William Porterfield’s scathing attack on the ICC yesterday found a lot of support among the six Associate nations who are in Dubai for the World Cricket League Division Two tournament.Not that anyone will come out and say so publicly.The Ireland captain lambasted the game’s governing body for reducing the World Cup to just 10 teams. Calling the decision a disgrace, he said it had been made because ‘a few full members are looking to make a few extra quid from the competitions’.There are few, if any, here in Dubai this week who would argue with that sentiment. And while there are many dark mutterings behind closed doors about the ‘destruction of the game’, to voice those opinions is seen as being injudicious at best.From a purely practical perspective, it is the ICC who hold the purse strings and the belief seems to be, that, for this week at least, discretion is the better part of valour.For the likes of Namibia, UAE, and Uganda, who all harbour realistic hopes of being promoted to Division One and securing a place in the Intercontinental Cup, staying silent is as much about self preservation as anything.Namibia have suffered already at the hands of the ruling body when it comes to missing out and they didn‘t do anything wrong in 2009 when they were dumped out of the Intercontinental Cup in favour of Zimbabwe.With the top four all theoretically vying for a place in that newly-remodelled eight-team competition the ICC have said their Development Committee will make the final selection no-one wants to rock the boat.Even then, however, there is a feeling, cynical though it may be, that all UAE and Namibia have to do is finish in the top four and the places will be theirs Namibia because they were cheated last time and UAE because the ICC’s very expensive Global Cricket Academy is based in Dubai, and they would get a lot of business.As far as the World Cup goes, some believe this was a decision that was made as far back as the laboured 2007 competition when both India and Pakistan failed to reach the latter stages of the World Cup.“We knew then that it wouldn’t be allowed to happen again,” said one coach.Many, Porterfield and his chief executive Warren Duetrom, have given voice to what they are all thinking and feeling. The difference is that Ireland appear to have reached the stage where they believe they don’t have anything left to lose.“It’s an absolute disgrace and I don’t know how they can even comprehend doing this,” said Porterfield.“I can’t come to terms with how they can just shut us out, do away with the qualification period and then try and call this a World Cup.“It is every full member’s duty to look after world cricket. Now the whole integrity of the World Cup has been brought into question because this is not a World Cup, it’s a glorified Champions Trophy.“Everyone in the cricketing world can see they are shutting the door on not only a lot of players, but also on the development of world cricket.“It’s not just about Ireland. This could mean the death of cricket in a lot of countries and all because a few full members are looking to make a few extra quid from the competitions.”