Reed on Canada: Little room for error
Posted March 11, 2012 7:30 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It hardly seems fair. Plenty believe it isn’t. Sixteen nations are scrambling for just two spots alongside the elite at the World Twenty20 Championships later this year. Such is the lot of cricket’s Associates and Affiliates.
The improbable against the obscure; the underrated against the underfunded. Cricket’s lesser lights are going head to head in a series of dog-eat-dog battles. All have a similar goal — to rise above the rest and breathe the clean air of awareness and respect. The vast majority will fall short.
It did not have to be like this. Cricket’s governing body, the International Cricket Council, offered to open the door to six qualifiers but only after taking the hugely unpopular decision to exclude smaller nations from the 2015 Cricket World Cup. Having been forced to relent and reinstate Associate members, the ICC then reduced the numbers again at the 2012 World T20 in Sri Lanka.
The qualifying tournament is a virtual non-stop grind in the desert. A total of 72 matches packed into just 10 playing days in the United Arab Emirates. No time to rest and recuperate while medical staff may be working overtime to keep key players healthy for the duration.
Canada’s Maple Leaf is flying in Dubai. Under the fresh captaincy of the experienced and respected Rizwan Cheema, the Canadians promise to be one of the better teams in town. Canada should win a number of its group games but whether it can mount a sustained challenge for qualification is less certain.
Canada’s opening match should provide clues as to its potential. The Netherlands beat their Canadian counterparts en route to the latter stages of qualifying two years ago. Neither nation pulled up any trees at the recent Caribbean T20 but the Dutch at least left the West Indies with a victory over the Combined Colleges. Canada’s winless tournament led Jimmy Hansra to resign the captaincy.
Cheema is probably better suited to a leadership role. The hard hitting batsman bided his time as vice captain and is now ready to take charge on the field of play. Hansra can return to the rank and file and concentrate on what he does best — scoring important runs at a decent rate in support of the top order.
The biggest test, in the initial stages, will come from Afghanistan. In the midst of a war torn country, cricket has flourished in recent years. The Afghans won the corresponding qualifying tournament in 2010 and many expect them to emulate that success this time round. Pretty impressive for a national team unable to play ‘home’ games due to security concerns.
Ireland must also be considered a leading contender. While William Porterfield again captains the team, much attention will be focused on Ed Joyce. The veteran batsman is back in Irish colours after five years representing England. In the bowling department the sight of 6-foot-8 Boyd Rankin bearing down will scare the life out of less experienced batsmen.
Elsewhere, look out for former Australian international Michael Di Venuto. He’s been persuaded to throw in his lot with Italy who will count on him to provide the backbone of the batting. Another familiar name in an unfamiliar uniform is Geraint Jones. The former England wicketkeeper will represent Papua New Guinea — the country of his birth.
With eight games per day there will be no shortage of entertainment. New batting heroes will emerge and bowlers, for the most part, will be taken to the cleaners. The fundamentals, though, still apply. Hit the bad ball and bowl line and length to restrict the runs.
In the heat of the day, with temperatures close to 30 degrees celcius, one cool head will prevail. He will almost certainly end up on the winning team.
