It's only the beginning

So after the Zimbabwe-UAE match on Thursday the World Cup down under completes the first action (a couple of teams have already played two games) of the 14 participating teams. And in a week of non-stop action we have gone through plenty of excitement and drama. There was joy, the joy of the Indians over their bitter rivals Pakistan, the joy of the Australians over their old enemies England. There was despair, the anguish of the once mighty West Indies. There was another World Cup déjà vu for Pakistan against India. There was a sense of relief for Bangladesh after a thumping defeat of debutants Afghanistan. There was a bizarre hattrick, a hattrick from England paceman Steven Finn that hardly played any part in the outcome of the opening game at the iconic MCG. There was a mind-boggling 256-run partnership between South Africa's David Miller (138) and JP Duminy (115), a record for the fifth-wicket at World Cup. And then three was a fairy-tale story from the Irish, who not only chased down West Indies' 300-plus in some style to cause the first upset in cricket's flagship event, but also gave the game's governing body plenty of food for thought to reconsider its desire to trim the number from 14 to 10 in the next World Cup.

This tournament features four associate-member nations of the ICC. It's a platform where these exposure-starved lightweights get the opportunity to show the world what they are capable of. To be frank, not only Ireland, but also the other three nations -- Scotland, Afghanistan and UAE -- put up commanding performances against their mighty opponents. The Scots gave the Kiwis a run for their money, an up-and-coming Afghanistan showed plenty of discipline with the ball against Bangladesh and UAE were tantalisingly close to upsetting Zimbabwe, only to be denied by a resolute Sean Williams. As lovers of the game we hope more fairy-tale stories beset the next round, and the round thereafter because that's the true essence of the game.