give the wee fellas a chance

Irving Romaine - leading Bermuda's victory charge.

Related Links

Thinking Of England

By Tristan Holme

Plenty of people have been moaning about the inclusion of the minnows for cricket's greatest showpiece, wondering what is achieved by having them all there.

Latest of the lot is Michael Holding, who recently told the Royal Gazette in his deadly deep voice: "It does not make sense to me. What is gained by a team playing in the World Cup and getting absolutely hammered? In my opinion it is counter-productive."

Now I'll be honest and admit that until I looked at the World Cup fixtures a few months ago, I had no idea Bermuda even played cricket.

Holding feels that sides like this should not be able to earn a spot at the World Cup so easily, and that only the top ranked side from the minnows should join the Test nations in the tournament.

He may have a point, as the inclusion of seven sides without Test status has rendered the group stage almost completely unnecessary while extending the tournament's length to nearly two months.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out why this has been done though - obviously the ICC want to make as much money from their big showpiece as possible, even if the quality is degraded.

But the question is, does it serve the interests of cricket as a whole?

I feel that the expansion of the game should be encouraged as much as possible and that one must view this issue with a long term vision, something which Holding does not seem to be doing.

Sure, taking a hammering is not all that much fun, but the only way to learn is by playing the game, particularly at the highest level. Now I wouldn't recommend that the minnows play against the top guns on a regular basis, but allowing them into a tournament every four years doesn't seem like such a big ask.

If I think back to my beloved Zimbabwe and their fledgling years in Test cricket... Well, it wasn't too pretty. But only by playing against the big sides did the team make progress to the point of being able to compete.

(Pause as writer comes out of a dreamy haze involving memories of that emphatic first Test victory over Pakistan... it was by an innings, you know?)

Yes, so, anyway. I do believe that giving these sides a runout in the Caribbean will be beneficial to their cause in the long run and should therefore be encouraged.

Not to mention that every true sports fan enjoys backing an underdog, making them a vital subplot to any big event.

Their inclusion also means that the tournament will build in excitement as it progresses - the group games will be leisurely for the most part, but will lead up to a period of great drama in the Super Eights and then on to the semis and final.

Anyway that's what I reckon, but maybe I'm just glad to have an extra two weeks in the Caribbean thanks to countries I never even knew played cricket...