The ICC's 95 Associate and Affiliate members face an uncertain future in 2011 and beyond as the Full members move to restructure international cricket to their own liking.

The confirmation that there will be an eight-team Intercontinental Cup in 2011-12 is welcome, but the High Performance countries' first-class competition remains a challenge - and not only on the field.

Featuring leading coaches Ryan Maron, Andy Moles and Brian McMillan, the two-month Academy will offer a great opportunity to young players from Europe and elsewhere.

Rod Lyall calls upon Haroon Lorgat, ICC Chief Executive and chairman of its Development Committee, to reaffirm the ICC's commitment to its development policies and the structures it has built up over the past decade.

But Regional Development Manager Richard Holdsworth emphasizes that the commitment to the longer forms of the game remains undiminished as the pattern of European tournaments changes.

The Associates and Affiliates may have little power or influence, but there is at least one way in which the ICC's 'wretched of the earth' could put pressure on the Full members over the future of cricket's global development.

West Indies took the title in the ICC Women's Twenty20 Challenge in Potchefstroom while Ireland defeated The Netherlands in the wooden spoon encounter.

The mainstream media were completely silent on the proposal to reduce the cricket world cup to ten teams. But now someone has spoken out against it.

As the ICC restructures international cricket in the interest of the privileged few, the implications for the powerless majority remain uncertain … but far from promising.

ICC confirms that the World Cup will be reduced in 2015, but not in duration or number of matches.

Since the ICC proposal to cut the 2015 World Cup to just 10 teams was announced, much has been revealed about how the sport's governing body operates.

… or rather a nightmare vision of where the powers that be in cricket appear to be taking the game.

What can the Associates' representatives do in the face of the naked power of the Full Members when they demand their own way at the ICC Executive Board next week?

Russell Degnan argues that the ICC's proposals to reduce the size of the World Cup are based on five widely held misconceptions.

Don Lockerbie, USA Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officer of the 2007 World Cup, is against narrowing the number of teams in the ICC World Cup while at the same time hoping for even greater expansion of the World Twenty20 beyond the proposed 16 teams.

It may be time for the IOC to reconsider its recognition of the ICC as an International Federation under the Olympic Charter.

A 10 nation, 48 match 2015 World Cup isn’t even a smart short term solution to the obvious problem. Cricket cannot prosper if only one country controls its destiny.

Is elitism so deeply embedded in cricket journalism, as well as cricket administration, that no other media agencies are ready to point out the absurdity and downright injustice of a ‘World Cup’ confined to a small club of self-serving nations?

The proposal to cut the World Cup to ten teams might suggest that the ICC’s High Performance Program is a failure, but that is very far from the truth.

Cricket’s governing body has decided to reduce the number of teams taking part in the 2015 World Cup to 10. Peter Roebuck says that it is an astonishingly short sighted act.

A look at the range of performances that will be eliminated from future World Cups if the ICC Chief Executives’ Committee’s proposals are accepted.

… the ICC decides it is appropriate to reduce its World Cup to a select and chosen few countries.

The suggestion of a ten team World Cup involves abandoning some key promises made in the ICC Strategic Plan 2006-2010.

The ICC's High Performance manager reveals that the ICC has yet to determine the format and schedule for the next edition of the tournament.

Roy Morgan looks at some of the ways in which a ten team World Cup might be organised.

The chief executives of Cricket Scotland and Cricket Ireland have strongly condemned plans by the ICC to reduce the number of participants in the World Cup.

More than two-thirds of voters supported a 16-team World Cup in a poll which the ICC briefly ran on its own website on Thursday. But then they removed the poll!

The proposal to reduce the World Cup to ten participants from 2015 threatens the whole ICC development strategy and may herald the end of the High Performance Program, argues Rod Lyall.

Michael Taylor argues that Ireland should not have given in to ICC's pressure for them to play Intercontinental Cup and ODI matches in Zimbabwe.

An ICC audio interview with newly-elected Vice-President Alan Isaac points to disturbing developments in international cricket, argues Rod Lyall.

Jon Coates on how the dumbfounding scenario of the World Cup going all the way back to 10 teams is on the ICC table and up for debate.

It may not come as a surprise that the inquiry does not recommend justice for Singapore, but it is nevertheless profoundly disappointing.

Roy Morgan considers how recent top cricketers stand in relation to associate/affiliate cricketers of all time and, in particular,with Bart King, widely regarded as one of the best players never to have played test cricket.

Christine O'Dowd describes the challenges and opportunities facing young New Zealand cricketers on their path to success.

In the concluding part of this series, we examine the transformation in world cricket since the introduction of Associate membership in 1965 - and the rise to power of a bloc of countries led by India.

Even ICC's High Performance Manager Richard Done, the man responsible for bridging the gap between the elite and the aspiring nations, has been amazed by Afghanistan's inexorable rise.

Continuing our account of the development of international cricket, we examine the period from World War II to the introduction of Associate membership of the ICC in 1965.

The strange structures of international cricket are only explicable if one understands something of the ICC's history. In this first of three parts, we look at the situation up to World War Two.

One simple approach to encouraging associate and affiliate countries to meet their aspirations of playing cricket at the highest level would be for the ICC to separate the issue of test status from full membership. Roy Morgan suggests how it might be done.

Without the riot, Singapore would inevitably have finished second in Kathmandu, irrespective of the outcome of the match between Nepal and USA. Here's why.

Rod Lyall argues that the handling of the Kathmandu riot not only destroys the credibility of the ICC's World Cricket League, but gives a licence for crowd misbehaviour anywhere in the world.

A look at the double centuries in international one-day matches that came before Sachin Tendulkar.

The age and make-up of the USA national side does not bode well for the ICC's ambitions in the country.

The scintillating action that unfolded over the five days of the T20 World Cup Qualifier proved once again that non-test cricket has more than its fair share of quality, entertainment and drama.

CricketEurope's panel has made its ten nominations for our Player of the Year accolade. Read all about those ten players and then the final decision is yours!

When we reflect on the 2010’s what will be the success criteria against which progress is judged? James Siviter offers ten suggestions.

Rod Lyall joins the debate about the elevation of one or more Associate countries to Test status.

The debate over whether Ireland, or indeed any other associate, will ever progress to Test status has brought the Intercontinental Cup competition under the microscope.

The recent articles by Michael Taylor on why Ireland cannot play test cricket raise broader issues. Roy Morgan examines some of them and concludes that ICC needs to lay down a clearly-structured pathway which is well-founded on history.

The ICC’s commission of a report to highlight the potential of cricket in the USA and China is indicative of opposing factions within the ICC.

The ICC Board heard on Tuesday from its Principal Advisor, IS Bindra, that the Full Members ought to be playing in the USA and China.

If cricket is to be more than a minority sport in Associate and Affiliate nations then it must reach out to the majority.

Noor Ali’s achievement of scoring two separate hundreds in a match and becoming only the fourth to do so on first-class debut can be put in a wider perspective.

Tim Brooks identifies some radical options for how the ICC can help the minnows to continue to make headway against the current.

Edward Liddle reviews the life and times of CB Fry and explodes some of the myths surrounding one of England's finest cricketers.

New Zealand's young allrounder Tim Southee is interviewed ahead of this week's Tri-Series in Aberdeen.

A review of the performances of the twelve teams in the World Cricket League Division 5 tournament.

CricketEurope selects its squad of outstanding players from the recent tournament in Jersey.

Following Mahaboob Alam's record-breaking ten wickets against Mozambique we take another look back at some other remarkable bowling performances in the non-Test arena.

Irishman Eoin Morgan has embarked on the most important summer of his career as the county circuit creaks back into motion.

Ed Joyce captains the MCC in the 2008 English season opener against champion county Sussex.

A document suggest that more changes may be afoot for international cricket.

Cricket Ireland is still working out how to nurse the inevitable post World Cup come-down, manage a whole new set of expectations and challenges and guard the legacy.

The announcement of the ICC Development Awards will again highlight the gap between the haves and the have-nots in world cricket.

What can ICC's Full Members do to restore confidence in their commitment to the expansion of cricket?

The CEOs of the Test nations have signalled a retreat from the ICC's vision of global cricket expansion.

Moves to cut the number of Associate countries at the next World Cup to four would be a damaging U-turn by the ICC.

Is the ICC's four day global competition now causing more problems than those it was originally intended to solve?

View our Google Earth presentations featuring international grounds in the leading non-Test countries.