The 10th edition of the Asia cup started today in Dambulla, Sri Lanka, with the hosts playing Pakistan. It was a brilliant game as well: Shoaib Akhtar announcing his comeback (again) with a hostile spell, Shahid Afridi playing his most responsible knock, yet still hit seven sixes, Afridi smashing sixes and then doing his best impression of Cristiano Ronaldo (diving like a girl, although boom boom did have cramp) and then Malinga sealing the win for Sri Lanka with super death bowling.   

Anyway, this is a short, sharp tournament with just the four Test playing nations – India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. As well there will only be 6 matches, played in a little over a week.

This is all nice, but the real question is where is Afghanistan? (don’t be stupid and say even they are in Afghanistan, to the left of Pakistan or to the right of Iran).

Afghanistan, of course, won the ACC 50-over elite cup, the tournament which usually serves as the qualifying entrance for the Asia cup. UAE and Hong Kong, who finished first and second at the elite cup in 2008, were in the last Asia cup. So, what has happened since then to mean that there would be no minnows in this edition? Well, the ever increasing schedule of the major teams meant there was a lack of time – so a short tournament was necessary. Furthermore, the ACC (Asian Cricket Council) struggled to sell the tournament to the tv companies; they even sent out an invitation on their own site. To try to encourage bidders, the ACC chucked out the minnows, who in previous editions provided mismatches that didn’t provide a good spectacle. Another thing that counted against Afghanistan is that, in the words of the ACC media officer, Shahrari Khan, there is a feeling that “among the broadcasters, it seems there is still not the confidence in Afghanistan as a commercial proposition.” Or in other words, Afghanistan are not in it because they wouldn’t make the tv companies money.

All of this combined means there is no appearance for Afghanistan at the Asia cup.

This is all bad news for Afghanistan’s future development in international cricket. As has been said before, the Afghans need to play top-level cricket if they are going to make any progress of note. This Asia cup, with its familiar pitches, could have provided a chance for Afghanistan to be competitive. It’s also disappointing as it would have given us an oppotunity to see Karim Sadiq and Shoaib Akhtar recommence battle. What, don’t you remember this titanic battle? Karim Sadiq hit Shoaib Akhtar for six and then, famously, said to the Pakistani paceman: “This is not club cricket. I am a very good batsman. Got very good reflexes.” It would have been match-up worth seeing, I think.

Nevertheless, there is a sliver lining for Afghanistan fans. The ACC media officer has said: “We hope that will change in the coming years (Afghanistan appearing in the Asia Cup) and the next cycle of Asia Cup rights will include Afghanistan, if they retain the ODI status by then and qualify for the 2015 World Cup.” So, in six years time Afghanistan will finally play in the Asia cup. Not long to wait, then.