England / Frank Gregan / 13 March 2011 /

After losing to Bangladesh and Ireland England are on the verge of exiting the World Cup. Those two may yet be in the next one but the ICC has vowed to make it a more elite tournament. Is that good news for the game or not, asks Frank Gregan.

As the group stage reaches its conclusion it's going to be a nail biting week for the England team and their supporters. They now know that quarter final qualification is no longer in their hands. If England don't beat the West Indies on Thursday, Andrew Strauss and his men will be like the rest of us, watching the games on the telly. But even victory might not be enough to save them if other results don't go their way ( if Bangladesh beat South Africa they'd also be out) and yet another World Cup will have slipped through their fingers.

So how do England find themselves in this mess? Have they once again not being able to cut it when confronted with the real class acts of 50 over cricket? If only that were the case, there might have been some consolation to be had, if England had fought valiantly against their peers but come up short.

The opposite is true. England beat the South Africans and came within a whisker of beating India, the tournament favourites and co-hosts, in an epic run chase that ended with honours even. England's problems have all came against the so-called minnows. The warning bells were clanging as England bowled at the Dutch with all the assurance of a kid taking his first bike ride without stabilisers but not even the most pessimistic Englishman envisaged the debacle that was Ireland.

It seems churlish to focus on the negatives after witnessing probably the most remarkable World Cup innings of all time as Kevin O'Brien smashed the likes of James Anderson and Graeme Swann attack all around the park. Ireland! Who would have believed it? England humbled by that cricketing hotbed - Ireland! What next? Defeat in four years time at the hands of the Isle of Man?

Apparently not because the powers that be seem to have decided that none of the 35 Associate Members (let alone Affiliated Members of whom there are 60) are going to feature in the 2015 World Cup finals after the ICC hinted that the event would likely only be contested by 10 teams, its 10 full members. It's a controversial decision and it's easy to see why the Associates are perplexed by it. Ireland have Associate Member status but for the majority of the four years leading up to this World Cup they have been ranked 10th in the world one-day rankings.

Would the World Cup really benefit from being a closed shop? Does the ICC not have a duty to promote the game in emerging cricketing nations by making the most prestigious one-day title open to all? A world title isn't a world title unless it's open to the world. Perhaps the ICC has been taking product branding advice from the International Baseball Federation!

Of course all 105 members can't compete in the finals but an elimination process could be put in place that ensures that the minnows are at least given an opportunity to compete for a qualifying spot. Llanelli are never going to win football's Champions League but if they win the Welsh title they get a shot at it. The elitism, the professional snobbery and the "sorry mate, can't come in here with trainers on" mentality is not good for cricket.

Ricky Ponting stated last week that he would like to see only "eight or ten teams in the finals." Spoken like a man who doesn't want to get his butt kicked by the Republic of Vanuatu! You can bet that Andrew Strauss concurs and would vote for an eight team tournament as it looks like he will be denied a slot in the quarter finals by the team ranked 9th in the world.

If you still believe in Father Christmas, the Easter Bunny and non-cricketing leprechauns then you'll be backing England to win the tournament at [15.5]. Perhaps a more realistic bet is to lay Bangladesh not to make the quarter finals at [2.18]. Now, how shall I start my letter. Here we go...

Dear Santa, please keep the Associate Members in the World Cup...

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