victory at Division 3, their first WCL tournament on home soil. The quality of the new facilities at Al Amarat have also attracted the notice of top European Associates Scotland and the Netherlands, who will travel to Oman in the new year for a T20 quadrangular together with Ireland.

Hong Kongmeanwhile have had something of a sea-saw year, losing their ODI status at the WC Qualifier despite an impressive opening win over Afghanistan and dropping back to WCL Division 2, but winning through the Asia Cup Qualifier later in the year to represent the Associates at the tournament proper, where they turned heads with a remarkable display against India, as a 174-run opening stand between Nizakat Khan and young skipper Anshuman Rath threatened to script an extraordinary upset. Just three months later, however, news emerged that three Hong Kong players, Irfan Ahmed, Nadeem Ahmed and Haseeb Amjad, were facing charges related to match-fixing under the ICC Anti-Corruption Code. With the gradual increase in televised matches coupled with the proliferation of T20 leagues, the news highlighted the particular vulnerability of Associate Cricketers, who are generally both more accessible and less financially secure, to the predations of match-fixers.

Papua New Guinea were the other team to forfeit their ODI status after a poor showing at the World Cup Qualifier, though like Hong Kong they will have a chance to redeem themselves at WCL Division 2 come April. The top four of the six sides at Division 2 will qualify for CWC League 2 be awarded ODI status for the coming cycle, increasing the total number of ODI sides from 16 to 20.

Namibiaand Canada, having both narrowly missed out on a place at the Qualifier at the last Division 2, will be the other two sides chasing those slots. Neither can be said to have had a successful 2018, though Canada can at least look back with some satisfaction on the comparative success of the inaugural GT20 and with financial backers Mercuri pledging to continue pouring millions of dollars into the league each year (as well as a healthy fee direct to Cricket Canada) they can look forward to a fairly comfortable future regardless of the outcome of Division 2. For Namibia the picture is less rosy, with budgetary pressure forcing them to withdraw from South African provincial 50-over and 3-day competitions despite a successful run last season.

Looking ahead to 2019, there's no doubt the WCL's swansong tournament will be a highlight of the Associates calendar, with ODI status and four spots in the top Associate league on offer it will be arguably the most high-stakes WCL tournament yet. Added to that there's five Regional T20 Finals tournaments to look forward to, leading into the Global T20 World Cup Qualifier towards the end of the year, likely in October. Both the CWC Challenge League and League 2 are also scheduled to begin in the Summer, though no exact dates have yet been announced. For the top 20-odd Associates 2019 promises more competitive cricket than ever before, yet with the de-funding of the Intercontinental Cup and the Full Members continued adherence to the 10-team World Cup there is arguably less for them to plausibly achieve in the long term. Yet, it looks rather like the ladder to full membership has been pulled up behind the Afghans and the Irish, at least the Associate holding pen has been spruced up a little.

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