T20 WORLD CUP QUALIFIER: A tournament that must open eyes to cricket's ever-growing strength in depth

NICK FRIEND: It is absurd that each and every game is not available to viewers worldwide - that should be a prerequisite. This, after all, is a global tournament

Singapore beat Scotland. Scotland beat Kenya. Kenya beat Singapore. Netherlands beat Kenya. Papua New Guinea beat Netherlands. Ireland beat Hong Kong. United Arab Emirates beat Ireland. Oman beat United Arab Emirates. Ireland beat Oman. Canada beat Ireland. Canada beat Jersey. Jersey beat United Arab Emirates.

Got that?

The world game has never possessed such depth. Of the 14 teams in action in this T20 World Cup Qualifier, 12 have won at least two games.

Of the two that have failed to claim a victory yet, there are extenuating circumstances surrounding Nigeria, who were called up in early August to replace Zimbabwe – then under an ICC suspension – as the third African representatives in the tournament.

Bermuda, meanwhile, have struggled to replicate the form that saw them eliminate USA from a four-team regional pre-qualifier.

There was a time, perhaps, in the not too distant past when one could just about predict the make-up of the top positions in a competition like this.

Through the early noughties, Canada, Kenya, Netherlands, Ireland and Scotland were all serial competitors at World Cups. The rest were far behind. None, of course, were part of this summer’s ‘global’ showpiece – a contradiction of terms if ever there was one.

And yet, this is what T20 has done for the game of cricket. It has opened up a traditionally insular sport, providing a more sustainable, more accessible version for those around the world to pick up and run with.

Afghanistan, of course, have become an embodiment of all of this – an arch-blueprint. They are no longer part of qualifiers like these – in fact, they will not even take part in the first round of the T20 World Cup next year. They, alongside England, India, Australia and others, will await company in the Super 12s.

“T20 is completely different to one-day cricket, but the game is growing and the world needs to see it,” Dutch batsman Max O’Dowd told The Cricketer before this qualifying tournament began. “I feel like the world is picking up on it slowly.”

^{Paul Stirling has been in fine form for Ireland}

In a previous guise of mine as a coach in Argentina, there was regular discussion about culling the domestic 50-over competition to focus solely on T20 cricket; the view, quite simply, was that it was the only format of the game the national side was likely to play in the future. In the end, that assumption proved wrong. But nevertheless, the point remains.

The Buenos Aires-born Pedro Arrighi, an eccentric batting allrounder, now holds the sixth-best bowling figures in T20I history, sitting behind Ajantha Mendis (twice), Yuzvendra Chahal, Rangana Herath and Rashid Khan.

It is one of the ICC’s greatest gifts to the global game in recent years – the decision to open up T20I status to any game featuring two nations.

That, of course, is palpably the way it should be and should always have been. It is a step away from the snobbery that came before; countries are countries and international cricket is international cricket.

Ankush Nanda, the Luxembourg bowler, sits just behind Arrighi, separated only by two separate performances from Pakistan’s Umar Gul.

Ryan ten Doeschate, who played in his first World Cup in 2003, emphasised to The Cricketer the difference that the T20 game has made to countries like his own, as well as the wider associate sphere.

“The interest in cricket has gone through the roof, the spectacle as a spectator sport has been revived – away from one or two big Test series and the World Cups,” he said.

He is part of a Dutch side that, once upon a time, would have steamrolled this competition. Seven of Netherlands’ squad have county experience.

That they find themselves embroiled in a 12-way battle to qualify is in no way a criticism of Ryan Campbell’s side, but rather a nod to the sheer extent of quality on display.

Even Nigeria, mammoth underdogs coming into the event, have broken new ground. Sesan Adedeji became the first man from his country to register a T20I half century during an ultimately heavy defeat against United Arab Emirates. Even in defeat, they have proven a joy to watch – exuberant, raw, a reminder of how the game is growing.

Several members of this side will also take part in next year’s Under-19 World Cup – a tournament for which they have qualified organically. It is some effort: a fine example of a side on the rise.

At the time of writing, the competition’s top nine run-scorers are represented by eight different countries. We have not yet seen a century, but then conditions have hardly made batting straightforward. There have been some deeply disappointing surfaces – the sorts that should render home advantage almost disproportionately beneficial.

^{Nigeria began their qualifying process with a four-way tournament against Gambia, Ghana and Sierra Leone}

Paul Stirling, however, has made his runs with the same languid approach that has served him and Irish cricket so well for so long.

Nitish Kumar, still the youngest World Cup player of all time eight years on from the 2011 tournament, has shown his immense class, dragging his Canadian side with him. But for Home Office trouble, he could well have been signed up by a county side after completing his studies at Loughborough University.

The 23-year-old Kinchit Shah has made double-figures in every knock for Hong Kong; his 79 against Ireland was followed up by a match-winning unbeaten 59 against Canada.

With the ball, Mark Adair’s stock has continued to rise; the seamer – so impressive against England at Lord’s in July’s one-off Test – has found life even on the most lifeless of surfaces.

To date, his 10 wickets are matched only by the Namibian pair of Jan Frylinck and Bernard Sholtz, while Collins Obuya – one of the sport’s cult heroes – continues to thrive 16 years on from his World Cup five-wicket haul against Sri Lanka.

This tournament has also given Papua New Guinea a televised platform. It has allowed the wider cricketing world – those who were unaware of Joe Dawes’ team – to get to know a seriously efficient outfit. In a mightily competitive group, they have flown above the rest – no frills, but desperately accomplished.

In Assad Vala and Tony Ura, their batting line-up is led by a pair of fine stalwarts, while Damien Ravu’s seamers have proven hugely effective.

It is just a shame, therefore, that this has not all been broadcast live. Games played at the main stadia have been but that, frankly, should be a prerequisite – at best, a minimum requirement.

This, after all, is a global tournament – 14 teams facing up to each other, with the prize a golden ticket to Australia next year.

It is absurd that each and every game is not available to viewers worldwide. It is difficult to quantify the value on an individual’s career of a swashbuckling hundred in front of the cameras – especially in the shortest format, where franchise sides find themselves constantly on the lookout for recruits and undiscovered diamonds.

Similarly, the lack of any of the world’s top umpires – Sundaram Ravi is on duty, but he has recently lost his Elite Panel role – is disappointing. The lack of any kind of Decision Review System is an abject embarrassment for a competition that has the potential to change lives one way or another.

“When you play associate cricket, you are playing under so much pressure because your life is on the line,” Kumar explained to The Cricketer.

“If you don’t qualify there’s no money. If there’s no money, there’s no cricket.”

This is what is at play here.

One only has to rewind to 2018 to reflect on the impact of poor umpiring in a tournament like this when, arguably, the stakes are higher than at any other point. One decision effectively cost Scotland a World Cup place on that occasion.

Then, there were two places up for grabs. Here, there are six, with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh waiting for them in Australia.

Come what may, that initial group stage will be anything but a foregone conclusion. Never have so many nations been knocking on the door. Never has the knocking been so vociferous.

As O’Dowd said: “The game is growing and the world needs to see it.”