Karl on ... the 2nd (or 3rd?) tier

We all know that Zimbabwe and Bangladesh are ranked at the bottom of the full-member nations, coming in ninth and tenth. But did you know that the ICC ranks one-day teams down to 30th? The latest ICC Cricket quarterly newsletter has the rankings. Kenya, predictably, are at 11, followed by Scotland, Ireland and Canada. Interesting rankings include Papua New Guinea at 22, Fiji at 24, Nepal at 25 and Kuwait at 28. This is part of a wider ICC initiative to develop three global leagues for non-Full members, to increase the number of games they play. This can only be a good thing, increasing the number of countries playing one-day cricket.

You would think that Bangladesh and Zimbabwe would be keen to play the teams just below them, to restore their confidence and prove they are deserving of being in the top-flight. Sadly, this is not the case. It seems, they are probably more scared that they would be beaten by Kenya and prove they are not deserving of being in the top-flight.