So this goes back to 2014, when just fresh from watching Germany beat Argentina at the end of an exhilirating FIFA World Cup I thought to myself when if ever we would ever get to see something similar for our beloved sport cricket. Well, the ICC put paid to those wishes by announcing their decision to contract rather than expand the most prestigious cricketing event to 10 teams post the 2015 World Cup, a decision I still call one of the most short-sighted and greed driven in the history of any sport of decent standing. Frustrated obviously, I began to put together hypothetical scenarios in my mind where we'd have qualifiers for each continent à la football and then a 32-team World Cup. I wasn't alone in this as @Aislabie also began his WC qualifiers around that time which were extremely fun to parttake in and inspired me to attempt my own version for the 2019 World Cup. I did rather well there and ran everything except for the World Cup itself, owing to reasons ranging from me going broke and the having to rebuild everything from scratch in my life such as a new business, and not to mention my passion for fitness which turned into an all-time high to the point where I was juggling boxing, athletic training, MMA, weightlifting all throughout the week in addition to laying the foundations to my new venture. I don't regret not running the World Cup here one bit as it proved beneficial in the long run for everything else in my life which wouldn't have been possible had cricket leagues not taken a backseat for a while.
Anyways, it's 2025 now and despite coming a long way since then I still can't quite resist the itch to get it done right this time for a change while I still can (so long as my old laptops still hold out anyways), and so that's exactly what I'll be doing here. My original idea wasn't to simply run a single World Cup edition like the 2019 one, but rather to run an All-Time Cricket World Cup featuring EVERY country to have ever taken our sport seriously or to have played it at the bare minimum to generate a scorecard at the very least. Why all-time you may ask, well it's because in the current scenario the result will be only too predictable given the shallow pool of talent outside of the established Test-playing nations to the point where it's quite reduntant to think of a winner other than one from the so-called 'Big Three' hegemony of Australia, India and England. But when you bring back the likes of Bart King, Ole Mortensen, Viv Richards, Carst Posthuma, George Headley, IL Bula etc to name a few to their respective nations, even those nations can no longer be taken lightly especially after you further sweeten the pot by relaxing eligibility rules to the extent where anyone with the right birth, residency, ancestry, passports, marriage or any such links becomes eligible too. Rather similar to my 2019 WC if those of you who were around that time can recall, but on a much much grander scale where no one - not even a team like Argentina or Mozambique can be taken lightly with a potential banana skin pretty much everywhere, just like I envisioned way back in 2014 when I daydreamed of a cricketing tournament to rival the competitiveness of international football.
Going all-time has also enabled me to throw up certain nations considered long extinct in the world of cricket who can prove a genuine threat here, which shall all be revealed in due time as I don't want to hand out too many spoilers already. This will also allow me to share the stories of the nations that became a victim of cricket's imperial and racist past, where cricket got a more than good head start on sports like football, rugby, baseball etc but were ultimately kept out by the shitestorm of a governing body coughed up by that white supremacist Abe Bailey who did little except lick England, Australia and South Africa's arses. Cricket could have easily had 120+ strong member nations today all competing well against each other if not for these short-sighted men who ruined any chance of spreading the game outside the confines of the British Empire. But alas, it is what it is.
Despite all this we may get the same old winners even here, or we may not, but they'll have the fight of their lives just trying to get there so whichever team emerges victorious will have truly deserved it in my eyes. I ran the 2019 WC qualifiers to the best of my ability, ran the Olympics for several seasons in the process learning much about the lesser known countries and people here still call the latter my best league, but this was always my dream league idea that I never got a chance to run until now.
Another area this will differ from my 2019 WC+Qualifiers is that I will be running this in the story-league format, which will allow me to get things moving at my own pace without having to wait unnecessarily long or having to compile piles of statistics for managers until the very end of a tournament which should ideally speed things up as this is an extremely ambitious project with a very high number of teams and matches being played overall. Although, I might change my mind regarding accepting managers later if I'm able to get as far as the actual World Cup. For now it will be much appreciated if those of you viewing take an active interest to follow some of the teams progress, and you may also give your ideas and suggestions regarding anything on the teams you are interested in following in the thread once this commences properly. Enough of my rambling now, let me show you how this is going to work:
Continental Zone
Direct slots
IC playoff spots
Teams
Africa
7
1
29
Asia
8+3
2
32+3
Americas NSC
5
0
20
Caribbean
6
1
22
Europe
14
1
38
Oceania/Pacific
3
1
9
Inter-Continental playoffs
2
-
(6)
Total
45+3
6
150+3
So basically, a total of 153 countries overall will part-take in the entire story of which 150 will participate in the qualifiers of their respective continental zones. India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have been excluded from the qualifiers by lieu of being appointed host nations for the All-Time Cricket World Cup which will follow FIFA's most recent format of 48 teams. As cricket's most populous region and one where even the least important matches are capable of generating a decent crowd I could think of no other region, and the fact that previous Cricket World Cups in this region have produced more upsets than any other and also nullified Australia's invincibility to a certain extent also counted in their favor. But first things first, we have the qualifiers to deal with starting with the Caribbean, Europe, Asia, Americas North/South/Central (NSC), Africa, Oceania/Pacific and lastly the Inter-Continental playoffs where teams that fail their regional qualifiers by a narrow margin get a second chance at qualfying for the World Cup finals.
The formats for each qualifier shall differ based on team count among other things, but this time I will not be including the knockout format to eliminate as many lesser teams as possible like I did in 2019. It took me more than 11 years to make the all-time player lists of these countries and to finally start this, and I plan to cherish every single team as they participate in their quest to conquer the all-time landscape. I don't know what the future holds in store but this could very well be my last great league idea as I have nothing else really planned in my mind following the conclusion of CL XXI and LAB XII; 13 years is a long time to be invested in any one thing and I would love to walk off into the sunset as far as leagues are concerned with a big one in the bag such as this. So I only ask you wish me luck and follow this thread!
The first set of World Cup qualifiers to be played will be the Caribbean qualifiers, styled as the Caribbean Cup, set in one of cricket's strongest regions and one etched in history due to the several prominent feats by the West Indies team over the years. As you might expect however, they won't be playing as a whole like they have done so for the past 100 years in the cricketing world and instead each individual island nation shall be left to stand up for it's own identity - something that in an ideal world should have happened long ago when the decline in performances started. A total of 22 teams have entered the competition with 6 direct World Cup finals berths at stake, comprising mainly of the English-speaking Caribbean, but with a few surprising add-ons in the very French region of Guadeloupe, the Dutch dependancy Aruba and most intriguingly Cuba. The latter was denied participation at the last minute in the Stanford 20/20 competition where it was set to participate in 2008 as a result of America's embargo and the disgraced Allen Stanford being an American citizen himself, but there shall be no such hurdles this time and cricket's almost nation shall finally get it's due in the All-Time Cricket World Cup Qualifiers. Cuba's inclusion also meant that they effectively traded places with the Cayman Islands, who were originally supposed to participate in the Caribbean region but were instead only too happy to take the comparitively easier route towards qualification via the Americas NSC (North/South/Central) qualifiers that shall be played at a later date.
Anguilla
Antigua & Barbuda
Aruba
Bahamas
Barbados
Belize
British Virgin Islands
Cuba
Dominica
Grenada
Guadeloupe
Guyana
Jamaica
Montserrat
Saint Kitts & Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent & the Grenadines
Sint Maarten
Suriname
Trinidad & Tobago
Turks & Caicos Islands
US Virgin Islands
Barbados, the land of the 3Ws, Sobers, Greenidge, Haynes and not to mention countless other legendary quicks that have led the West Indies to glory start as favorites, alongside the likes of Jamaica, Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago who are pretty much on par on paper. But limited overs cricket can be a fickle thing as proved in World Cups gone by, especially the only one in the Caribbean thus far where two unbelievably strong India and Pakistan sides faced humiliation at the hands of Bangladesh and Ireland; so with that in mind no team can really be underestimated as we look forward to seeing the greatest players from the Caribbean's formative and glory days reprise their roles once again, this time for their own respective nations and at the same time also get to witness long forgotten talents from the smaller island nations (eg Mindoo Phillip, Bam Charles, Len Harris etc) who never got a proper look-in as a result of regional politics, limited infrastructure or the plain bad luck of being born in the wrong place at the wrong time. This is the perfect place and the perfect setting right here, right now to see just how they stack up against the best of their region with a World Cup berth a stake.
(More information tomorrow as it's really late here)
Well this has the potential to become absolutely massive. I remember us sending thousands of PMs back and forth every time we found a link between some old-time player and a non-mainstream cricketing nation, and I'm delighted that this will finally all see the light of day
The fixtures of the Caribbean Cup, which shall serve as qualifiers for the All-Time Cricket World Cup for the Caribbean region have been announced, with three stages of qualification in place for the 22 teams involved. Aruba, Cuba, Guadeloupe and Turks & Caicos Islands will part-take in the first stage which is basically a preliminary round from which two of the four teams progress to the 20-team group stage. The second stage aka the group stages will see teams play each other once home/away, with the group winners gaining direct qualification to the World Cup finals and second placed teams progressing to the playoff stages. The playoffs involve the four second-placed teams facing off, from which two progress to the World Cup and a losers match to be played for a single Inter-Continental playoff berth available to this region.
Full list of fixtures
First stage
Guadeloupe v
Aruba at Les Abymes
Cuba v
Turks & Caicos Islands at Havana
**Winners advance to group stages
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Second stage
Group A
-
Team
Played
Won
Lost
Tie/NR
Points
NRR
-
Antigua & Barbuda
-
-
-
-
0
-
-
Barbados
-
-
-
-
0
-
-
Belize
-
-
-
-
0
-
-
British Virgin Islands
-
-
-
-
0
-
-
Sint Maarten
-
-
-
-
0
-
Barbados v
Sint Maarten at 3Ws Oval
Belize v
British Virgin Islands at Belize City
Sint Maarten v
Belize at Philipsburg
Antigua & Barbuda v
Barbados at Antigua
Belize v
Antigua & Barbuda at Belize City
British Virgin Islands v
Sint Maarten at Road Town
Antigua & Barbuda v
British Virgin Islands at Antigua
Barbados v
Belize at Kensington Oval
British Virgin Islands v
Barbados at Road Town
Sint Maarten v
Antigua & Barbuda at Philipsburg
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Group B
-
Team
Played
Won
Lost
Tie/NR
Points
NRR
-
Bahamas
-
-
-
-
0
-
-
Jamaica
-
-
-
-
0
-
-
Saint Lucia
-
-
-
-
0
-
-
Saint Vincent & the Grenadines
-
-
-
-
0
-
-
QLF 2
-
-
-
-
0
-
Jamaica v QLF 2 at Sabina Park
St Lucia v
St Vincent & the Grenadines at Gros Islet QLF 2 v
St Lucia at TBA
Bahamas v
Jamaica at Nassau
St Lucia v
Bahamas at Gros Islet
St Vincent & the Grenadines v QLF 2 at Arnos Vale
Bahamas v
St Vincent & the Grenadines at Nassau
Jamaica v
St Lucia at Sabina Park
St Vincent & the Grenadines v
Jamaica at Arnos Vale QLF 2 v
Bahamas at TBA
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Group C
-
Team
Played
Won
Lost
Tie/NR
Points
NRR
-
Anguilla
-
-
-
-
0
-
-
Montserrat
-
-
-
-
0
-
-
Saint Kitts & Nevis
-
-
-
-
0
-
-
Trinidad & Tobago
-
-
-
-
0
-
-
US Virgin Islands
-
-
-
-
0
-
Montserrat v
US Virgin Islands at Salem
St Kitts & Nevis v
Trinidad & Tobago at Basseterre
US Virgin Islands v
St Kitts & Nevis at Charlotte Amalie
Anguilla v
Montserrat at The Valley
St Kitts & Nevis v
Anguilla at Basseterre
Trinidad & Tobago v
US Virgin Islands at Trinidad
Anguilla v
Trinidad & Tobago at The Valley
Montserrat v
St Kitts & Nevis at Salem
Trinidad & Tobago v
Montserrat at Trinidad
US Virgin Islands v
Anguilla at Charlotte Amalie
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Group D
-
Team
Played
Won
Lost
Tie/NR
Points
NRR
-
Dominica
-
-
-
-
0
-
-
Grenada
-
-
-
-
0
-
-
Guyana
-
-
-
-
0
-
-
Suriname
-
-
-
-
0
-
-
QLF 1
-
-
-
-
0
-
Grenada v QLF 1 at St George's
Guyana v
Suriname at Providence QLF 1 v
Guyana at TBA
Dominica v
Grenada at Roseau
Guyana v
Dominica at Georgetown
Suriname v QLF 1 at Paramaribo
Dominica v
Suriname at Roseau
Grenada v
Guyana at St George's
Suriname v
Grenada at Paramaribo QLF 1 v
Dominica at TBA
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
**4 Group winners qualify for World Cup. 2nd placed teams to contest playoffs for last 2 berths and 1 Inter-continental playoff berth
Playoff stage
A2 v B2 at TBA C2 v D2 at TBA
*Winners qualify for World Cup. Losers to contest last availabl playoff berth
Loser of M1 v Loser of M2 at TBA
**Winner proceeds to inter-continental playoff. Loser eliminated
Honorary semi-finals
A1 v B1 at Sabina Park C1 v D1 at Trinidad
Honorary final
TBA v TBA at Kensington Oval
Once the qualification pathway is complete, the four group winners will contest 'honorary' matches against each other in the knockout format, because what is the point of having a tournament in one of cricket's most historic regions without ascertaining which one is the best of them. The playing squads of the participating nations will be announced shortly.
Great idea. Was going to PM you but it won't let me for some reason. If you want any help building a Wales squad, given the uniqueness of it within the uniqueness of our history withing the E(w)CB. Let me know and I'm happy to help.
George Headley: Good enough for the World XI, but not the Jamaican XVIII
The playing squads of all the 22 participating nations for the Caribbean Cup were announced, and needless to say there were a few surprises in store. To start things off, Barbados refused to pick a single specialist spinner in their squad and will instead rely on their galaxy of fearsome quicks complemented by versatile many-styled tweakers of Garry Sobers, who was also appointed captain with Frank Worrell turning down a chance to reunite with his comrades Everton Weekes and Clyde Walcott to instead captain his adopted nation Jamaica where he moved in 1947. The prospect of seeing the Three Ws back together again was a mouth-watering one, but fans will now have to settle for the next best thing i.e the two teams topping their respective groups and facing each other in the semi-finals where we might see Worrell pitted against his two former comrades.
Meanwhile, before even a ball had been delivered Jamaica already caused one of the competition's biggest stirs by dropping the legendary George Headley from their 18-strong squad. As perhaps the greatest Test match batter ever produced by the nation and known to most of the world as the "Black Bradman", his steep descent has been shocking to say the least for a man once regarded as a national hero in his native Jamaica, where even Bradman was referred to as the "White Headley" rather than the other way around. A reason behind the decision to drop him is said to be Worrell's availability for Jamaica as a "three-dimensional player who can excel in either disciplines", and also his own struggles to adapt to the 50-over format in the corresponding Legends At Battle, where Headley aggregated only 217 runs at 31.00 with just 1 half-century across two seasons. A Jamaican selector was quoted as saying "Mr Headley is without doubt the greatest Test batter in Jamaica. But that's just it, the format we are playing here is the 50-over format where he has noticeably struggled to bring out his best. So we have prefered batters with a proven record playing that sort of cricket this time, but the door is by no means shut as far as the World Cup goes. We will be closely watching his performances in the NSC region for Panama and a good performance there could help him win his place back."
Headley on the other hand seemed to have taken his exclusion a lot harder than the Jamaican selectors could have expected, almost immediately announcing his availability for Cuba, a country he resided in for several years prior to making his first-class debut and if reports are to be believed he will also captain the fledgling nation in the tournament. Cuba are placed in the preliminary round to face Turks & Caicos Islands, with the winner progressing to Group B which also features Headley's native Jamaica. The first game the latter play will be against the qualifying team from this game at Sabina Park, where if it's Cuba things will certainly get very interesting.
Alex Adams Lanville Harrigan Montcin Hodge
Shane Burton Chesney Hughes
Valentine Banks Jahmar Hamilton
Omari Banks Leon Carty Chaka Hodge
Cardigan Connor Charlie Hodge Ancel Hughes Eustace Proctor Kelbert Walters
Yannick Leonard Fabian Proctor Paulivar Rodgers
Michael Camacho Rahkeem Cornwall Enoch Lewis
Ralston Otto Richie Richardson Viv Richards
Dave Joseph Sylvester Joseph Devon Thomas
Eldine Baptiste Wilden Cornwall Ridley Jacobs
Curtly Ambrose Kenny Benjamin Winston Benjamin Alzarri Joseph Andy Roberts
Justin Athanaze
Shafeek Karmoddien Sherwayne Williams
Harry Gir Rafeek Karmoddien Gifton Wright
Dwayne Morrison Troy Grant
Eldon Harper Zakir Jaypersaud Rohan Thompson Everton Williams
Amir Rahaman Riyaad Mohammed
Lisa Harrison Asif Mohamed Brayan Khan
Julio Jemison Marc Taylor Rohan Parkes
Llewellyn Armstrong Narendra Ekanayake Ryan Tappin
Kervon Hinds Ivan Johnson Gregory Taylor
Abali Hoilett Jagnauth Jagroo Dwight Weakley
Gary Armstrong Marlon Graham Lee Melville Roderick Mitchell
Jonathan Barry Bhumeshwar Jagroo
Gordon Greenidge Desmond Haynes Roy Marshall
Seymour Nurse Clyde Walcott Everton Weekes
Shai Hope Collis King Garry Sobers
Denis Atkinson Bernard Julien Franklyn Stephenson
Keith Boyce Sylvester Clarke Wayne Daniel Joel Garner Wesley Hall Malcolm Marshall
Alex Oxley Conway Young Sunt Trumbach
Lawrence Bonner Bertie Ellis Clifford Inniss
Glenford Banner Chico Ellis Bernan Stephenson Kenton Young
Hamish Anthony Andrew Eusebe Matthew Jordan Vaughn Walsh Dane Weston
Larry Joseph Calvin Lewis
Trinidad's decision to opt for certain T20 mercenaries such as Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine, Evin Lewis and Lendl Simmons at the expense of old legends such as Jeffrey Stollmeyer, Clifford Roach, Gerry Gomez among others also raised a few eyebrows but not to the same extent perhaps as Jamaica dropping Headley, while the Clive Lloyd-led Guyana managed to convince England all-rounder Chris Lewis to leave behind the British Isles and drugs to represent his country of birth. These four nations no doubt will remain favorites for World Cup qualification and winning the Caribbean Cup, but there is still plenty of talent to go around in the lower-ranked Caribbean nations such as Anguilla with Cardigan Connnor, Omari Banks; Antigua led by the legendary Vivian Richards and possessing an enviable bowling lineup consisting of Ambrose, Roberts, the Benajmins (no relation); Dominica with the three Shillingfords; Bahamas with talented 1970s county all-rounder Ivan Johnson; Suriname who recalled several legends from the golden era of cricket in Nickerie in the 1920s & 1930s in Wim Anijs, Antoon Mansour, fast bowler Sam van Sichem; and even Montserrat who get to call upon the internationally uncapped yet WSC-capped Jim Allen, one of the greatest to never win the maroon cap for the West Indies. The battle for the final two or three slots could get really intense if all goes as planned.
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