Minnows Miss Out

Rahul Sharma, the 42-year-old Hong Kong captain who8217;s played Ranji cricket for Delhi, probably best assessed the position of his team, the UAE, and Bangladesh, the three underpowered sides. It was a question of trying to be competitive; if that was achieved, as with Kenya in CWC03, an upset might occur.

Sharma also alluded to the dangers within the game in Asia of small nations battling to go the distance with the four Test countries.

Syed Abid Ali, the UAE coach, in part agreed with Sharma8217;s thinking but also felt that there should have been a pre-Asia Cup tournament to sharpen skills, improve techniques and standard levels. It is easy to see the point he makes and why those running the game in regional outposts believe the support system is lacking.

Asking amateurs to match their puny talents against those who earn a living from the game is a little too much at this stage of their careers. The support system, reservoir of players and their back-up is too thinly spread to make a lasting impact.

This is why a serious review of the system is needed and where the ACC, if they are serious about growth, should re-examine the format of the Asia Cup. Prequalification tournaments need to be increased, coaching levels and growth areas identified and, as in the Youth World Cup, a plate event to give lesser sides a chance to earn some reward for their time and effort.

It might be an idea for the ACC to have an eight-team tournament spread over three weeks; the top four playing in the super series and the bottom four for the plate event as a way of encouraging teams to improve their levels.

Equally important is spreading the talent among the indigenous population groups. Hong Kong and the UAE live on the bounty provided by the expatriates. No matter how they try to hide the flaws in their system, it is a serious drawback that will not work until the indigenous populations try to match even Bangladesh in embracing the game. Hong Kong, for example, is Chinese yet there was only one local in the side and he was a 24-year-old Roy Lamsan.

As it is there is marked improvement in Bangladesh8217;s standards and the quality of players being fed into the system. It would be expected that by the end of this decade the team will have moved forward to become more competitive.

It took India a decade to overcome the success of 1983 and a further eight and the introduction of the John Wright/Sourav Ganguly partnership to get the side moving forward to where it can seriously challenge the top two sides in the ICC rankings.

To continue this process, India are developing and building structures to improve their overall standards to match those of the implacable Aussies; others are following their example by creating a broader infrastructure of training centres and player skills. This is where the ACC and the event can help the game in the region.