Minnows matter
Abhijit Chatterjee

Will the 2011 ICC World Cup be the last that teams like Ireland, the Netherlands, Canada and Kenya be taking part on the world stage? Why has such a thing come about and why is the ICC thinking of curtailing the "greatest cricket show" to just 10 teams? Have these teams performed so miserably that they do not deserve to be on the world stage or has their inclusion extended the length of the tournament to unmanageable limits? The answer probably lies somewhere in between.

The scheduling of the ICC World Cup this time around was criticised by the likes of Ricky Ponting and members of the England squad, since teams were given huge gaps of five to six days between matches. On the other hand, Indian skipper M.S. Dhoni was happy with the scheduling, saying the gaps before matches would allow the teams to recover from niggling injuries. But to blame the extended schedule of the World Cup matches on the presence of the associate teams would be unkind.

The presence of these "lesser" teams does allow the international body to promote the game globally, as such it is essential to have these teams in the World Cup. There is no denying the fact that usually the lesser teams make an early exit and provide warm-up material for the big names. But then, are they not learning from the senior squads?

This does not happen always. This year, the performance of Ireland has indeed been an eye-opener. Their performance has probably captured the collective hearts of all cricket fans; thereby providing a wonderful, heartwarming interlude. They not only brought England to their knees but even hosts India were extended to the hilt by them even if the score line shows that India finally won by five wickets. In fact, Ireland have proved more than a match to most teams and the only time they seemed not up to the mark was in their encounter with South Africa, as they succumbed to a 131-run defeat. In their last league match, Ireland handed down a six-wicket defeat to the Netherlands, which in a way truly reflects the difference between the Irish and the other associate teams in this year’s World Cup.

And one must not forget that in the last World Cup in 2007, the Irish team was instrumental in the premature end of Pakistan’s campaign. (For the record, India also failed to get past the first round after Bangladesh and Sri Lanka handed them humiliating defeats). And this is one reason why the ICC changed the format of the tournament this year so that the bigger teams did not have to pack their bags early. But one should not forget that Kenya had stunned the West Indies in 1996 and reached the second stage in 2003, where they upset Sri Lanka.

However, letting the associate members play the World Cup every four years is not the only way of promoting the game. Adequate exposure must be provided for these teams over the cricketing calendar to ensure that there is an improvement year after year. And for this to happen, the senior members of the ICC must send their teams to play against the associate members so that they can improve. One reason why Bangladesh is a now a regular member of the ICC is the fact that over the years, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have repeatedly sent teams to tour Bangladesh so that their standard could improve. And the result is there for all to see.

But even if Ireland seems to be improving, the same cannot be said of the other teams in the 2011 World Cup. Kenya, who had enjoyed ODI status till 2009, seemed to be a pale shadow of their former selves in this tournament. They lost all their matches by huge margins and it seems that it will take a long time for cricket in Kenya to come to the standard required to get ODI status. The standard of Canada, too, has declined while Holland owed their performance to a few individual players.

Zimbabwe seems to be climbing up the ladder in terms of international performance, but then again they have a proud cricketing tradition that has seen many political setbacks, which, in turn, have affected their performance. So, the potential is there but for them to improve South Africa, their cricketing neighbour, must send teams and also invite their team for bilateral series so that their standard can improve. But given the heavy schedule of the ICC international calendar the year round, would the biggies have the time to promote the game in these countries?

Minnows do turn into major cricket-playing nations with time. Just think that when the World Cup was started in 1975, India as well as Pakistan were considered lightweights. Sri Lanka, too, took time to become a competitive side and for the sake of cricket promoting minnows is the right thing to do. But is the World Cup the right event for doing so? Do these teams learn any lessons just by getting beaten by huge margins? How would this assist them in becoming good teams?

If the ICC looks at these things simply from a financial perspective, the presence of the lesser teams is not serving any useful purpose. (The BCCI, which is backing these minnows was probably remembering the fact that the last time they held this cricketing show in 1996, the match between Kenya and Zimbabwe drew a full house of 25,000 at Patna). Since then, the Indian viewer has seen so much cricket that even a match between England and Ireland fails to draw an adequate number of spectators to make the exercise of hosting it fruitful. But one thing is sure. Keeping the minnows out of the World Cup would probably take the world out of the World Cup and the importance of the tournament itself would be reduced!

Fitness mantra
Tasty tiffins
B.N. Behera

Mothers should provide their kids with “healthy tiffins”

The final examinations of the students are over. They will now start with their new sessions. So, it’s time for mothers to think about kids’ nutrition while providing them with healthy tiffins, which can fulfill the nutritional requirement of at least one meal.

All parents desire that their offspring are fit and healthy. But the children are not ready to gulp anything for the sake of health. So, it is a great challenge for the parents to make healthy food enjoyable and acceptable by children.

Children need more energy and other nutrients than adults Thinkstockphotos/ Getty Images

School-going children need a lot more energy and other nutrients for their body size than adults. The increased requirements of proteins should meet the demands of growth. Girls require more proteins at 10-12 years than their male counterparts since they approach puberty early. During this period, children require more calcium than adults to meet the demand for skeletal growth. Likewise, iron requirement is also increased.

Does your child hate his lunch box? Does he come home with his food untouched or perhaps distributes his/her tiffin among the little gang at school? While your child’s ideal lunch box would sometimes consist of pizzas or burgers, you as a parent know that his/her choice of food does not provide the required nutrition. So, what do you do? Pack him/her a tiffin of dal-chawal or chapatti and vegetables day after day.

Who says that food can’t be tasty and healthy at the same time? All that your child really wants is a change from the mundane everyday food. So, here are a few recipes that are healthy and your child is sure to love.

Along with these recipes, it’s a good idea that instead of water, let your child take sweet lime water (nimbu pani) with little pudina or butter milk with little cumin, curry leaves and coriander in the water bottle a couple of times a week.