News that the ICC has approved a reduction in the number of teams at the 50-over World Cup and an enlarged World Twenty20 event has caused a predictable storm of protest from some quarters.

But the ICC has been vague about what a ten-country World Cup this means. It has not ruled out Associates taking part but as that would mean a qualifying event, it seems unlikely. But for now, we can only wait.

As some kind of sweetner, the World Twenty20 event will be expanded to 16 teams from the 2012 tournament. The success of smaller nations like Netherlands and Afghanistan in Twenty20 cricket prompted the expansion of the tournament, which will continue to have the women's event played alongside it.

What most people agree on is that the current World Cup is overly bloated. But will the ICC be forced by its more powerful members to ditch the concept that the tournament is genuinely open to all and just ensure the cosy club run by the Full Members becomes even cosier?

Ireland coach Phil Simmons has slammed the organisers of the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier after his side were forced to play the final against Afghanistan – which they lost - less than an hour after beating Netherlands.

“Six matches in five days was ridiculous,” Simmons said. “At the end of the day we’ve qualified but it’s not healthy and it wouldn’t be done for any other tournament, so I didn’t think it was right.”

“At the end of the day we came out with the win we needed today and I’m sure the Afghans were happy with their win and we both go to the World Cup.”

The ICC has announced the schedule for the eight-team ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier 2010, which will take place in the United Arab Emirates between February 9 and 13.

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When America's most talented players begin play in Fort Lauderdale on Friday for the USA Cricket Association (USACA) National Championship, each one will be full of hope about their team's chances of walking away with the title. They'll also be desperate to impress selectors at the grounds each day because the tournament is also acting as trials for the USA national squad to compete in February's World Twenty20 Qualifier in Dubai and the World Cricket League (WCL) Division Five in Nepal.

For the full story click here.

The ICC has been coming in for a fair amount of sniping of late as a result of teams being unable to take part in its events because of issues with visas. This is not about the game’s big boys, but Associates and Affiliates competing in lower-level tournaments.

Last month Sierra Leone were unable to take part in the ICC Under-19 World Cup Qualifiers because they could not obtain visas from the Canadian consulate in time; last week Morocco failed to make it to Malawi for a World Cricket League commitment after falling foul of officialdom in Qatar.

There have been those who have heaped the blame on the ICC. It should, so their argument goes, ensure this does not happen and put pressure on the various countries hosting events to, in some way, bypass the usual rules and regulations. It’s almost as if cricket is a special case.

The same people who were lambasting the ICC for not ensuring Sierra Leone were able to play in Canada have been quiet over the fact that almost a dozen players from Afghanistan and Uganda took the opportunity of playing in Toronto to abscond and seek political asylum. All those individuals have done is ensure it will be even harder for players for some countries to take part in future events.

In fairness, the ICC has not helped itself in the past with its posturing when the British government barred Zimbabwe officials. But that was a bigger fish in a bigger pond.

The reality here is it is down to each country to ensure its own arrangements are in place. It cannot be the responsibility of the ICC to chase up every visa application and transit visa to make sure they are all in order. It is not - and should not be - the job of the ICC, or any sporting body, to tell countries who they should let in or not.

The boards get good money from the ICC and it is not unreasonable to expect those boards to show a higher degree of professionalism in the way they handle things. Too often, sides are selected at the last minute, paperwork is left until far too late in the day, and officials are happy to heap the blame on embassies and consulates.

I chased up one such instance not too long ago where a board was making a great song and dance about visa delays meaning it was shut out of an event. It turned out that it had spoken to the embassy months before the event and been given clear guidelines, including the key one that it needed 14 working days for visas to be processed. In the event, the applications - more than half of which were wrongly completed - were submitted five days before they were needed. There are two sides to every story.

In short, some boards need to be more professional and to take responsibility for their own affairs. Most manage it quietly and efficiently. It is not for the ICC to mollycoddle the few who can’t get their acts together. Martin Williamson

A number of important Associate and Affiliate dates have been confirmed by the ICC this past week.

The ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier will take place in the United Arab Emirates from February 9-13, 2010. This eight-team event featuring Associate and Affiliate sides vying for the two places on offer at the ICC World Twenty20 2010 in the West Indies will be played entirely at Dubai Sports City.

September sees the ICC Under-19 World Cup Qualifiers take place in Canada. The event runs from September 1 to 13 in Toronto with 10 teams competing for the six remaining places for the Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand from January 16-30, 2010.

The ICC World Cricket League Division 6 (WCL Div.6) will be held in Singapore from August 29 to September 5 with teams from Singapore, Guernsey, Malaysia, Bahrain, Botswana and Norway battling it out in one group across three venues: Kalang, Singapore CC and Indian Association. The top two teams from WCL Div. 6 will win promotion to Division 5.

WCL Div. 5 has been confirmed to be hosted by Nepal from February 20-27, 2010. The teams include host Nepal, Fiji, Jersey, USA and the two qualifiers from WCL Div. 6.

The United Arab Emirates will host the ICC World Twenty20 2010 Qualifier later this year. The event, which is currently scheduled to take place in late October, will also be expanded from its previous staging, in Ireland in 2008.

In addition to featuring the six Associate and Affiliate teams with ODI status - Ireland, Canada, Kenya, the Netherlands, Afghanistan and Scotland - it will also include the host team and the United States of America (USA).

The top two sides from the tournament will go forward to join the 10 ICC Full Members in next year's main event, set to take place in the West Indies in April and May at three locations - Barbados, Guyana and St Lucia.

These decisions were made by the ICC Development Committee, which has been meeting this week in Dubai.

"I am thrilled that the ICC Development Committee has again taken an expansive and innovative approach to promoting our great sport by inviting the UAE and USA to join the top six Associate and Affiliate teams at the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier later this year," said ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat. "The committee has given the chance for the top six Associate and Affiliate teams to qualify for the ICC World Twenty20, something they had the chance to do in the equivalent event in Ireland last year, while, at the same time, creating two additional invitational slots for this event."

As the dust settles on the ICC World Cup Qualifiers – aside from Sunday’s rather pointless play-offs – we highlight what each team comes away from South Africa with.

Qualification for the 2011 World Cup
Canada, Ireland, Kenya, Netherlands

ODI status for four years
Afghanistan, Canada, Ireland, Kenya, Netherlands, Scotland

Intercontinental Cup 2009-10
Afghanistan, Canada, Ireland, Kenya, Namibia, Netherlands, Scotland, UAE

ICC World Cricket League Division 1
Afghanistan, Canada, Ireland, Kenya, Netherlands, Scotland

ICC World Cricket League Division 2
Bermuda, Namibia, Uganda, UAE

ICC World Cricket League Division 3
Denmark, Oman

ICC High Performance Programme grant funding 2009 and 2010
Afghanistan, Bermuda, Canada, Ireland, Kenya, Namibia, Netherlands, Scotland, UAE, Uganda

	'A couple of years ago we could never have dreamed that we would have ever had the opportunity to play at the World Cup Qualifiers and now we are going to be a one-day international team. It is the most famous day in the history of Afghanistan cricket' © Will Luke

Hamid Hassan

It is the proudest day of my life knowing that I am going to have the opportunity to play one-day international cricket for Afghanistan. I feel absolutely wonderful – it is a brilliant achievement for our country.

A couple of years ago we could never have dreamed that we would have ever had the opportunity to play at the World Cup Qualifiers and now we are going to be a one-day international team. It is the most famous day in the history of Afghanistan cricket.

I was so proud to take the final wicket to seal the victory and when I realised what had happened I just threw myself to the floor and started crying. I have never felt so much emotion in my life and I just couldn’t control my tears.

These tears were for all the people in Afghanistan who have been supporting us as I know they will be so proud of our achievements and I want to thank everybody for all their inspiring messages in response to my columns. They have been a real boost to me and the team throughout the tournament.

To beat teams like Scotland, Ireland and Namibia in the Super Eight stages shows how far we have come as a cricket team in the past year and it is very important that we have a chance to play against the top Associate teams in ODI matches, as I think we have shown how much we have learnt just by taking part in this tournament.

We were not too disappointed that we didn’t qualify for the World Cup, as it was very important that we have the opportunity to play ODI cricket on a regular basis in the next four years, although I do hope that I will have a chance to play at that event one day.

I am also really looking forward to playing in the ICC Intercontinental Cup as I think that we will learn a lot from playing four-day cricket for Afghanistan. We will have a lot to learn, as we haven’t played that much one-day cricket, but we are all keen to learn as quickly as possible and do well against the top teams.

We will also be playing in the ICC World Twenty20 2010 Qualifier later this year and it would be amazing if we can qualify for the Caribbean next year.

My perfect day was also rounded off when I found out that my visa for the UK for this summer came through today, so I am going to be playing some club cricket in England this summer. That is very exciting and will be another great experience for my cricket career.

While we will obviously celebrate our achievements in reaching ODI status, what better way would there be to finish the tournament than if we beat Scotland on Sunday and come in fifth position. I am really determined for us to do well in that match.

Thank you again for all your support and I hope you will continue to follow the fortunes of our team as we begin to take the next step on our incredible cricket journey!

Hamid Hassan has been blogging the World Cup Qualifiers (and is an avid reader of your comments). Click here for more on his rise

Ireland, Canada, Netherlands and Kenya have qualified for the 2011 World Cup, but the headlines will once again be stolen by Afghanistan who have secured ODI status with victory over Namibia

Kenya ensured they would be at their fifth successive World Cup with an impressive six-wicket win over Ireland in Pretoria. Wednesday's humiliation at the hands of Namibia had left their place in doubt, but against an Ireland side already assured of their own qualification, they eased home with 12 balls to spare. It wasn't easy, though, and chasing a target of 209, they slid to 96 for 4 with the loss of the talismanic Steve Tikolo. Their batting has often been brittle, but Collins Obuya and Thomas Odoyo combined to add 113 for the fifth wicket to guide them home. Man of the Match Obuya hit an unbeaten 66 off 73 balls while Oboyo struck 50 off 68.

Niall O'Brien was the top-scorer with 59 during Ireland's innings. John Mooney (34), Andrew White (25), Kevin O'Brien (22) and William Porterfield (21) got starts without really pressing on. Tikolo was the most successful wicket-taker with 3 for 11. Ireland will be without Eoin Morgan for Sunday's fairly meaningless game against Canada.

A splendid 167-run opening stand between Alexei Kervezee and Mudassar Bukhari made short work of Canada's 205 in Johannesburg and confirmed Netherlands also grabbed one of the three remaining slots at the 2011 World Cup, along with Canada who had already all but qualified. Kervezee (77) and Bukhari (84) led a confident reply to a target of 206 and though Netherlands wobbled after their stand was snapped in the 37th over, the cool hand of Bas Zuiderent was there when the winning runs were hit. The win was set up in the field thanks to a controlled bowling and fielding display. Bukhari and Edgar Schiferli struck with the new ball and the pressure was maintained by Darron Reekers and Peter Borren. Only Sandeep Jyoti (46) and Umar Bhatti (39*) waged some resistance down the order but a target of 206 proved too easy for Netherlands.

For a report on Afghanistan's tense win over Namibia click here.

For a report on Scotland's victory over UAE which meant they retained ODI status click here.

Hamid Hassan

It is hard to describe how I feel after helping Afghanistan beat Ireland at Krugersdorp – probably the greatest win in the history of Afghanistan cricket. To take five wickets in such an important game for my country if a fantastic feeling and I am very proud of all my team-mates.

When I came back onto bowl with six overs of the match remaining, we knew that we had to get some quick wickets if we were to have any chance of winning the match.

They were trying to score quickly and playing quite a few cross batted shots so my focus was on trying to bowl the ball as full and straight as possible. I managed to build up a really good rhythm and was bowling as quickly as I could.

Once I had got out Andrew White, my focus was then just trying to bowl a maiden over, but somehow I ended up taking three wickets – it was unbelievable! I enjoy bowling in pressure situations at the end and I think my yorker is very useful at that stage of the game.

I believe this victory shows the potential of the Afghanistan team. It is hard to think just under two years ago, we lost to Singapore in the World Cricket League Division 5 on a cold day in Jersey and now we are beating a team that defeated Pakistan and Bangladesh at the last ICC Cricket World Cup. That is incredible progress and I don’t think anybody could ever have predicted that this would happen to us.

Not only are we developing our cricketing skills, as I think we have learnt a lot about our batting, bowling and fielding, but we are developing the mental side of our game as well as we have showed great character to respond from three defeats.

Only by having the chance to play against the best sides on a regular basis will we develop the consistency that we need to compete against the biggest Associate teams on a regular basis. That is why it is so important for us to do well in our remaining three matches and try and qualify for the ICC Cricket World Cup or at least finish in the top six of the table to gain ODI status.

It is a massive game for us on Monday against Canada and we will certainly be approaching that match with a lot of confidence. After everything that has happened to this team, I don’t think anybody can predict what will happen.

Click here for more on Afghanistan's rise

We now know who will play in the Super Eights after the conclusion of the first round in the ICC World Cup Qualifiers.

Afghanistan, UAE and Namibia are the three sides who join the existing ODI countries in the battle for four World Cup places and six ODI status slots.

Bermuda, who have underperformed consistently over the last four year, are eliminated from the competition and will head back to the relative backwater of being an ordinary Associate.

Hamid Hassan, the Afghanistan bowler, blogs for Cricinfo from the ICC World Cup Qualifiers in South Africa.

I am so excited that we have won our first two matches at the ICC World Cup Qualifiers and that we are on course to qualify for the Super Eight stages.

In our first match against Denmark, I never expected Karim Khan, who is our wicketkeeper, to come on to bowl and take four wickets– he changed the game. He only started bowling as he had injured his finger, which meant he couldn’t keep wicket, so it showed what a lucky team we are.

Karim is a very important player for us, with his batting, bowling and wicketkeeping. It is great to see him back in form with the bat, as he hadn’t scored that many runs in previous events, but when he is playing well he gives us a great start to the innings as he scores so quickly. He is also a real character and is very noisy, as he really enjoys his cricket and is always trying to have lots of fun.

We had a really good run chase and everybody batted really well and it was nice to reach our target very comfortably.

Against Bermuda, Karim again gave us a good start, but we suffered a major batting collapse, which has happened in previous qualifying events. I don’t know why this occurs but we always seem to recover and Nowroz, our captain, is perfect for these type of situations as he loves batting under pressure and has the ability to bat for a long time and then score quick runs at the end.

The number of runs we scored in the last few overs was very important as it gave us a good target to bowl at and it was important that we got a couple of good early wickets.

Sami [Shenwari], [Mohammad] Nabi and myself then bowled really well, keeping the runs down and taking regular wickets, and we really deserved our victory.

It was great to beat a country that played in the last World Cup and show everybody that we are capable of competing against countries that have ODI status.

I am really excited about our match against Kenya on Saturday and we know that we need to win another group game if we are to progress to the Super Eights. I am looking forward to bowling to Steve Tikolo and will be doing my best to get him out.

I remember watching them in the 2003 World Cup when they got to the semi-final. I watched the matches on my television at home in Peshawar. It is unbelievable that we are going to be playing against a team that has got that far in the World Cup and it should be a great match.

Cricinfo will be providing live scores and report throughout the ICC World Cup Qualifiers in South Africa. On top of that, we will have exclusive reports, interviews and a tour diary from our man on the spot, Will Luke. Click here for all this on our tournament site.

Hamid Hassan, the Afghanistan bowler, blogs for Cricinfo from the ICC World Cup Qualifiers in South Africa.

I am very happy we are in the qualifiers and that we are one step away from playing at the 2011 World Cup. We will try our best to qualify for the Super Eight stages of the competition and, hopefully, we can do well.

It is unbelievable that we are here, as we started in Division 5 of the World Cricket League last year when there were 12 teams and everybody said the USA and Jersey were the favourites for that tournament. Nobody really expected us to do well, and we didn’t expect that much as we knew we were playing against some very good teams who had played at a much higher level than us.

Our victory over Nepal in the semi-final of Division 5 was amazing and we grew in confidence when we won a dramatic final against Jersey. We went away after that event and worked really hard at our game and did very well in Division 4 in Tanzania which we also won. Division 3 was much tougher and we lost our first match against Uganda, but bounced back with some really good performances, which meant we needed to beat the Cayman Islands in our last match to qualify.

I still don’t know how we managed to get away with that match, as Cayman Islands were on the edge of victory, when the rain suddenly intervened and the match was abandoned. We played much better the following day and our victory meant we had emerged winners the Division 3 tournament.

I have been happy with how our preparations in South Africa have gone and it was good to get a win against Oman on Saturday in our final warm-up match, having lost to Ireland earlier in the week. We had spent the weekend in Johannesburg, where we were staying in the same hotel complex as the Australian and South African teams, which was amazing. I managed to see quite a few famous players including Ricky Ponting, Mitchell Johnson and Brad Haddin.

On Monday we travelled down to our new hotel base and we are now finalising our preparations for our first game on Wednesday. It is very important for us to win our first two matches; if we do that, we know it will be easier to play our other matches. We are hoping to win our first two games against Denmark and Bermuda and we will then see how we do against the Netherlands, UAE and Kenya.

It is our dream to play in the World Cup and we are hoping to do the best we can in this tournament.