Dear Tony,
I have been following with great interest "the little big debate" which has
been generated by the 2001 ICC Trophy feudal format.
Before we get into a chaotic debate over the morality and practicality of
this structure, it has to be reminded that all Associates, and I underline
all, had accepted prior to Kuala Lumpur 1997 to be ranked into two divisions
with only the top flight eligible to play for the 2003 World Cup
qualifications in Toronto. No one having had the courage to draw the logical
ensuing conclusion, that is to scrap the Second Division totally because it
was useless, we have now got ourselves into this mess.
The top ranked teams could easily argue that a token gesture of democracy
has been produced by introducing the window game, maybe "drain pipe" would
be more appropriate, and I have total sympathy with this view.
On the other hand why are 12 teams crossing the world to play a social
tournament in Toronto? Would the ICC money not be better spent on basic
development structures in these lower echelon Associates ?
In the middle of a phase in which ICC's global policy is trying to find its
footing, clearly this tournament has managed to grab "the worst of two
worlds". On one hand, we still have the ridiculous social gathering of "old
boys" all in one place mostly at ICC's expense; on the other, quite rightly,
we want to be sure that the best three teams get through to the World Cup
where they will be given a prohibitive schedule and a visit of all the less
interesting venues in the hope that they do not lower too much the general
standard of the tournament.
I would be dishonest in not saying that for a country like Italy this
structure in actual fact is a semi - disguised blessing. We are not good
enough to qualify for the World Cup and should even this have occurred on
merit, the demand of raising the standard of our national team even further
for 2003 would have simply destroyed us after the big event. I would like to
hope that most administrators of the 2nd Division Associates and maybe even
some of the 1st Division ones would be humble enough to admit the same for
their country.
There is currently a huge confusion been made between development and
performance. I would challenge anyone to deny that Italy's performances from
1997 onwards have not been the most improved amongst the Associates. Yet,
this has little to do with development in the sense of giving the game a
durable structure in our country. Unquestionably, the victory over England
Amateurs and promotion to Europe's top flight were important to gain
exposure. The exposure brought credibility. Credibility generated funds.
Funds can be a great thing if used properly. They can be distructive,
however, if misused.
By the autumn of 1999, with an "Italian" playing county cricket, many people
over here had lost focus on what remains the top priority: creating a
cricket culture in Italy in, let us say, a 50 year time span.
My desk, by then, was flooded with faxes, emails, petitions and whatever
else of Italiani from all over the world wanting to return home and play
for the Nazionale. Something did not feel quite right or, to put in
Alexander Pope's words, "in line with the great chain of being."
All these Italians by blood were fully elegible to play for Italy. On this
controversial aspect, I was more than happy to continue my longstanding
battle with ICC whose qualifications have forgotten completely the existence
of "ius sanguinis" players. The point, however, was more delicate. Would it
have been good for Italy, or any other country, to rise from oblivion to the
top by doping its national team with outsiders?
Experience has suggested me the answer is: yes but only to a certain extent.
You need good players simply because you need to be decent to develop. The
alternative is sliding down. However, no mass transfusion of talent can
close gaps that are due to structural differences in size and quality.
Consequently, Italy will go to Toronto with the same players that performed
with dignity in last year's European Championships in Scotland. Whatever
result we obtain, our tournament will finish on July 5th and we shall not
play, in the extremely unlikely case we should win our group, in the "drain
pipe" game simply because we do not belong, and consequently want to have no
part, in a process of which it is much better to be a spectator than a part
time disruptive actor.
Thanking you for your kind attention,
Yours sincerely,
Dr. Simone Gambino,
Rome,
Italy
© 2001 CricInfo Ltd
