Rush for cash makes for bad cricket

TimesOnline has this extract from Wisden, where Mathew Engel (Editor) argues that the rush for cash is merely producing more bad cricket. Expansion looks like the furthest thing from ICC's mind. How do you explain how the Zimbabwe debacle was handled, how new countries keep qualifying for the World Cup? Since Sri Lanka's slow and steady rise no other minnow has been able to replicate it. Especially when the focus is on expansion now. Expansion wasn't officially happening when Sri Lanka was coming through the ranks. Its basically about grassroot cricket and developing that in new countries, than getting new teams and letting them get hammered and as such destroy any confidence they might have had. When did you last see a Kenya match on TV? They hardly get an opportunity to play bigger teams. Bangladesh has still not played India at home, because BCCI does not think there's too much moolah in it. So they keep postponing it. I hope they win against Australia - which would prove that they can fight at the test cricket level. We care about the fight and not the results initially. You can't expect wonders with a minnow. Something that even Kenya showed initially, but then there's hardly any cricket for them other than African tournaments against a weakened Zimbabwe or South African A sides. Is this how you develop a potential test playing unit?

Engel's full interview is at Cricinfo
Link to another article about ICC's greed

Crossposted at Freewheelin