Irish chief urges ICC to rethink World Cup qualifying ruling

CRICKET IRELAND chief executive, Warren Deutrom, has warned a “concrete ceiling” will be imposed on the game here if the International Cricket Council (ICC) decides to prevent non-Test playing nations from participating in the 2015 World Cup.

Ireland open their campaign in the 50-over tournament against co-hosts Bangladesh in Dhaka tomorrow but the decision to reduce the playing field from 14 teams to 10 for 2015 has placed their future participation in jeopardy.

It remains to be seen if the associate countries — those ranked below the games traditional powerhouses — will be offered the opportunity to qualify or if it will be reserved for the likes of England, Australia, India and Pakistan.

“The 10-team tournament is something the ICC has already signed off for 2015,” said Deutrom.

“The big question is whether or not there is going to be qualification for that event. Because there are 10 full members that will mean that for the first-time full member countries would need to pre-qualify. Countries like us in the ICC’s High Performance Programme believe that is essential.”

This isn’t the first time that Deutrom has railed against the barriers placed in front of Irish cricket by global administrators. Two years ago he criticised the Test game’s “cosy club”. The former ICC employee said a failure to open the 50-over tournament up to qualifiers would be a retrograde step and a sad day for a sport and a tournament which, in Ireland and Kenya, has witnessed memorable giantkilling acts.

Ireland will be the last of the 15 teams to open their account in this year’s event when they take on Bangladesh and there will clearly be more than runs and wickets to play for over the weeks to come. The Netherlands came close to shocking England in the same group earlier this week but heavy defeats for Canada and Kenya have weakened the case of the game’s emerging nations going forward.

“I believe sheer embarrassment will force higher powers into acting if it is quite clear that there are more than 10 competitive one-day international countries,” said Deutrom, who flies out to the sub-continent on Monday.

Cricket is virtually alone in the direction it is taking with its World Cup. Other major global codes such as soccer, rugby, basketball have sought to expand their versions and embrace nations with no realistic chance of glory.

Ireland may be one of those nations without a realistic chance of claiming the trophy but they are undeniably the associate nation must suited to moving up the cricket ladder both in terms of their abilities on and off the pitch.

Deutrom, who represents all 95 associate members on ICC chief executives committee, will hope to push their case during his stay in India.

“They understand what Ireland has achieved and there may be a recognition that Ireland is slightly different from other associates,” said Deutrom. “That’s why the next six weeks is so important. We have to keep proving the point.

“If we were to perform poorly it would in many ways justify some of the decisions that have been made but there is a significant degree of support for the principles of meritocracy, in not pulling up the drawbridge and preventing countries’ progress.”