A World Cup without the world is just a cup,” a pithy statement from a New Zealand fan Robb Watson captures the sentiment prevalent in the world of ‘associates’. Those who run cricket will have to listen to the ones who watch it and churning is on at change.org. A petition from a cricket fan is doing the rounds, with thousands of fans signing on, to demand the ICC not to go ahead with their decision to restrict the next World Cup to 10 teams.

Watching a sport is about being moved by human stories. It isn’t always about runs and wickets but the context that matters. It’s not to say that performances shouldn’t count, or that watching below-par performances are thrilling, but clearly these teams are playing well. So much so that, at times, it hasn’t looked as if they are punching above their weight as they have competed on equal terms.

The story of this World Cup so far in fact has been about these teams. A quiet sea-wrapped Nelson buzzing with celebration of Irish fans, the political capital of Canberra coming alive with nationalism and fervour of Afghanistan and Bangladesh, the city of gardens Christchurch experiencing an adrenalin rush from Scots, and on Wednesday, Brisbane, that city of concrete monoliths, will feel the passion of the Irish.

William Porterfield, Ireland’s captain, does gravitas well. From what one has seen so far, he is one of the better leaders, not just a captain, of this world cup, and a man who speaks his mind. A deadpan face and that lovely Irish accent help. On Tuesday, he was asked about his views on how to fit in the associates team considering there have been murmurs about shortening the length of the tournament and he let rip.

“Well, 52 weeks a year, four years in between, that’s a lot of weeks. So you have over 200 weeks, and for six or seven weeks, you think that’s a short tournament. Everyone has got their own opinion on that. It’s a world event that happens once every four years. You see football teams; it’s a major global event.

Short end of the stick

“Just to shorten it down, you have a Champions Trophy every couple of years. I personally don’t think it’s that bad. But you have to look to expand the game. Look at Sri Lanka now.”

Porterfield wasn’t done yet. He spoke about his frustration, and by extension that of the other associates, at the ICC. “I think it’s frustrating whenever you come to tournaments and the governing body wants to keep cutting teams. I think it’s the only sport in the world that does that when it comes to world events. And it wouldn’t be a World Cup if you just keep reducing teams and having only the top few teams that are ranked. So it’s very disappointing and frustrating from our point of view that that’s the way ICC is viewing things or that’s the way they want things to be. Hopefully we can keep improving performances. It’s great to see so many people that have gotten behind that. It is a global event, and it’s a sport we want to grow and you’re only going to grow that if you have more teams participating around the world.”

Everyone from Aaqib Javed, coach of UAE, to Scotland’s captain Preston Mommsen to Ireland’s Ed Joyce have lamented about how little they get to play. Porterfield extended that argument by slamming the ICC for its scheduling. “We’ve played nine ODIs against the top eight teams in the last four years. That’s not a lot of cricket. We’re playing two games a year against top nations, so if you want the game to expand, you have to talk about preparation. In terms of games, we haven’t been prepared. If you add up the amount of games of the four teams which have qualified, I wouldn’t think it’s a lot. We’d be struggling to touch on 20, and teams are playing 20, 25 plus a year within that. We’ve only played six games in this World Cup as a group stage minimum, and we’ve played nine in the last four years. That’s not acceptable. It’s not what developing the game is about.”

Fan’s favourites

When in doubt, listen to the stakeholders of the game. Sample this from a fan, Wellington’s Andy Newman, who has signed that petition.

“I’m signing because the greatest moments in cricket World Cups in the last 20 years have been provided by associates, not India, not Australia and certainly not England. Kenya’s run to the semifinals, John Davison’s classic innings and Ireland overcoming the odds to beat Pakistan, England and now the West Indies. In this World Cup, Scotland played a better game versus New Zealand than England could manage and UAE challenged a solid Zimbabwe outfit. It’s time for the ICC to realise that they cheapen their product by removing the colour and character of the associate teams. The so-called Champion’s Trophy is a turgid competition of little interest in comparison to the World Cup. We hardly need a duplication of it.”