minnows in cricket

Last few weeks have heard a lot about how the format of ICC Champions Trophy and The ICC World Cup 2007 should have been different.. How minnows should have been kept out of it, and only the top 8-9 teams allowed to compete with each other. No doubt, the reasoning is logical, wherein you would want the showcase tournament in cricket to be extremely competitive, and hence keep the minnows out of it. However, spare a thought for these minnows. How are they ever going to become strong in this sport if they keep playing amongst themselves. I mean if Kenya keeps playing Holland and Zimbabwe, who the hell is going to benefit from that. Had this exclusion of minnows been demanded in 1932, we might never have been able to win the World Cup in 1983.. Had this been demanded in 1980s.. Sri Lanka might not have won the World Cup in 1996..

The fact of the matter is, if we want the sport to grow and become more competitive in future, we need to allow these teams some time to showcase their skill. Noone became an expert overnight, but given a chance, and some time...20-30 years hence, we would have a breed of these young nations giving us a run for our money.. And that will be really a competitive sport. Not one in which we are at spot 3-4 in 8 teams. Let them play, at the expense of our entertainment, and mind you, you do not need to watch them.. But the sport will become much more competitive and richer if we allow more guys to compete....