ICC Intercontinental Cup and Shield

now than it was say three to four years ago. With too few multi-day matches between the Associates and teams from Full-Member countries, it is difficult to assess whether the differences have lessened in this form of cricket. A wider perspective, however, shows that in 2010 Ireland and The Netherlands both beat Full Members in the one-day game and have thereby gained a place on ICC’s one-day ranking list. Ireland have demonstrated over two World Cups (2007 and 2011) that they are competitive in one-day cricket which, certainly, ten years ago they would not have been. Despite these achievements, there is a more general practical question of whether the Associate and Affiliate countries can actually improve their standard merely by playing each other. The Intercontinental Cup and Shield can provide players and captains with the experience of multi-day cricket, allowing them to adjust their style of play and their tactics to meet the demands of the longer game but they cannot, on their own, completely close the gap in quality between the leading Associates and Affiliates and the weaker Full-Member countries. There is a strong argument that to improve you have to engage in something more challenging. Unless the top countries from the Intercontinental Cup meet first-class sides from the Full Members in three- or four-day fixtures, the gap in standard is unlikely to be fully closed. First-class matches played by Associate countries (including the Intercontinental Cup and Intercontinental Shield) Country Played Won Lost Drawn Afghanistan 2009-2010 7 6 1 0 Argentina 1912-1938 13 3 4 6 Bermuda 1972-2010 19 3 4 12 Canada 1951-2010 28 5 6 17 Cayman Islands 2005 2 0 0 2 East Africa 1963-1975 6 0 1 5 Fiji 1895-1954 15 5 2 8 Hong Kong 2005 2 0 1 1 Ireland 1902-2010 148 40 62 46 Kenya 1986-2010 43 12 15 16 Malaysia 2004 2 0 0 2 Namibia 2006-2011 63 19 18 26 Nepal 2004-2005 4 2 2 0 Netherlands 2004-2010 20 4 6 10 South America 1932 6 2 1 3 Scotland 1905-2010 181 34 84 63 Uganda 2004-2010 7 2 1 4 United Arab Emirates 2004-2010 20 5 6 9 USA 2004 2 1 0 1 USA (Philadelphia) 1878-1913 78 25 10 43 USA-Canada combined 1913 1 0 0 1 Matches abandoned without a ball being bowled are excluded. Data as at 31 March 2011. The Intercontinental Cup has become an important part of the cricket calendar of the leading Associate and Affiliate countries and, on balance, has justified its recognition as first-class. The best players have found openings with first-class sides from Full-Member countries and the standard of cricket among the top Associate and Affiliate countries has improved. By maintaining a qualifying standard for the competition which, in future, will restrict it to eight teams enables those countries where standards are improving to take part at the expense of those countries where standards are dropping. The effect of the Cup and Shield on the first-class records of Associate and Affiliate countries is shown by comparing the table above with the earlier table in this section. The benefits of the Cup are not restricted to the players, however. The tournaments have provided an opportunity for the best umpires from the Associate countries to officiate alongside those on the ICC’s Elite and International Panels. 11 Introduction