"Not since Barclays World of Cricket in the '70s had there been an attempt to cover the game in any truly global sense. My aim was to get the message out about how global the game is. It wasn't a surprise to me how widely played the game is but I think it is to many readers of the book. I also wanted to give some attention to Women's cricket."

English by birth, University Professor Roy Morgan's long standing interest in cricket in the non-Test playing countries began when he was living and working in Malaysia in the late 1960s. In compiling the book, some obscure cricketing outposts such as Norfolk Island and Curacoa are featured "so being a geographer by profession helped enormously".

According to Morgan "it is difficult for Associates' cricket to be taken seriously in the major Test nations until it is taken seriously in the Associate country itself. It is difficult to promote a sport when it is very much a minority sport in the home country. That's why I think Ireland is at a critical stage of it's' development. It needs to push itself into the top 5 or 6 sports, get regular media coverage in the newspapers and TV and so on...."

There are two critical barriers to break through to develop the game at Associate level in Morgan's view: "You need to take the amateur structure and move to at least a semi-professional structure to give the team a chance of competing against professional opposition. You need to put in a youth structure with coaches in place and so on. The second hurdle to ensure that the professional players who are playing as professionals in other countries can be released to represent their country - otherwise you don't get a fair reflection of the strength of the national side."

"Once you get through those two hurdles, it becomes a lot easier. Once a country becomes a Full Member of the ICC the amount of money it receives from the ICC is enormous."

"The ICC needs to give more encouragement to the Associate countries. The introduction of the Intercontinental Cup is a good thing but while the top Associate countries are based in Europe they are fighting for recognition in the ICC whose focus is on Asia. The ICC should be giving more recognition to the strength of the European Associates. The decision to reduce the number of teams competing at the 2011 World Cup from 16 to 14 sends the wrong signal. It appears that the ICC isn't even doing much to help the top Asian Associates - Nepal, UAE and Afghanistan."

"I think the Full Members could do more to help the development of Associate countries. It would be helpful for the likes of Ireland to play England "A" in a four day match." 

Morgan is optimistic about the future for Associate cricket. "I fear for West Africa, where the game is played largely by the white population - I fear it may die out there. However, in all the other countries, it is thriving, albeit usually in a limited way. It took New Zealand a long time to register its first victory in Test cricket. I don't remember the same controversy and debate as there is about Bangladesh...I'm sure Bangladesh will come good in the end and I'm sure Ireland would as well if it was given the chance..."

Roy Morgan's Encyclopaedia of World Cricket is exactly that - a book that justifies its' title, comprehensive (approximately 150 countries are featured) without being oppressively detailed. (Morgan's focus is on senior teams of each nation and on Women's cricket). It is an excellent coffee table book and a must for all Associate cricket enthusiasts.

Copyright: Cover Point