NEW NATIONS: WORLD OF WELCOME
T20 is pushing the global frontiers of the game. Hello, Thailand, writes Miles Katay.
As new cricket nations find their way to the game through the 20-over format, the ICC World T20 represents a significant first step onto the international stage. Miles Katay writes that a pair of visitors to the women’s and men’s tournaments are countries that Australians know well.
The Thailand women’s cricket team met Papua New Guinea to little fanfare on a regional Scottish ground last September. They were a long way from Thailand in distance and climate, but the Thais had made Dundee their home over the previous week. Consecutive wins against Namibia and full-member nation Ireland (by just two runs) had sent them to the top of their group and thus to the semi-final of the Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier.
Much more was at stake than the smattering of locals and team staff at the ground suggested. The winner’s reward was a berth in the group stage as well as the qualifying tournament final, and for both teams success was essential. Neither team had been to a World Cup before, but victory would open up an almost incomprehensibly bigger stage against the world’s top teams in Australia the next year.
It was, on paper, a case of batting versus bowling, with Papua New Guinea reaching the semi-final after a string of high-scoring affairs. Thailand, on the other hand, had strangled all of their opponents with tight performances in the field. They hadn’t scored more than 100 in any of their games, but then again, they hadn’t needed to.
On paper, this may have been a tight contest. But the crucial context to this match was the extraordinary momentum that the Thais brought into the tournament. A routine victory against the Netherlands just a month before meant that, remarkably, they overtook Australia for the most consecutive WT20I wins – their 17th on the trot. Having lost every game of the equivalent qualifying tournament only 18 months prior, Thailand was, and still is, perhaps the fastestgrowing force in world cricket. The Thais’ performances demanded a loftier stage sooner rather than later.
It wasn’t long before their game against Papua New Guinea was a formality. The Thais were sent in to bowl, suiting their strengths perfectly. By
the time the batting team had slumped to 5/37 from 13 overs, Thailand was in full control. Suleeporn Laomi conceded just five runs from her four-over spell, but it was a whole team performance in the field that restricted Papua New Guinea to just 67, including two run-outs. A controlled but routine chase was to follow, and when veteran all-rounder Nattaya Boochatham hit the winning runs, the team ran onto the Dundee field in full knowledge of the victory’s significance.
A few months later, Papua New Guinea was again facing the prospects of qualification for the World T20 tournament, this time in the men’s edition. Strong tournament performances meant that a loss would certainly not have ruled out qualification, although their opponents, Kenya, required a win to keep their hopes alive.
Again, Papua New Guinea batted first, but a top-order collapse far more severe than the women had suffered left the team reeling at 6/19 after only four overs. Right-arm pace bowler Norman Vanua played his best innings at no.8, steadying the ship with Sese Bau, as they combined for 77 runs for the seventh wicket. Eventually, they reached the defendable, but still vulnerable, total of 118.
Vanua struck early before Papua New Guinea’s star all-rounder Assad Vala took three wickets, including Kenya’s 2003 World Cup revelation Collins Obuya. Again, the significance of victory was not lost on the winning side when the young quick Nosaina Pokana took the final Kenyan wicket.
T20 cricket remains a controversial addition to cricket’s growing array of formats, but few could argue that the access it has provided to emerging cricket nations is anything but a major win for the global game. The shorter format is less intimidating to newer players, and demands
HAVING LOST EVERY GAME OF THE EQUIVALENT QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT ONLY 18 MONTHS PRIOR, THAILAND WAS, AND STILL IS, PERHAPS THE FASTEST-GROWING FORCE IN WORLD CRICKET.
less of venues, pitches, and climates (especially in rain-prone countries in Northern Europe and around the equator).
So what exactly is the significance of the rapid emergence of teams such as Thailand and Papua New Guinea in the women’s and men’s formats respectively? The answer depends on arguably a bigger question again: what is the goal of a sport? Is it increased participation? Higher viewership? More money in cricket boards’ (or clubs’) accounts?
Truth be told, on all metrics, it’s a good thing if more nations continue to improve on the global stage. Unfortunately, however, financial interest in the short term has often conflicted with long-term thinking. Many established countries continue to decline opportunities for bilateral series in particular with smaller teams – Australia is perhaps as guilty as anyone on this front, after rejecting visits from Bangladesh and Zimbabwe in recent seasons.
One major impact of these teams’ emergences is the breaking of the traditional imperial barriers to reach global audiences. Among historical non-Commonwealth nations, Afghanistan, Nepal, Netherlands and Thailand stand out as the fast movers, giving new audiences the chance to journey with their national sides towards dreams of success.
It was only two decades ago that Bangladesh began their journey at the top, after all, and initial mediocrity has since led to competitiveness at every level. Ireland and Afghanistan have since followed, and the
COMMONWEALTH NATIONS, AFGHANISTAN, NEPAL, NETHERLANDS AND THAILAND STAND OUT AS THE FAST MOVERS.
opportunity seems as alluring as ever.
New locations for international and domestic cricket present exciting prospects for busting the age-old patterns of cricket styles in different countries. Imagine the kind of swing that might be extracted by the world’s best bowlers in the green humidity of tropical Papua New Guinea, or the effects of altitude and temperature in places like Nepal.
Perhaps even more significantly, sport has the capability of tying non-political strings between countries that might not otherwise have anything to do with each other. Cricket might just offer a unique set of connections between fans of far-flung nations, in the age of match threads, comment sections, and domestic T20 leagues. Nepalese spinner Sandeep Lamichhane’s BBL debut last season was met with unified jubilation by expats in Melbourne, and his success was perhaps the most heartwarming story of last summer.
The stage that this season’s T20 World Cups offer to semi-professional teams might seem hardly believable, but these brave players might just make themselves pioneers of a new era of truly globalised cricket – and it’s a win all around, regardless of results.