Is it a ‘World’ cup?

Is the game truly global?

Here’s a question, which 2 nations played in the first official international match? Any guesses? See below for the answer.

With only 10 participating countries, and half of the countries come from one continent, the spread is limited. As mentioned previously, the ICC’s aim is for cricket to be the most supported sport, but just how many countries officially play cricket?

The ICC has 104 member nations – to add context, there are 211 in FIFA, 206 in the Olympic movement and 193 in the United Nations. The ICC divides it’s members into 2 categories – full members and associate members. There are 12 full members, the 10 playing at the current CWC19 plus Ireland and Zimbabwe. Ireland are the newest full member and will play a first test match against England at Lord’s this summer. So why are Ireland and Zimbabwe not playing in CWC19?

Looking at the ODI rankings, Zimbabwe and Ireland are 11th and 12th; followed by Scotland, Nepal and UAE. So they could be playing but are not ranked high enough. This rating is worked out by dividing the points scored by the match/series total, with the answer given to the nearest whole number. It can be compared with a batting average, but with points instead of total runs scored and a match/series total instead of number of times dismissed. Clear? It does not really answer the question as to why there are only 10 nations involved this time.

Perhaps it is due to the upcoming England vs Australia Ashes series, where the teams will play 5 Test matches, with the final match starting at the Oval on 12th September, so there is a lot of cricket to squeeze into the summer – here is a list of all the England men’s fixtures this summer. The next world cup is scheduled to be hosted by India, from 9 February to 26 March 2023 with 10 teams again – no conflict with Ashes there. How can Ireland, Scotland or Zimbabwe qualify? There is another competition that will decide who joins India at the tournament.

The 2020–22 ICC Cricket World Cup Super League will be the inaugural edition of the ODI league. The league will last from May 2020 to March 2022 and will serve as part of the qualification process for the 2023 Cricket World Cup.

It will feature thirteen countries, the twelve Full members of the ICC and the Netherlands, who won the 2015–17 ICC World Cricket League Championship to qualify for this competition. Each team will play an ODI series against eight of the twelve opponents, four series at home and four away. Each series will consist of three ODIs.

So still only 10 nations playing – not so much of a ‘world’ cup!

Oh the answer : The first international match was played in New York in 1844 – between USA and Canada. Canada won by 23 runs. On the first day, there were from 5000 to 20000 spectators. Both Canada and USA are associate members.