Just seven years after obtaining ICC full membership, Rashid Khan led Afghanistan into a World Cup semi-final. The subsequent South African shellacking shouldn’t distract from the bigger picture – Afghanistan has only existed as an international side for 20 years. It is unlikely the sport will ever replicate the timeline of a new cricketing nation rapidly growing to a point where legitimate claims can be made for being among the four best sides in the world.
Ascension to the elite tier of full membership has been a resounding success for Afghanistan’s men’s team. The argument that the Taliban’s neglect of their women’s team tarnishes this progress is both prevalent and strong. Yet rightly or wrongly, Afghanistan’s progress in recent years presents itself as a stark contrast to their full member bedfellow, Ireland.
In 2017, both countries were awarded Test status at the same time, creating an indelible link between their cricketing futures. Seven years later, as Afghanistan recorded wins over New Zealand and Australia, Ireland found themselves unable to beat Canada and crashing out of the tournament without troubling the scorers.
Ireland would likely point to the millions invested into women’s cricket and argue for an uneven playing field. They might also present a reasonably competitive 2-1 T20 series defeat to Afghanistan earlier this year as evidence that the talent gap between the two countries is not vast. But the symbolism of their respective fortunes at this most recent ICC event is impossible to ignore.
Ireland and Afghanistan have had significantly different models for growth since becoming full members. These differing methodologies feature vast geographic, demographic and even philanthropic inequality. The success and plight of the two nations offers prudent lessons for the ICC should they ever consider further expansion.
Part of the dichotomy is sheer genetic luck. Ireland’s golden generation of talent is widely regarded as the players whose regular World Cup scalps spearheaded their campaign for Test status; names such as O’Brien, Joyce, Porterfield, et al.
Afghanistan, by contrast, are likely in the middle of what will one day be labelled as their golden generation. Their place in the World Cup semi-finals may well not have happened were it not for Rashid, their captain and talisman. His eight wickets in the Super Eights was joint most in the competition alongside Arshdeep Singh. A cameo of 19 at a strike-rate of 190 in the victory over Bangladesh was a critical hand during a narrow eight-run margin. Take away his runs and wickets and Afghanistan likely would not be in the knockouts.
Alongside Rashid, names such as Naveen Ul Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Mohammad Nabi, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Noor Ahmad and Azmatullah Omarzai are all IPL regulars. Ireland, by contrast, have only seen Josh Little grace the stage of the sport’s most sought-after franchise league.
Lacking the finishing school of county cricket since ascending to full membership, Ireland’s talent pool hasn’t completely dried up, but players simply don’t have the required outlets to progress from promising youngsters to dominant superstars. Ireland have no permanent playing infrastructure, no first-class competition since 2019 and a playing pool of only 50,000 people. Afghanistan boast a proper stadium in Kandahar – which was at least partly funded by the BCCI – alongside a domestic first-class structure. Not to mention a population desperate to both play and consume the sport. The lack of Irish media coverage of the recent World Cup was in stark contrast to the images of densely populated Kabul watch parties. Demographically, this is no fair fight.
Geographic philanthropy must also be acknowledged. Afghanistan’s location has undoubtedly helped the typically Asian cricket-loving culture to seep into the country, thanks in large part to refugee camps in Pakistan, but its continental positioning has also allowed a benevolent relationship with India to develop. Alongside that grant of GBP 1 million to aid the construction of the Kandahar Stadium, India has allowed Afghanistan to use venues such as Greater Noida as a playing and training base. That is before you get to the raft of Afghan names vying their trade in the IPL.
Such support prompted Suhail Shaheen, a senior political figure in the Taliban, to thank India directly for their continuous help in “building the capacity of the Afghan cricket team.” Granted, it should be said that much of India’s investment came before the dramatic regime change in 2021.
Unlike Afghanistan, Ireland’s players simply don’t have the required outlets to progress from promising youngsters to dominant superstars ©Getty
The corollary for Ireland would be England chipping in to finance their long-desired stadium in Abbotstown while offering up Chelmsford as a semi-permanent home venue, all while allowing Irish players to still feature in county cricket. The ECB has not found it as politically expedient as the BCCI to support their fledgling neighbour.
By virtue of Afghanistan’s location, the support of the Asian Cricket Council has been invaluable; financially and competitively. Alongside ICC funding, where the US dollar goes further in economically developing countries as opposed to western states, participation in the Asia Cup offers additional funding and more regular battle hardening. At underage level, there are U16 and U19 competitions as well as sub-regional T20 tournaments. Ireland plays England in a handful of youth fixtures, including one Irish U19 victory in a series last year, but regularity is lacking. There is also no European tournament at any level which sees England, Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands in regular competition.
Afghanistan’s talent-laden, female-free, BCCI-supported model has allowed them to overcome much of the political chaos which could otherwise have enveloped their cricketing narrative. Ireland, though a politically stable nation which does play internationals (for both men and women) on home soil, struggles to attract the same volume of sponsors and national media attention, all while battling substandard facilities.
The differing full membership models should cause the ICC to take stock. The Ireland/Afghanistan expansion was the first opening of the elite club in 17 years. The discrepancy in outcomes calls into question its success. Maybe the ICC is out of practice.
If looking to grow again, Scotland and Nepal would likely be the next full member candidates, should geographical parity remain a desirable quality. Scotland are closer to fulfilling the required full member criteria, the recent T20 World Cup qualification of their women’s sides ticking a significant competitive box. Nepal lack such a women’s achievement as well as consistent World Cup qualification by its men’s side.
But if they did enough to force open the door, the Afghanistan example would suggest they too could develop at a rapid rate with full member funding. Nepal’s population is desperate for more cricket. Their permanent stadium, respectable domestic infrastructure and access to good quality Asian competition at all levels should open up those opportunities. Scotland may well find themselves closer to Ireland’s situation.
Should the ICC want to avoid the inequality of the past and the present, if the goal is for full membership to be of equal benefit to all, the lessons learned by the newest card-carrying members ought to be heeded. More tailored supports, driven by the global governing body rather than an Asian bloc seeking to expand its influence, may well be needed.
Ireland and Afghanistan both receive close to three per cent of the ICC funding pie (Ireland actually get a fraction more). In theory, all full memberships are created equal. In reality, some are created more equal than others.
