Afghanistan and Ireland aspire to confirm their Test status in the upcoming ICC meeting

If you have to pick two of the best associate teams, 9 out of 10 will pick Afghanistan and Ireland, if not all 10. For quite a long time, these two sides have been on the brink of attaining the glorious Test status, but for some reasons, they remained far away. But in the next International Cricket Council (ICC) meeting, which will be held next week, there might be something to cheer for these two nations.

If they do manage to get it, they will become the 11th and 12th countries to receive the coveted status. Afghanistan Cricket Board Chairman Atef Mashal in an interview said that their board members are working on the proposal for a full membership and Test Status, which will be presented to the ICC next week.

Preparing the proposal

“A committee is working inside the cricket board, and we will work on our proposal to present it to the ICC in the future, and hopefully full membership and Test status are on the way,” said a very optimistic Mashal.

In February, the ICC agreed “in principle” that this week’s meeting in London had “the potential to include additional Full Members (Ireland and Afghanistan subject to both meeting Membership criteria)”. So if things fall perfectly in place, we might see these two incredibly talented countries locking horns with the best teams in the world in white jerseys.

No more just Associates

Who can forget those exploits from the Irish at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, when a certain Kevin O’Brien smacked the English bowlers to all parts and scored the fastest ever hundred in World Cup history (50 balls), which eventually gifted them an unforgettable win. They chased down 338 runs, which till date is the highest successful run chase in World Cup history.

Not just that one match, but in the previous two editions of the ICC World Cup (in 2011 and 2015), they made a strong case for themselves to enter the quarter-finals, but missed out on fine margins. The legendary Michael Holding has mentioned many times in the last two years that Ireland will start losing their star players given they’re not getting what they deserve, just the way it happened with Eoin Morgan, who left Ireland for better opportunities.

Afghanistan on the other side, have made an impressive progress from grassroots level to International success in no time. Under the leadership of Asghar Stanikzai, Afghanistan are really taking giant strides in the game and most of their players have been making a great name for themselves in T20 tournaments across the globe.

Who can forget Rashid Khan’s heroics for the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL, which played a vital role in taking his team into the top 4. Mohammad Nabi, Mohammad Shahzad, Dawlat Zadran and Shapoor Zadran, they really back a punch on their day and their recent success against West Indies is a testimony to this fact.