Afghan cricket: Good news and bad (sort of) news

Continuing to beat up on the Celts:

Afghanistan beat Scotland to win their first One Day International
...
Playing in Benoni, the Afghans, who had already beaten Scotland in the Super Eight stages just two games ago, won by 89 runs after setting the Scots a target of 296 to win from their 50 overs.

Afghanistan's fearless playing style was once again crucial as Noor Ali raced to 45 off just 28 deliveries, before fifties from Mohammad Nabi and Samiullah Shenwari carried the side to 295 for 6...

But they didn't make it to the World Cup itself:

Afghan Run in Cup Ends Just Short of Its Goal

All Afghanistan’s Cricket World Cup qualifying campaign lacked was the perfect ending.

An extraordinary sporting odyssey stretching across most of a year and four continents ended in South Africa on Sunday with Afghanistan just short of the ultimate prize — placed fifth when only the top four progress to the finals in South Asia in 2011.

The four who will join the game’s elite, the 10 test-playing nations, in 2011 are Ireland, which won the qualifying the tournament, Canada, the Netherlands and Kenya. All four also played in the last World Cup in the West Indies two years ago.

It is an outcome that may occasion mixed feelings for the International Cricket Council, the game’s ruling body. Like all such organizations it is a target for the complaints of fans, players, and the media across the world.

So it should be credited for its achievement in constructing and funding the elaborate qualifying system that made it possible for Afghanistan to rise from a level alongside such unlikely cricketing entities as Norway and Japan to challenge for a chance to face Australia and India.

Too bad, then, that this vision was accompanied by shortsightedness following the 2007 World Cup. After a lot of complaints, mostly from established nations who should have been worrying about their own performances, the ICC cut the number of nontest qualifiers from six to four.

But for that, a feel-good story soon to be commemorated in a documentary film would be continuing as far as the international game’s biggest stage.

Afghanistan has claimed some consolation prizes. Its top six place gives it one-day international status, alongside the test nations, for the next four years [emphasis added].

It is guaranteed matches against the best of the nontest nations. It will play one-day matches in Division One of the World Cricket League — it was in Division Five a year ago — and four-day games in the Intercontinental League. All of this will be accompanied by enhanced ICC development funding.

There is little doubting the passion and talent of Afghanistan’s team, along with a spirit built up over that succession of qualifying competitions.

Afghanistan competed well throughout the tournament, winning six of its 10 matches...

The challenge will be to maintain progress and ensure that the extra resources go into enhancing opportunities for players in a country beset by poverty and warfare. Afghanistan is unlikely to play at home because of security problems [emphasis added] and a lack of facilities. It will need not only goodwill but practical support — games, equipment and technical assistance — from wealthier nations...

Update: Whilst in Pakistan, international cricket falls victim to terrorism:

Pakistan: Loss of World Cup a 'disaster'

On television, radio and in the streets, Pakistanis are calling the loss of their hosting of the 2011 World Cup, a decision made by the International Cricket Council on Friday [April 17], a national disaster.

Pakistanis in Karachi burn cricket bats in protest against the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Saturday.

Cricket, an obsession that some here half-jokingly refer to as the country's second religion, has become the latest casualty of the surge of terror attacks across Pakistan...

On March 3, gunmen attacked Sri Lanka's cricket team as it was traveling by bus on its way to a match in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore. The hail of gunfire wounded seven players and an assistant coach, and killed at least six Pakistani security guards. The Sri Lankan team had to be evacuated from the cricket stadium in Lahore by helicopter...