Warren Deutrom: "It certainly sends out an interesting message if there is a desire to appear as if the game is expanding" © Martin Williamson

Warren Deutrom, the chief executive of the Irish Cricket Union, has warned that a failure to qualify for the next World Cup will have a seriously detrimental affect on leading Associates.

His comments come in the light of a proposal from the ICC's chief executives' committee to reduce the number of Associates at the 2011 World Cup from six to four. A final decision will be made by the ICC board when it meets next month, although it is expected to confirm the move.

"The opportunities afforded for Associates to use World Cup qualification (or success) to push themselves forward with their governments in terms of public funding, and private sector in terms of sponsorship are now available to two fewer countries," Deutrom told Cricinfo. "Non-qualification for two out of the existing six ODI countries will have a materially detrimental effect on the profile of the sport in that country, therefore ability to attract finance, therefore ability to attract (and pay for) top teams to visit, therefore ability to tour abroad to play competitive cricket, therefore ability to move forward on and off the pitch.

"It certainly sends out an interesting message if there is a desire to appear as if the game is expanding. As well as the Associates, I feel for ICC Management here. I declare an interest as a former member of the ranks, but it makes their life difficult when the Full Members decide to move to 16 teams a few years back, and ICC appropriately aligns policy and spending for a High Performance Program of six (and eventually 10) countries, with six given ODI status. This was a positive decision for the development program, but then the Full Members decide not to back their original judgement and move backwards, causing headaches for the ICC and its High Performance Programme."

Deutrom offered the example of rugby as a sport that made a decision and then stuck to it. "It has invested in its tier-two nations, and stood by them in spite of some one-sided matches in the 2003 World Cup, only for the program to conspicuously bear fruit in 2007. It's a shame the Full Members haven't given cricket the same opportunity, or ICC Management the chance to see its six-team High Performance Program come to fruition."

	For the two that lose out, I'm sure ICC won't abandon them, but the opportunity to push forward will be significantly affected, perhaps for years to come

Those who have defended the reduction have pointed out that the four Associates who do qualify are guaranteed eight matches. "From an Associate perspective, the more games the better," Deutrom said. "For those that have made it, of course! What intrigues me is that there was significant criticism after the 2003 World Cup that a 42-match opening round (out of 54 matches in total), was just too long and, as I recall, generated too many matches of little, or no importance because the tournament takes too long to get going. Now, with the same number of matches in the opening round and fewer matches in total, it could be argued that this original criticism has not necessarily been addressed.

While Deutrom did not think that a failure to qualify would be the end of the world, the increased funding the four who do make it would give them a marked advantage and would "create clear blue water between those Associates that qualify and those that don't. For the two that lose out, I'm sure ICC won't abandon them, but the opportunity to push forward will be significantly affected, perhaps for years to come."

But the move served to remind the Associates that they were, in effect, at the mercy of the Full Members. "If one considers that Zimbabwe has temporarily lost its Test status and comes below Ireland in the LG ODI rankings, then the fact that it still retains its annual multi-million dividend from ICC, its position in the Future Tours Programme and its automatic inclusion in valuable ICC events, including participation fees, shows the massive chasm between the Full Member and Associate world."

Martin Williamson is executive editor of Cricinfo

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