Howzat, part 2: Qualifier Diaries
Apr. 24th, 2025 09:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
spiderbraidsFollowing the exploits of Thailand's women's cricket at the 2025 Women's ODI World Cup qualifiers :-)
As a follow-up to my first deep-dive, I decided to check up on how Thailand's women's cricket team was being previewed for the 2025 Women's ODI World Cup qualifiers, in light of how the ICC's use of rankings after the abandonment of the 2021 qualifiers prevented them from making it through to the World Cup or even the Women's Championship despite their performance... Not surprisingly, the ICC completely ignored 2021, only saying "Thailand have the experience of coming through an ICC Qualifier event, having done so to reach the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup back in 2020" before describing their performance in those qualifiers and their recent results in T20I's... You'd expect ESPNCricinfo might have acknowledged the situation, especially given that they did run a news item on how Thailand's cricket board president thought that they should have had a fair chance to qualify, but they also skipped straight over 2021: "Thailand, too, have World Cup experience. They were at the 2020 T20 World Cup and have 11 players from that tournament in this squad. Should either of them (Thailand and Scotland - SB) make it to the World Cup, expect questions to be raised about their inclusion in future editions of the FTP (Future Tours Program - SB)."
Well, questions were already being raised back in 2021 (the title of the linked Reddit thread says it all) about why the ICC decided to essentially ignore Thailand's performance at the abandoned qualifiers by awarding Women's Championship and World Cup slots to full members based on rankings (the thread also poses alternatives to just instantly invalidating Thailand's efforts), and in response to a post by hypocaust in June 2024 on how small the Women's T20 World Cup is slated to remain (12 teams in 2026, up from 10 last year), Andrew Greenwood said of Thailand, "Since they got screwed over they seem to be on the downward slide, and I can’t seem to think what inclusion to the women’s championship (which they should have been in) would have done to their game" (emphasis mine) Another did respond, "Apparently a second tier Women's Championship is in the works (obviously I'll believe it when I see it)"
That parenthetical turned out to do the heavy lifting, given that the ICC ended up putting in Zimbabwe (who didn't even qualify for the 2025 qualifiers) for the next cycle instead, and Thailand were among the many teams who argued for a second tier competition as a result :-\ hypocaust is one of the biggest posters on women's cricket on the various social medias, providing coverage of important games and occasionally providing commentary outside of games, and in August 2024, just after the announcement of Zimbabwe's inclusion, hypo tweeted about the need for a divisional structure, illustrating the gap between the number of ODI matches between Championship teams and non-Championship teams... hypo believed that women's cricket "will end up with the same set of Full Members seen in men's cricket - with one glaring exception (Afghanistan - SB) - in a favoured grouping, and the very same Big Three (England, Australia, India - SB) way out in front." When Bertus de Jong tweeted about Zimbabwe's inclusion, another user commented that "the ICC theoretically were going to have qualification for the championship based on on-field performance" (i.e., the abandoned 2021 qualifiers) and asked "Why are the ICC allergic to on-field performance being important?" To say nothing of how Thailand got themselves into the 2025 qualifiers: by playing enough ODIs with fellow non-Championship teams to get a ranking ahead of other associates, and then just stopping for two years (!)
Which brings us back to the present... During their first game against Bangladesh (whom Thailand beat last time out), hypo commented that Thailand were "looking like a side that haven't played an ODI since July 2023" and added "If Thailand do come in undercooked, the fault lies with the ICC, for providing no structure outside the Women's Championship, gutting the qualification pathway and relying on an easily gamed ranking system open to just a handful of teams." (Though no mention of them keeping Thailand out of the Championship in the first place) After the game, hypo also said of Bangladesh, "all those matches against Full Members in the ICC Women's Championship basically set them up for the record total they made today (271 in 50 overs - SB). Meanwhile Thailand were limited to nine ODIs (vs NED & ZIM) in four years." Resulting in them getting bowled out for 93 in just under 29 overs, which to me, is just as much a function of them being kept out of the Championship, as their opponents getting slots instead :-\ (That said, it can be argued that Bangladesh would likely have at least made the Championship from the 2021 qualifiers anyway, with two wins and a match in hand against Zimbabwe)
Game two against Scotland (the other non-Championship side) was more competitive, but after being beaten by the Scots at the T20 qualifiers last year, here Thailand fell short by 58 runs, 206-148... massyqaaz over on Reddit commented that "Can't really fault them much since they haven't even played a dozen ODIs. Recently started playing this format and seems like the management has given them a feel-good go ahead to take the tournament as an experience instead of a real push for a win or two." Which seems a bit dismissive given that last time, Thailand had put in meaningful effort to prepare by touring Zimbabwe and South Africa, even playing some actual 50-over matches, whereas this time around, their preparation was limited to a couple T20 series with lower-level opposition... Though, given that Championship slots are not at stake this time, why bother really? :-\ Meanwhile, on the same day, Bangladesh played Ireland, and needed 45 runs from the last 36 balls and 2 wickets to win... Bangladesh got what they needed in 28 without loss of wicket, sending Ireland to a 3rd straight defeat, leaving many of their followers in disbelief... At this point, the Irish were already no longer in contention for qualifying for the finals, and it almost seems that they're only in the Championship since they didn't have to face Thailand due to the abandonment of the 2021 qualifiers, especially given that Thailand's qualification for the 2020 Women's T20 World Cup (say that three times fast) almost certainly came at Ireland's expense :-\ Ireland's next opponent? Yup, Thailand (That said, Ireland did beat them in the warmups for these qualifiers, chasing down 227 with 3 wickets and 12 overs to spare)
On to game 3, with Ireland and Thailand playing to avoid last place... This would have meant everything to both teams in the 2021 qualifiers, which would have sent the top 5 teams from the Super 6 stage to the Championship (and in all likelihood, they would have met under those same circumstances as well) but in 2025, nothing was going to meaningfully change for either team regardless of outcome :-\ Nevertheless, both teams put forward their best efforts, and Ireland went out to 305/4 in their innings (about the same run rate as the warmup), during which keval79 commented: "What has happened to Thailand's bowling? :-( They deserved to play more ODIs after their brilliant display in 2021." Well, between being kept out of the Championship and incentivized to only play just enough ODIs and no more (by the ICC in both cases), who can blame them for not playing more? And Dizzydan015 made a great point, emphasis mine: "Both Thailand and Scotland need to be in the women's championship, otherwise we'll see more games like this. If we had this same game 4 years ago, Thailand would be favourites to win. Both sides need regular fixtures just like Ireland have to improve, otherwise Women's ODI cricket is only a full member club." Which just underlines how much an inflection point the abandonment of the last qualifiers (along with the ICC using rankings to decide qualification) was, not just for Thailand but Associate cricket as a whole :-\ (well, barring Scotland, "many of whose players feature in the increasingly professional English domestic system" according to hypocaust) In response Thailand managed 259 runs, their highest in an official ODI, but still fell short by 46 runs, and still got bowled out (though they did manage to get to the 50th over, so yay?)
During the game, hypocaust continued to comment on the limitations of the rankings, and their usage as qualification criteria for non-Championship teams: "When this event began last week, Thailand were ranked above Pakistan, Ireland and Scotland by the ICC, based purely on the result of nine matches played two years ago. (9, 10, 11, and 12 respectively - SB) There should have been a structured fixture list e.g. a 2nd division or regional qualifiers for teams outside the ICC Women's Championship. The current 'system' was neither fair on those not part of pathway, or on those like Thailand, ending up less well prepared than in 2021." hypo also added: "You could also see the effect the ICC's rankings had on previews for this event. Many, prepared by those who might not follow women's cricket as closely, cited Thailand's ranking (but not how it was arrived at) as reason to be positive, while e.g. giving Pakistan little chance." It should be noted that Thailand lost to Pakistan in 2021, 93-145 (yes, really), and in the 2025 qualifier warmups, Thailand lasted 28.2 overs and set a target of 78, which Pakistan chased down in 18.5 overs with loss of 3 wickets, which to be fair was to be somewhat expected since they played the day after Thailand arrived in Lahore :-\
Leave it to Redditors to not let the ICC live down the 2021 debacle... kalishplosions111 wrote "Congratulations ICC, unless Thailand are able to produce another golden generation, you just ruined their only chance of qualifying for a World Cup. ... They're honestly trying their very best to make sure no other team surpasses their full members." (Arguably, Thailand being kept out of the Championship was the bigger issue than missing the World Cup) Spockyt added (emphasis in original): "Such a massive shame what was done to Thailand. And I do mean done. ... Even when they were belatedly given ODI status a few years later (the very next year, in fact - SB) they added Zimbabwe (a worse team) to the ODI Championship rather than Thailand. Allegedly because Thailand is less assured in its ability to host with unrest but let’s face it - it’s because the men’s team isn’t a Test nation because not only was Thailand (4 places) ahead of them in the ranking, so was Scotland and the Netherlands and it’s not a particularly credible claim there’s too much instability there, is it? ... Is it any wonder after having not played and having little support for a couple of years their players are not up to par?" Spockyt continued: "Why couldn’t the ICC have struck while the iron was hot and given them every help needed to not only be as good as they can be now but secure that and galvanise it into a permanent strong structure, even encouraging the full members to organise tours, instead of looking away and witnessing a second Kenya?" Kenya qualified for the men's ODI World Cup between 1996 to 2011, peaking with a semifinals appearance in 2003, but have since lost their ODI status and receded to be a second-tier team even within their own continent, but the real reason I singled this part out was because that's exactly what the FIVB did for Thailand women's volleyball, giving them a permanent slot in the Women's Nations League from the beginning in 2018, thus ensuring ongoing investment in women's volleyball locally :-) (And Thailand were, and still are, the only permanent Women's Nations League team to have never played a Summer Olympics, so there's the same sense of Thailand being the odd one out as in cricket)
At this point, Pakistan had 3 wins out of 3, so the best Thailand could hope for in their game against them (their first at the main stadium rather than the nearby secondary ground) was to put up a better result than they did against Bangladesh, or even in the warmups... Pakistan elected to bat first, and Thailand started strongly, yielding only 119 runs in the first 40 overs, but ended up conceding 86 in the last 10 overs for a total of 205 for 6 wickets... It was the same story on the batting side, with a strong start (had a scoring curve above Pakistan's throughout) giving way to a constant loss of wickets, eventually getting bowled out within 35 overs for 118 (still a better total than either of their previous matches with them, but still...) On Reddit, thepotplant felt that "if Thailand had been playing ODI cricket for the last 2 years regularly they'd be crushing this." (again, see comments in Ireland match) Pakistan's qualification as a result of this match will necessitate an additional neutral venue for the World Cup, as it's supposed to be held in India, but Pakistan teams do not travel there (long story)
On to Thailand's final match against the West Indies (the other of the two teams that Thailand likely would have met in the Super 6 last time around; Sri Lanka, the third team they likely would have met, already qualified for the finals from the Championship) Windies still had an outside shot of qualifying, and with Thailand batting first, pretty much the only factor was Thailand putting up enough of a score to keep them from overtaking Bangladesh on net run rate, and they managed to get 166 before getting bowled out in 46 overs and 1 ball... Windies surpassed Thailand's total in 10 overs and 5 balls, which turned out to put them below Bangladesh in the final qualification slot by a mere 0.013 net run rate per over; hypocaust has the calculations here for what the Windies needed (and ironically, it was perfectly possible to win with a 6 in that exact same amount of balls and still overtake Bangladesh), but Bangladesh squeaked into the World Cup by either 3 runs in their innings, or 4 balls in the Windies' innings... And this, after Bangladesh lost to the Windies, marking the second time Bangladesh qualified for the finals despite losing to a team that ultimately did not (!) More interestingly, after a loss in their final game against Ireland, Scotland finished in 4th, which was still ahead of Ireland, and in 2021 would have been good enough to make the Championship...
Which leads me to a comment made the day after the end of the tournament, where Anu9011 on Reddit brought up Thailand's decline from 2021 to today, calling it "another Kenya situation" (and it's telling that he doesn't fully elaborate on 2021, just saying "We all know what happened"), and asked: "Will it be a huge surprise if the same thing happens to Scotland women in 4 years? It’s criminal how these things happen again and again." To which Huge-Physics5491 answered: "ICC creates a more convincing case every time of why it needs to be overthrown by a new system with a longer term vision for cricket. Imagine if someone like Liberty Media ran international cricket, they'd be cooking." Spockyt disagreed with the choice of Liberty Media: "The last thing cricket needs is for all competitions to be moved to areas with no local support but plenty of oil money from dubious regimes to sportswash ... Plus I don’t see how a corporation only interested in making as much profit as possible is the thing cricket needs. We already have enough issues with the ICC just looking for money and not growing the sport." In response to a post about Cricket Scotland's qualifier follow-up article titled "Scots eager for more opportunity after qualifying near-miss", Anu9011 seemed skeptical that they'll get such opportunities and said, "Every World Cup cycle it is the same story, just a different victim. It’s Scotland this time. It was Thailand last time. Full members that run icc just cannot be @ rsed if the sport lose yet another team with so much potential." Given that Thailand had much better than a narrow mathematical chance of at least getting a Championship slot in 2021, and still ultimately didn't get any opportunities beyond that afforded to the other non-Championship sides after getting ODI status, seems that Anu has every right to be skeptical :-\
Emerging Cricket has stories about the rise and fall of cricket in two non-traditional nations: the aforementioned Kenya as well as Morocco, but in those cases, those were the result of local mismanagement, whereas any stories about the decline of women's cricket in Thailand will certainly have to acknowledge the ICC's role for keeping them out of the Championship in 2021 :-\
As a follow-up to my first deep-dive, I decided to check up on how Thailand's women's cricket team was being previewed for the 2025 Women's ODI World Cup qualifiers, in light of how the ICC's use of rankings after the abandonment of the 2021 qualifiers prevented them from making it through to the World Cup or even the Women's Championship despite their performance... Not surprisingly, the ICC completely ignored 2021, only saying "Thailand have the experience of coming through an ICC Qualifier event, having done so to reach the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup back in 2020" before describing their performance in those qualifiers and their recent results in T20I's... You'd expect ESPNCricinfo might have acknowledged the situation, especially given that they did run a news item on how Thailand's cricket board president thought that they should have had a fair chance to qualify, but they also skipped straight over 2021: "Thailand, too, have World Cup experience. They were at the 2020 T20 World Cup and have 11 players from that tournament in this squad. Should either of them (Thailand and Scotland - SB) make it to the World Cup, expect questions to be raised about their inclusion in future editions of the FTP (Future Tours Program - SB)."
Well, questions were already being raised back in 2021 (the title of the linked Reddit thread says it all) about why the ICC decided to essentially ignore Thailand's performance at the abandoned qualifiers by awarding Women's Championship and World Cup slots to full members based on rankings (the thread also poses alternatives to just instantly invalidating Thailand's efforts), and in response to a post by hypocaust in June 2024 on how small the Women's T20 World Cup is slated to remain (12 teams in 2026, up from 10 last year), Andrew Greenwood said of Thailand, "Since they got screwed over they seem to be on the downward slide, and I can’t seem to think what inclusion to the women’s championship (which they should have been in) would have done to their game" (emphasis mine) Another did respond, "Apparently a second tier Women's Championship is in the works (obviously I'll believe it when I see it)"
That parenthetical turned out to do the heavy lifting, given that the ICC ended up putting in Zimbabwe (who didn't even qualify for the 2025 qualifiers) for the next cycle instead, and Thailand were among the many teams who argued for a second tier competition as a result :-\ hypocaust is one of the biggest posters on women's cricket on the various social medias, providing coverage of important games and occasionally providing commentary outside of games, and in August 2024, just after the announcement of Zimbabwe's inclusion, hypo tweeted about the need for a divisional structure, illustrating the gap between the number of ODI matches between Championship teams and non-Championship teams... hypo believed that women's cricket "will end up with the same set of Full Members seen in men's cricket - with one glaring exception (Afghanistan - SB) - in a favoured grouping, and the very same Big Three (England, Australia, India - SB) way out in front." When Bertus de Jong tweeted about Zimbabwe's inclusion, another user commented that "the ICC theoretically were going to have qualification for the championship based on on-field performance" (i.e., the abandoned 2021 qualifiers) and asked "Why are the ICC allergic to on-field performance being important?" To say nothing of how Thailand got themselves into the 2025 qualifiers: by playing enough ODIs with fellow non-Championship teams to get a ranking ahead of other associates, and then just stopping for two years (!)
Which brings us back to the present... During their first game against Bangladesh (whom Thailand beat last time out), hypo commented that Thailand were "looking like a side that haven't played an ODI since July 2023" and added "If Thailand do come in undercooked, the fault lies with the ICC, for providing no structure outside the Women's Championship, gutting the qualification pathway and relying on an easily gamed ranking system open to just a handful of teams." (Though no mention of them keeping Thailand out of the Championship in the first place) After the game, hypo also said of Bangladesh, "all those matches against Full Members in the ICC Women's Championship basically set them up for the record total they made today (271 in 50 overs - SB). Meanwhile Thailand were limited to nine ODIs (vs NED & ZIM) in four years." Resulting in them getting bowled out for 93 in just under 29 overs, which to me, is just as much a function of them being kept out of the Championship, as their opponents getting slots instead :-\ (That said, it can be argued that Bangladesh would likely have at least made the Championship from the 2021 qualifiers anyway, with two wins and a match in hand against Zimbabwe)
Game two against Scotland (the other non-Championship side) was more competitive, but after being beaten by the Scots at the T20 qualifiers last year, here Thailand fell short by 58 runs, 206-148... massyqaaz over on Reddit commented that "Can't really fault them much since they haven't even played a dozen ODIs. Recently started playing this format and seems like the management has given them a feel-good go ahead to take the tournament as an experience instead of a real push for a win or two." Which seems a bit dismissive given that last time, Thailand had put in meaningful effort to prepare by touring Zimbabwe and South Africa, even playing some actual 50-over matches, whereas this time around, their preparation was limited to a couple T20 series with lower-level opposition... Though, given that Championship slots are not at stake this time, why bother really? :-\ Meanwhile, on the same day, Bangladesh played Ireland, and needed 45 runs from the last 36 balls and 2 wickets to win... Bangladesh got what they needed in 28 without loss of wicket, sending Ireland to a 3rd straight defeat, leaving many of their followers in disbelief... At this point, the Irish were already no longer in contention for qualifying for the finals, and it almost seems that they're only in the Championship since they didn't have to face Thailand due to the abandonment of the 2021 qualifiers, especially given that Thailand's qualification for the 2020 Women's T20 World Cup (say that three times fast) almost certainly came at Ireland's expense :-\ Ireland's next opponent? Yup, Thailand (That said, Ireland did beat them in the warmups for these qualifiers, chasing down 227 with 3 wickets and 12 overs to spare)
On to game 3, with Ireland and Thailand playing to avoid last place... This would have meant everything to both teams in the 2021 qualifiers, which would have sent the top 5 teams from the Super 6 stage to the Championship (and in all likelihood, they would have met under those same circumstances as well) but in 2025, nothing was going to meaningfully change for either team regardless of outcome :-\ Nevertheless, both teams put forward their best efforts, and Ireland went out to 305/4 in their innings (about the same run rate as the warmup), during which keval79 commented: "What has happened to Thailand's bowling? :-( They deserved to play more ODIs after their brilliant display in 2021." Well, between being kept out of the Championship and incentivized to only play just enough ODIs and no more (by the ICC in both cases), who can blame them for not playing more? And Dizzydan015 made a great point, emphasis mine: "Both Thailand and Scotland need to be in the women's championship, otherwise we'll see more games like this. If we had this same game 4 years ago, Thailand would be favourites to win. Both sides need regular fixtures just like Ireland have to improve, otherwise Women's ODI cricket is only a full member club." Which just underlines how much an inflection point the abandonment of the last qualifiers (along with the ICC using rankings to decide qualification) was, not just for Thailand but Associate cricket as a whole :-\ (well, barring Scotland, "many of whose players feature in the increasingly professional English domestic system" according to hypocaust) In response Thailand managed 259 runs, their highest in an official ODI, but still fell short by 46 runs, and still got bowled out (though they did manage to get to the 50th over, so yay?)
During the game, hypocaust continued to comment on the limitations of the rankings, and their usage as qualification criteria for non-Championship teams: "When this event began last week, Thailand were ranked above Pakistan, Ireland and Scotland by the ICC, based purely on the result of nine matches played two years ago. (9, 10, 11, and 12 respectively - SB) There should have been a structured fixture list e.g. a 2nd division or regional qualifiers for teams outside the ICC Women's Championship. The current 'system' was neither fair on those not part of pathway, or on those like Thailand, ending up less well prepared than in 2021." hypo also added: "You could also see the effect the ICC's rankings had on previews for this event. Many, prepared by those who might not follow women's cricket as closely, cited Thailand's ranking (but not how it was arrived at) as reason to be positive, while e.g. giving Pakistan little chance." It should be noted that Thailand lost to Pakistan in 2021, 93-145 (yes, really), and in the 2025 qualifier warmups, Thailand lasted 28.2 overs and set a target of 78, which Pakistan chased down in 18.5 overs with loss of 3 wickets, which to be fair was to be somewhat expected since they played the day after Thailand arrived in Lahore :-\
Leave it to Redditors to not let the ICC live down the 2021 debacle... kalishplosions111 wrote "Congratulations ICC, unless Thailand are able to produce another golden generation, you just ruined their only chance of qualifying for a World Cup. ... They're honestly trying their very best to make sure no other team surpasses their full members." (Arguably, Thailand being kept out of the Championship was the bigger issue than missing the World Cup) Spockyt added (emphasis in original): "Such a massive shame what was done to Thailand. And I do mean done. ... Even when they were belatedly given ODI status a few years later (the very next year, in fact - SB) they added Zimbabwe (a worse team) to the ODI Championship rather than Thailand. Allegedly because Thailand is less assured in its ability to host with unrest but let’s face it - it’s because the men’s team isn’t a Test nation because not only was Thailand (4 places) ahead of them in the ranking, so was Scotland and the Netherlands and it’s not a particularly credible claim there’s too much instability there, is it? ... Is it any wonder after having not played and having little support for a couple of years their players are not up to par?" Spockyt continued: "Why couldn’t the ICC have struck while the iron was hot and given them every help needed to not only be as good as they can be now but secure that and galvanise it into a permanent strong structure, even encouraging the full members to organise tours, instead of looking away and witnessing a second Kenya?" Kenya qualified for the men's ODI World Cup between 1996 to 2011, peaking with a semifinals appearance in 2003, but have since lost their ODI status and receded to be a second-tier team even within their own continent, but the real reason I singled this part out was because that's exactly what the FIVB did for Thailand women's volleyball, giving them a permanent slot in the Women's Nations League from the beginning in 2018, thus ensuring ongoing investment in women's volleyball locally :-) (And Thailand were, and still are, the only permanent Women's Nations League team to have never played a Summer Olympics, so there's the same sense of Thailand being the odd one out as in cricket)
At this point, Pakistan had 3 wins out of 3, so the best Thailand could hope for in their game against them (their first at the main stadium rather than the nearby secondary ground) was to put up a better result than they did against Bangladesh, or even in the warmups... Pakistan elected to bat first, and Thailand started strongly, yielding only 119 runs in the first 40 overs, but ended up conceding 86 in the last 10 overs for a total of 205 for 6 wickets... It was the same story on the batting side, with a strong start (had a scoring curve above Pakistan's throughout) giving way to a constant loss of wickets, eventually getting bowled out within 35 overs for 118 (still a better total than either of their previous matches with them, but still...) On Reddit, thepotplant felt that "if Thailand had been playing ODI cricket for the last 2 years regularly they'd be crushing this." (again, see comments in Ireland match) Pakistan's qualification as a result of this match will necessitate an additional neutral venue for the World Cup, as it's supposed to be held in India, but Pakistan teams do not travel there (long story)
On to Thailand's final match against the West Indies (the other of the two teams that Thailand likely would have met in the Super 6 last time around; Sri Lanka, the third team they likely would have met, already qualified for the finals from the Championship) Windies still had an outside shot of qualifying, and with Thailand batting first, pretty much the only factor was Thailand putting up enough of a score to keep them from overtaking Bangladesh on net run rate, and they managed to get 166 before getting bowled out in 46 overs and 1 ball... Windies surpassed Thailand's total in 10 overs and 5 balls, which turned out to put them below Bangladesh in the final qualification slot by a mere 0.013 net run rate per over; hypocaust has the calculations here for what the Windies needed (and ironically, it was perfectly possible to win with a 6 in that exact same amount of balls and still overtake Bangladesh), but Bangladesh squeaked into the World Cup by either 3 runs in their innings, or 4 balls in the Windies' innings... And this, after Bangladesh lost to the Windies, marking the second time Bangladesh qualified for the finals despite losing to a team that ultimately did not (!) More interestingly, after a loss in their final game against Ireland, Scotland finished in 4th, which was still ahead of Ireland, and in 2021 would have been good enough to make the Championship...
Which leads me to a comment made the day after the end of the tournament, where Anu9011 on Reddit brought up Thailand's decline from 2021 to today, calling it "another Kenya situation" (and it's telling that he doesn't fully elaborate on 2021, just saying "We all know what happened"), and asked: "Will it be a huge surprise if the same thing happens to Scotland women in 4 years? It’s criminal how these things happen again and again." To which Huge-Physics5491 answered: "ICC creates a more convincing case every time of why it needs to be overthrown by a new system with a longer term vision for cricket. Imagine if someone like Liberty Media ran international cricket, they'd be cooking." Spockyt disagreed with the choice of Liberty Media: "The last thing cricket needs is for all competitions to be moved to areas with no local support but plenty of oil money from dubious regimes to sportswash ... Plus I don’t see how a corporation only interested in making as much profit as possible is the thing cricket needs. We already have enough issues with the ICC just looking for money and not growing the sport." In response to a post about Cricket Scotland's qualifier follow-up article titled "Scots eager for more opportunity after qualifying near-miss", Anu9011 seemed skeptical that they'll get such opportunities and said, "Every World Cup cycle it is the same story, just a different victim. It’s Scotland this time. It was Thailand last time. Full members that run icc just cannot be @ rsed if the sport lose yet another team with so much potential." Given that Thailand had much better than a narrow mathematical chance of at least getting a Championship slot in 2021, and still ultimately didn't get any opportunities beyond that afforded to the other non-Championship sides after getting ODI status, seems that Anu has every right to be skeptical :-\
Emerging Cricket has stories about the rise and fall of cricket in two non-traditional nations: the aforementioned Kenya as well as Morocco, but in those cases, those were the result of local mismanagement, whereas any stories about the decline of women's cricket in Thailand will certainly have to acknowledge the ICC's role for keeping them out of the Championship in 2021 :-\
