The Half Chance

Back in 2017, ICC made an interesting announcement of introducing 'ODI Super League' - an ODI league post the 2019 World Cup which was aiming at reigniting the otherwise reducing interest of cricket viewers. It was supposed to start from May 2020 and be played over 23 months and would involve 12 Full Members plus the Netherlands – who won the 2015-17 World Cricket League Championship that involved 7 other Associate Members. In this ODI Super League, each team would play against 8 mutually agreed opponents over that period with 4 home and 4 away series with 3 ODIs per series.

As per the ICC, the league was proposed to ‘add more context’ to bilateral ODIs played among entitled ICC Full Members and would also give a ‘fair shot’ to all the full members and the 13^th team to direct qualification for the 2023 edition of the 10-team 50-over World Cup to be played on Indian soil. Fairness of the second remark therefore is still debatable but adding more context to somewhat meaningless bilateral ODI cricket can be seen as a high.

From the general trend that has developed over the years, it can be seen that ODI matches played outside Asia do not create a strong buzz among the sport’s followers their and matches have been subjected to half-filled stadiums and even the broadcasting deals behind the scenes had started to lose value. That only showed that interest was diminishing and it could be because these Full Members have been getting direct entries into ICC tournaments and matches outside such tournaments have started to be taken for granted. Virtually, there is nothing at stake other than changes in the ODI rankings that may follow such a series. This current system is opposed to how FIFA and regional confederations in Football regulate their tournaments where all the teams other than the hosts have to ‘fight’ for their spot in the finals tournament. Such a context had been lacking in world cricket so far. Therefore, this league can help in reigniting the enthusiasm of the sport’s followers and eventually bagging some ‘serious’ broadcasting deals and ticket revenues are also expected to rise.

The ODI Super League is obviously far more vital for the lower ranked Full Members and the 13^th team – the Netherlands. Since only the teams finishing in the top 7 plus the hosts will get direct entry to the next World Cup and remaining two spots will have to be decided by qualifiers, there is lot more than just matches that is at stake for teams like Zimbabwe, Ireland, Afghanistan and the Netherlands. Add West Indies or Sri Lanka to that as they both are vulnerable to ending up outside the top 8 by the time the league ends! And the team finishing last will go through a prolonged phase of pain and uncertainties as it might have to fight another group of eager-to-be big boys currently involved in ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 and ICC Cricket World Cup Challenge Leagues ‘A’ and ‘B’ and find its way up again through the Qualifiers to become the thirteenth team again for the next four year cycle.

Ireland has always been critical of more guaranteed fixtures against established Full Member sides | Credit : Facebook - Cricket Ireland (facebook.com/CricketIreland/)

This is not the first time though that ICC has put emphasis on ICC ODI rankings to add more importance to the bilateral fixtures. There was a cut-off date for automatic qualification for 2017 ICC Champions Trophy and West Indies failed to qualify for the event. But in the absence of a system like ODI Super League, there was a lack of uniformity in the number of 'contextual' matches a team would play. As a result, some teams would play more matches than the others and would get an opportunity to improve their rankings before the cut-off date giving them undue advantage over other teams.

There is another catch in this whole set-up. Teams can still arrange bilateral ODI fixtures outside the Super League and teams like West Indies and Sri Lanka can manage to get more matches even in the face of losing out on direct qualification for the World Cup but for smaller members, it’s always been hard to get some valuable fixtures. That effects the growth of the profile of the sport in their country and also challenges their financial sustainability. Between 2011 and 2015 World Cups, Ireland hardly played 10-odd ODIs in bilateral fixtures against top 8 sides combined.

Dutch side won the 2015-17 ICC WCL Championship and got a place in ODI Super League | Credit : Facebook - KNCB (facebook.com/KNCB1883/)

Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands keep on playing regularly among themselves and the entries to the matches are mostly free and matches are often not televised. This means that there are not enough resources to generate revenues but expenses keep on recurring. Securing some ‘contextual’ fixtures against quality sides like Pakistan or South Africa would allow an Associate Member to bag some valuable broadcasting deals (even if it happens at local levels) and priced ticket entries which can help in generating some revenue needed to drive the growth in the right direction. Recently, KNCB had posted the ticket prices for their home matches against Pakistan this July on its Instagram handle - matches have been postponed due to unfortunate pandemic situation though. Such fixtures give these bodies confidence of taking further steps for betterment of the sport in their country by bringing in more investments.

Though this much coveted ODI Super League will definitely increase the value, quality and stakes in top tier ODI Cricket, the proposed ‘shot to glory’ for not-so-big boys has been made gloomy by the ‘mega’ 10-team World Cup. Adding to it, difficulties from financial sustainability and planning point of view that have been presented by current pandemic situation around the world have pushed the fate of this league into further uncertainties as there are rumors that ICC might scrap it altogether.

It will be a very derisive and degrading blow to the fate of this ODI Super League which had allegedly met resistance from some influential member representatives at the ICC even before the confirmation of this league going ahead was officially announced. If that happens unfortunately, reforms which the cricketing world has been awaiting for so long might get pushed out further in the cold.

With just six spots which were to be distributed among the fourteen teams that participated, tournament can be seen as hugely successful in terms of maintaining its unpredictability.

Captains of all the teams pose with the trophy before the start of the tournament | Credit : Facebook - Cricket Ireland (facebook.com/CricketIreland)

An action packed and unpredictable tournament was squeezed into a two week long carnival of Cricket's second tier's best teams when it got underway in UAE on October 18, exactly a year before the 'Big Dance' in Australia. With just six spots that were up for grabs, 14 teams, 51 matches and just 16 days, it was a tournament as hectic for the teams as it was a gripping one for Cricket's loyal viewers.

Let's have a quick look at each team's performance at this event :

1. Ireland

Ireland were defeated by less fancied Canada | Credit : Facebook - Cricket Ireland (facebook.com/CricketIreland)

Surprisingly, Ireland were the only test playing nation at this event after Zimbabwe, who were originally scheduled to participate but got a suspension from ICC which was lifted a little too late to allow them to participate, were left out and Afghanistan got a direct entry into the Super 12s stage for the coming T20 WC next year by virtue of their better T20I ranking.

They were beaten by less fancied Canada and an understrength UAE side who have had their own devils to deal with throughout the tournament. Ireland topped their group to get the direct qualification for the WC next year but it was full of hiccups. They were tied on points with second placed Oman and were marginally better in terms of net run-rate. They also got some aid from Jersey's win over Oman on the final day of group stage matches which secured their first place finish. A better performance was expected from the tournament's only test playing team who have had a tag of 'giant killers' attached to their collars.

2. Scotland

Scotland's far from convincing campaign started with a 2-run defeat against first time entrants Singapore | Credit : Facebook - Cricket Scotland (facebook.com/CricketScotlandOfficial/

Given their recent form specially in the shortest format while leading up to the tournament, they were being regarded as pre-tournament favorites. However, a surprise 2-run loss to Singapore on the opening day weakened that presumption and it got further weakened by their 24-run loss at the hands of Namibia. They somehow recovered well enough to be in the top 4 in their group and only sealed their spot after playing the eliminator play-off against the UAE. They won that play-off very comfortably by a comprehensive margin and seemed to be showing the glimpses of their pre-tournament rhythm.

3. Netherlands

Eventual title winners Netherlands had a steady campaign | Credit : Facebook - KNCB (facebook.com/KNCB1883/)

Eventual title winners Netherlands had a rather poor run of form in the T20I format in the matches preceding the tournament. They were bowled out for 94 by Oman and also faced a loss each at the hands of Nepal and Ireland in the Oman T20I series winning a solitary match and losing three. Year 2019 had been disappointing in general for the Dutch in this format.

However, the change in fortunes during the course of the tournament and their first ever "solo title win" (with titles in 2008 and 2015 shared with Ireland and Scotland respectively after the finals were washed out on both occasions) highlighted the unpredictability of the tournament. They had a generally good outing in the group stage and defeated the surprise finalists PNG to whom they had conceded a win in the group stage which also turned out to be their only loss in the tournament.

4. Papua New Guinea (PNG)

PNG being tied on equal points with Netherlands topped their group on behalf of a better net run rate to secure direct qualification for the T20 World Cup | Credit : Facebook - Cricket PNG (facebook.com/cricketpng/)

Also known as Barramundis, PNG were the biggest story of this tournament as they sealed their maiden spot at any major ICC event in a rather convincing fashion. They topped their group to secure a direct spot at next year's T20 WC and were the runners-up at this tournament. Though their U-19 side has been a regular participant at the U-19 WC, this was the first time that their senior men's team had booked their place for a major ICC event. Those who follow the sport closely might acknowledge that this side has been rising slowly up the ladder but a leap as giant as playing the final at this qualifier is worth applauding considering that they missed out on qualification altogether at the previous edition in 2015.

In the past, PNG have come agonizingly close to qualifying for the main event at previous two editions but on both times they have let the momentum slip only to fall out of contention eventually. But this time they ensured that they won't let the ghosts of the past haunt them again. In their captain, Assad Vala, they have a sportsperson of a very grounded and calm composure who led them with both bat and ball quite effectively at this tournament.

5. Namibia

Namibia found their form just at the right time to seal their spot for the 'Big Dance' in Australia | Credit : Facebook - Cricket Namibia (facebook.com/cricketnamibia1/)

Namibia's fortunes have been somewhat similar to those of PNG's when it comes to a major qualifying event. They managed to top their group at this event's 2012 edition but slipped to a third place finish after losing the crucial play-offs and missed out on qualification for that year's T20 WC. Had the current format been in place back then, topping the table would have ensured their qualification. They have been on the fringes of top level associate cricket from quite some time and have also played in the 50-Over WC in 2003. Since then, their journey has been up and down but it seems that they have started to climb steadily again. Prior to this tournament, they had also secured ODI status after winning ICC's last World Cricket League Division 2 tournament played in April 2019.

They secured a third place finish in their group which gave them two shots at qualifying for the 'Big Dance' but they made sure that they would only need one shot to save themselves from the nerves of playing in another winner-takes-all encounter as they beat Oman in a come-from-behind contest through their powerful hitting and then restricting Oman to a lesser total by strangling their batting line-up in their deadly spin bowling.

6. Oman

This will be Oman's second consecutive appearance at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup | Credit : Facebook - Oman Cricket (facebook.com/Oman-Cricket-464747200238334/)

Another associate team with great promises and encouraging results to boast off. They beat Ireland at previous ICC Men's T20 WC in 2016 and finished second behind them in their group this time. Just like Namibia, they got two shots at the qualification spots by virtue of their position in the group. Though they lost the play-off against Namibia, they rectified their mistakes and defeated Hong Kong in a closely fought match in the eliminator play-off to book their tickets for Australia next year.

7. Canada

Among the less fancied but potentially dangerous sides in this event, Canada's campaign was a mixed one. They started the tournament with moderately easy wins over Jersey and wild card entrants Nigeria. They toppled Ireland in their third outing of the campaign by a close margin of 10 runs but it can unarguably be deemed as the biggest of their three wins as Ireland looked a more balanced side prior to the end result of the match.

However, Canada succumbed to three successive defeats at the hands of Oman, Hong Kong and UAE respectively. These three successive losses along with the margins of losses resulted in a net run-rate inferior to that of Hong Kong's and Canada's fifth place finish which meant that they were out of the contention for the qualification spots straight away.

8. Hong Kong

Just like Canada's, their campaign too was a mix of encouraging and disappointing performances. Just weeks before the tournament, two of their key batsmen, Anshuman Rath and Babar Hayat making themselves unavailable for selection along with brothers Tanveer Ahmed and Ehsan Nawaz also withdrawing from the squad for the tournament left the team with a lack of experienced players and replacement for these experienced players was hard to come by in such a short span of time.

Absence of some of their important players certainly hit their performance levels and they managed to get fourth place finish in their group which gave them only one try at one of the six available spots. They lost to Oman in the eliminator play-off match and crashed out of the tournament.

9. United Arab Emirates (UAE)

UAE could not use the home advantage to their benefit | Credit : Facebook - Emirates Cricket (facebook.com/emiratescricket/)

UAE's campaign was embarrassingly plagued by match fixing allegations put on three of their key members Shaiman Anwar, Qadeer Ahmed and Mohammad Naveed and they were dropped from the squad just days before the start of the tournament. Naveed and Shaiman have been regular members of the UAE team from quite some time and their absence meant lack of experience going into a crucial tournament and that too on home soil.

Just two days into the tournament and two more players, Ashfaq Ahmed (got suspended by ICC) and Ghulam Shabber (fled to Pakistan), who were part of the original squad had to be replaced. Despite the turmoil going on behind the stage, UAE pulled together to manage a third place finish in their group with some shining all-round performances from their seasoned campaigner Rohan Mustafa. They crashed out of the tournament after two back-to-back defeats in the play-offs against the Netherlands and Scotland respectively.

10. Bermuda

They were a surprise entrants from the Americas region after getting better of more balanced USA on the home soil in Americas regional final in August 2019. They beat USA in both the round robin fixtures and finished second after Canada with four wins and a no-result from six games.

However, they failed to make any impact at this tournament and failed to win a solitary match sticking to the bottom of the table with six losses and a net run-rate of -2.839.

11. Jersey

Jersey performed reasonably well given that they have a very small player pool | Credit : Facebook - Jersey Cricket Board (facebook.com/Jersey-Cricket-Board-291025747655246/)

A territory with a population more-or-less equivalent to that of a sell-out MCG, they fared far better than what was expected of them. They have also played in the tournament's previous edition in 2015 and were able to topple more fancied Nepal and Hong Kong sides.

This time around, they managed to bag three wins from their six games and were up into the contention for a 4th place finish till their last group stage match which would have given them a chance to seal a place at main event via eliminator play-off. They needed to beat stronger looking Oman by a sixty run margin to improve their net run-rate and move ahead of Hong Kong in the table.

They failed to keep up with the mathematical implications and only managed to win by a 14 run margin. This however, changed the equation of the table and ensured Ireland's top position giving them a direct pathway to the next year's T20 WC.

12. Kenya

Kenya managed to win against Bermuda and Singapore only | Credit : Facebook - KNCB (facebook.com/KNCB1883/)

Once a leading associate and a potential test playing nation, their performances showed that the golden days of Kenyan cricket are long gone by. Namibia have since emerged as the leading associate in the region. They hardly looked competitive against established fellow associates in their group and managed victories only against Bermuda and first time entrants Singapore.

Finishing fifth in the group and falling out of contention straight away, Kenya exposed the unstable and somewhat downward trajectory of Cricket in their backyard.

13. Singapore

Singapore beat favourites Nepal in Asia Regional Finals tournament to book their place for the global qualifier tournament | Credit : Facebook - Singapore Cricket Association (facebook.com/SingaporeCricket/)

Another surprise entrant, Singapore created a buzz even before entering the tournament when they pipped favorites Nepal in the final of the Asian Regional finals for the solitary spot on offer for the global qualifier. And they further made a stronger statement of depth in associate cricket when they shocked pre-tournament favorites Scotland in a 2-run win on the opening day of the tournament.

Their win against Scotland highlighted the significance of such elite tournaments for the emerging teams and left the tournament wide open with many viewers having started to anticipate more shocks coming their way during the course of the tournament. However, they got the reality check as the tournament progressed and lack of experience showed up in all facets of the game leaving them to console themselves with a sixth place finish in their group and two wins (over Scotland and Bermuda) against their name.

14. Nigeria

Nigeria, who finished in 3rd place at Africa regional finals, were invited to participate in the tournament in place of Zimbabwe | Credit : Facebook - Nigeria Cricket Federation (facebook.com/nigeriacricketfederation/)

Being the wild card entrants and the circumstances in which they gained entry into the global qualifier tournament, it can be said that they were here to 'make up the numbers' after a bit of luck coupled with their third place finish at Africa regional finals gave them a last minute call-up in the wake of Zimbabwe getting suspended by the ICC.

However, Nigerian team had set their expectations right and did a reality check well before entering the tournament as they knew for themselves that no fairy-tale campaign is going to take them past the group stage. With an eye on ICC U-19 WC beginning January 2020, they included six such players in their squad who are set to appear for Nigeria in the U-19 WC next year to give them ample game time and exposure to better quality teams and the match environment.

With no surprises, they finished bottom of their group but they should take a lot of positives from these outings as they batted out their allotted 20 overs in five out of their six games and got bowled out only on the penultimate delivery in the game against Oman. These outings gave their batsmen the experience of staying on the crease as it will come handy in the longer version of white ball cricket when their U-19 side takes to the field in January next year.

Conclusion :

Nothing should be taken away from the teams who did not make it to the 'Big Dance' as they still managed to entertain the viewers and played a vital part in making the tournament span out the way it did - unpredictable, exciting and refreshing. All in all, this global qualifier tournament served the purpose it was meant for.

But with ICC planning to make some big changes to the qualifier model, this could be the last tournament in its current form. We will have to wait and see what the new format will look like and whether it will add more depth to the Qualifier model or not. Hopefully, changes will be made for good and if that isn't the case somehow, ones who witnessed the games at this tournament may want to cherish them dearly.

Note : Extra credit to Oman Cricket for their crucial suggestions regarding this blog.