United States of America (USA) batter Shayan Jahangir has cajoled the International Cricket Council (ICC) to give ‘proper’ nurturing to Associate nations. He said teams like the USA haven’t been watered enough, and their performances at the 2026 T20 World Cup are a result of their efforts ‘without financial resources and without infrastructure’ comparable to most of the big, full-member nations.
ICC’s lopsided revenue distribution model means that 88% of the board’s earnings are distributed to the 12 full members, while the remaining $67.16 million is shared among all Associate Members. While there hasn’t been a big upset in the tournament yet — apart from Italy brilliantly beating Nepal, if it can be categorised as such — Associate teams have
run their richer opponents quite close, faltering due to one or two mistakes.
“As you have seen in this World Cup, all teams that are tagged Associate nations have put on a show, and they’ve given a very tough time to all these big teams,” Jahangir said, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo. “Nepal almost won a game against England. We almost beat India, having them 75 [77] for 6 – again Surya (India skipper Suryakumar Yadav) playing the way he played. But if we had clinched those moments, we would have beaten the powerhouse of a World Cup team.”
“I would say we have not been watered properly. We haven’t been nurtured properly. But again, it’s all our players who are putting in the hard yards without the financial resources and without the infrastructure. I think if the ICC pays more attention to us and all the Associate nations, you’ll see more big games and you’ll see all these teams coming and changing their tag from Associate nations to big teams as well,” he added.
Jahangir cited the example of Nepal batter Dipendra Singh Airee, saying he has big world records to his name, but because he hasn’t faced top-quality oppositions, he doesn’t get much recognition and contracts around the world.
“It has a lot to do with the funding as well. We don’t have the money to have those comps [competitions], don’t have those big grounds that we can play on, and I think if we have that funding from the ICC… It’s a request from us, personally from me, to really look into it, and if you really nurture us, I’m telling you, there’s so much talent in Associate cricket,” he added.
