Ireland and Afghanistan now full ICC members

[Uncle Leo]

Which means they have both been granted Test status. Good news. Best of luck to both of them, apart from when they are playing England!

I assume Ireland's Test matches will be part of a 'British Isles Tour' whenever teams are coming over to play us. Would Afghanistan play at home, or in the Gulf states, like Pakistan do?

 

[Swiss Tony]

A 3 test tour of Afghanistan,now there's a thought,Barmy Army anyone.:omg:

 

[Uncle Leo]

A 3 test tour of Afghanistan,now there's a thought,Barmy Army anyone.:omg:

You sort the tickets and I'll....erm...meet you there.

 

[Swiss Tony]

You sort the tickets and I'll....erm...meet you there.

Ha ha,seriously though 5 days in the Emerald isle sounds good.

 

[AndyT]

I guess this is the beginning of splitting into two divisions.

Good news for them both.

 

[Blueronron]

Amazing rise by the Afghan team formed in 1995, bet Eoin Morgan will get a warm reception back home lol

 

[Swiss Tony]

Amazing rise by the Afghan team formed in 1995, bet Eoin Morgan will get a warm reception back home lol

Agreed,a massive well done to both Test sides,has a nice ring about it.:thumbsup:

 

[Uncle Leo]

...and Ireland will make their Test debut at home to Pakistan in May 2018. Great stuff.

 

[Blueronron]

Personally donot think a two division split would work

End of the day its England, Australia SA, India that are the crowd pullers and would need these countries to play the "other" smaller countries on a regular basis in order to create 1) Revenue through the gates (2) Experience against the better sides

You only have to look at the decline of the Windies to see how they suffer, and then in the event of England or Australia being relegated how could you fit in an Ashes 5 match series between playing the other countries in Div 2

All for new countries coming into the fold, but two divisions no thank you for International matches

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

The new league is a joke.

Everyone needs to play everyone else.

England need to play Australia a lot less than we currently do and play everyone other than India a lot more.

 

[Uncle Leo]

The new league is a joke.

Everyone needs to play everyone else.

England need to play Australia a lot less than we currently do and play everyone other than India a lot more.

What new league? I haven't seen confirmed fixtures? Details please!

Totally agree with your point. We've not played Bangladesh at home since Graham Thorpe retired!

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

What new league? I haven't seen confirmed fixtures? Details please!

Totally agree with your point. We've not played Bangladesh at home since Graham Thorpe retired!

Is due to be ratified this week

 

[C C Csiders]

Tours of Afghanistan should be interesting with warm-up fixtures against a Taliban President's XI

 

[AndyT]

I doubt there'll be any TV coverage, though!