barmyarmy submitted a new article
Second XI - Cricket in its outposts reviewed
As far as the ICC is concerned the World Cup proper is just starting. Unlike previous editions no associate has had the temerity to gate-crash the later stages, and now the “World” cup can be contested by the countries who matter; those who run the game. Reading Second XI, the excellently researched and entertainingly written account of cricket beyond the full members, you might start to suspect that this is all part of an ICC masterplan. Indeed it gets to the point where you are boiling with anger about what a few entitled suits are doing to stop the spread of the game.
As someone who has been a regular visitor to Raeburn Place over the years and who plays club cricket in Scotland, I had generally swallowed the line that the ICC were doing what they could to develop the game, and there were just too few countries able to reach international standard. Instead I contented myself with watching Ryan Watson smash a brilliant century against Somerset, the sublime brilliance of Rahul Dravid and the intercontinental cup wins that basically labelled you best of the rest, but meant nothing more. Like the football team I figured that we were doomed to qualify for the occasional world cup and struggle to win a game once there. Reading Second XI, I find this is precisely what the ICC wants me to think. I am to be grateful that my side might get tossed an occasional match against an under-strength touring side and I’m supposed to support a full member if I want to watch test cricket being played.
Reading Tim Wigmore and Peter Miller makes you realise that so much more is possible. Associate teams play in a system where winning and losing has real consequences for funding and the future of the game in their country. They play in a system with a glass ceiling for the top sides and a lack of opportunity for the bottom ones. They play in a system where full members ranked above them can simply refuse to schedule fixtures in order to avoid getting beaten. As I Scotland fan I’ve been complacent about this and the ICC has taken advantage of that. Ireland are starting to show that maybe the way to get attention here is to get angry. For years I’ve read writers like Andrew Nixon railing against the system and I haven’t paid enough attention. This matters for everyone, not just supporters of associates but lovers of cricket.
Second XI is essentially split into two parts for each of the nations selected. The first delves into the historical context and the second brings us up-to-date with recent travails. It’s a reminder that cricket in these countries hasn’t been started by an ICC task force but instead has roots as old or older as many of the full members. Clearly this is partly a legacy of empire and the British diaspora, cricket played by expats but it goes beyond that. The recent reading in most cases makes for the most depressing part as time and again, lack of fixtures, lack of competitive opposition and lack of opportunity stifles growth. As the book details, the ICC development programme has actually done many wonderful things with limited resources, and corruption amongst local officials, lack of government support or simply bad governance cannot be blamed on them. What can though is reducing funding to line the pockets of England, Australia and India, reducing the number of teams at the flagship event, rejecting the opportunity to make cricket an Olympic sport and refusing to host major tournaments outside of the big three. The mania for maximising commercial rights had led the ICC to forget that they are custodians of the game and not its owners.
Overall though Second XI is a hopeful and optimistic book. To hear about the success of the Chinese women’s team or to see cricket being played in the streets of Papua New Guinea is to entertain the hope that the game can and will grow strong still. To believe that enough fans will stand up to the ICC and say “enough”. Buy, read, understand and act. Because it’s our game too.
Second XI - Cricket in its outposts by Tim Wigmore and Peter Miller is out now and available from Amazon.
Continue reading the Original Post.
Second XI - Cricket in its outposts reviewed
As far as the ICC is concerned the World Cup proper is just starting. Unlike previous editions no associate has had the temerity to gate-crash the later stages, and now the “World” cup can be contested by the countries who matter; those who run the game. Reading Second XI, the excellently researched and entertainingly written account of cricket beyond the full members, you might start to suspect that this is all part of an ICC masterplan. Indeed it gets to the point where you are boiling with anger about what a few entitled suits are doing to stop the spread of the game.
As someone who has been a regular visitor to Raeburn Place over the years and who plays club cricket in Scotland, I had generally swallowed the line that the ICC were doing what they could to develop the game, and there were just too few countries able to reach international standard. Instead I contented myself with watching Ryan Watson smash a brilliant century against Somerset, the sublime brilliance of Rahul Dravid and the intercontinental cup wins that basically labelled you best of the rest, but meant nothing more. Like the football team I figured that we were doomed to qualify for the occasional world cup and struggle to win a game once there. Reading Second XI, I find this is precisely what the ICC wants me to think. I am to be grateful that my side might get tossed an occasional match against an under-strength touring side and I’m supposed to support a full member if I want to watch test cricket being played.
Reading Tim Wigmore and Peter Miller makes you realise that so much more is possible. Associate teams play in a system where winning and losing has real consequences for funding and the future of the game in their country. They play in a system with a glass ceiling for the top sides and a lack of opportunity for the bottom ones. They play in a system where full members ranked above them can simply refuse to schedule fixtures in order to avoid getting beaten. As I Scotland fan I’ve been complacent about this and the ICC has taken advantage of that. Ireland are starting to show that maybe the way to get attention here is to get angry. For years I’ve read writers like Andrew Nixon railing against the system and I haven’t paid enough attention. This matters for everyone, not just supporters of associates but lovers of cricket.
Second XI is essentially split into two parts for each of the nations selected. The first delves into the historical context and the second brings us up-to-date with recent travails. It’s a reminder that cricket in these countries hasn’t been started by an ICC task force but instead has roots as old or older as many of the full members. Clearly this is partly a legacy of empire and the British diaspora, cricket played by expats but it goes beyond that. The recent reading in most cases makes for the most depressing part as time and again, lack of fixtures, lack of competitive opposition and lack of opportunity stifles growth. As the book details, the ICC development programme has actually done many wonderful things with limited resources, and corruption amongst local officials, lack of government support or simply bad governance cannot be blamed on them. What can though is reducing funding to line the pockets of England, Australia and India, reducing the number of teams at the flagship event, rejecting the opportunity to make cricket an Olympic sport and refusing to host major tournaments outside of the big three. The mania for maximising commercial rights had led the ICC to forget that they are custodians of the game and not its owners.
Overall though Second XI is a hopeful and optimistic book. To hear about the success of the Chinese women’s team or to see cricket being played in the streets of Papua New Guinea is to entertain the hope that the game can and will grow strong still. To believe that enough fans will stand up to the ICC and say “enough”. Buy, read, understand and act. Because it’s our game too.
Second XI - Cricket in its outposts by Tim Wigmore and Peter Miller is out now and available from Amazon.
Continue reading the Original Post.
