Cricket is a game of uncertainties. But when we speak about the uncertainties, those are and should always be limited to the field. Anything and everything about the game, it's rules, it's governance and it's verdicts should be certain, and unbiased. And to maintain the decorum of the game and to ensure that all of the above mentioned things are followed, is the primary responsibility of International Cricket Council. But what if ICC fails to do so?

There have been times when the board meant for governing the game has failed to fulfil their responsibilities. Already accused of being a puppet of richest board in cricket and being unnecessarily biased towards the big three, the rest of the cricketing world had lost some faith in it. And with the latest decision by the Council, there is a higher risk of associate nations ceasing to play this beautiful game, eventually limiting its existence to only a few nations.

As stated by ICC, the cricket matches happening in the ongoing African games, won't be given international match status. This decision definitely came as a shock to many. However there were a few which pointed out that the same happened in the Asian Games and on few other occasions as well. The statement was not false, but on all the earlier occasions, it was pre-decided before the inception of the tournament, while in the ongoing Africa games, the decision came all of a sudden in the middle of the tournament, after South Africa appealed for it mid way.

The reason for this appeal lies in the failure of the South African team to put up a good display of cricket. Thinking it to be an easy tournament for their team, they decided to send their amateur team. And their first victory against Ghana got them thinking that they can replicate what India did in the Asian games by sending their squad full of amateurs. But in contrast to what happened in their first game, the Proteas suffered defeats from Kenya and Uganda. And this defeat irked the test playing nation of South Africa, who said that they sent their University team to the tournament, hence it resulted in the defeats.

The hypocrisy of the SENA nations is something which time and again the world has witnessed. But going a step ahead, the Proteas showed the world that if you can't win even morally, then cry foul. The sour grapes were too difficult to digest for the South Africans who decided to appeal asking for the international status of these matches to be revoked. And to the world's surprise, the appeal was accepted by the ICC. As childish this appeal was, similarly foolish was the verdict of the governing body of cricket.

This decision will never be received in the right spirit by associate nations. Already unfairly treated, these are the only occasions they get a chance to prove themselves, and revoking the international status of these matches where they defeat established nations, will severely affect their will to play the game. And if these things continue to happen, one by one, associate nations will stop playing the game, which will then be just limited to only a few established test playing nations. And if it ceases to spread the awareness about the game, the International Cricket Council will solely be responsible for it, along with some share of responsibility to be shared by the chokers at the international level in the form of South Africa.