Do these matches full of heritage players really grow the game in the nations the teams lend their name to? Should we not first develop competitions within these nations to develop players to the required test standard and then have them play on the test stage. It is not long ago that the only test playing Cricket Nations were Aust, Eng, S Africa and WI. Countries such as IND, Pak, Sri Lanka and NZ have been developed to full test status. Look at the recent cricket world cup. A resounding success. Copy the system that works, don't reinvent the wheel.
one of the matches is full of heritage players.
Tonga v Samoa
And that's cause both countries have a massive Aus/NZ diaspora.
Its not a bad thing to utilize the diaspora to get out some competitive teams and use them to ease their way into local markets.
I think the Island teams need to play a lot more on the Islands but if players are willing to play for them under the rules than I have no qualms in us using them.
Cricket has plenty of dubious selections in national teams.
The English Cricket team for starters.
The Italian and Dutch cricket teams are dominated by people born overseas, and they aren't the only ones.
India are like PNG in a way.
They were and are only poor due to a lack of resources rather than a lack of Enthusiasm.
Pakistan and Sri Lanka are in the same boat.
They're teams which inevitably were going to get good as their country developed.
They weren't 'developed' into full test nations.
They made it themselves, improving their own practices and generating their own revenues.
Also what was the point of mentioning New Zealand? they've been playing cricket for almost 100 years.
They also weren't nurtured up, cricket is just a popular sport over there.
New Zealand were a very strong team in the 70s and 80s, its not like they've just popped up.
