5 Reasons why the coming years will be the best time for Cricket

The public received the ICC's recent myopic announcement of reducing the number of teams in the World Cup to 10 with a huge backlash. Fans, players and experts were furious to know that the ICC was making such a decision with only an eye for profit.

Many speculated this would trigger the demise of cricket. Although most of these are true, it is simply untrue that this can cause the demise of the game. On the contrary, the coming years may be fruitful for cricket, just not from the world cup perspective.

These are the five reasons why we think the coming years will be the best time for cricket:

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#5 The inclusion of new Test teams

Ireland had a really good showing in their debut test against Asian giants Pakistan

For a really long time, Test cricket had only 10 teams. It was only in 2017, ICC decided that Test cricket needed to expand. The top two associates, Ireland and Afghanistan were promoted to full members.

This not only gives Test cricket a breath of fresh air but also motivates other associates to perform well in the Intercontinental Cup since now they understand they can also play the highest level of cricket.

To be fair, Ireland were valiant even in losing cause. Though Afghanistan was destroyed by India, they have the firepower to come back stronger.

#4 Diminishing barriers between full members and associates

Calum MacLeod scored a scintillating century to help Scotland beat England

Three months ago, Scotland, the 13th ranked ODI team, defeated the then top ODI team England. This is one of the numerous examples that has shown the fighting spirit and talent of the so-called associates. Just before being promoted to a full member, Afghanistan had given immense competition to teams like West Indies, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.

Notably, in the recently concluded women's Asia cup, Thailand women defeated a prominent Sri Lanka women's team. These are all pointing fingers at the fact that the lower ranked teams are also now as competent as the top teams of world cricket.

#3 High-quality youngsters

England's youngster Sam Curran caused a huge headache for the visiting Indians

In the ongoing England - India test series, Sam Curran was the biggest difference between both teams. If this Test series is anything to go by, the younger Curran brother has nothing but bright future in front of him.

He is one of the many high-quality youngsters that will soon rule the cricket world. Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah, Babar Azam, Matt Renshaw, Rashid Khan, Kagiso Rabada - the list of outstanding prospects under 25 years of age goes on.

#2 Meaningful bilateral series

India and Pakistan will not be playing bilateral series against each other

According to the ICC's new system, each and every match now hold significant importance. The proposed Test championship model will force teams like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and West Indies to be competitive and not take any series lightly as the ramifications are heavy. Teams could even get relegated for poor performances.

In ODIs, rating points accrued during bilateral series are now crucial for World Cup qualifications.

#1 ICC have sown the seeds for global expansion

All the 104 ICC members have been given T20I status

ICC always had an agenda of expanding cricket globally. However, they never took any drastic steps in ensuring the same. But earlier this year, Dave Richardson, ICC CEO, announced that all 104 member countries would be given T20I status from January 2019.

This is hopefully the first step ICC took in the long and tough journey of globalizing the gentleman's game. ICC will hopefully focus on ensuring regular participation of smaller teams, providing them financially, and giving them support whenever necessary.