The recent one-sided results in international cricket have showed that the game at top level has to be reorganised so that interest remains, let it be in Test matches, ODI or even Twenty20.

Sri Lanka defeated Zimbabwe by nine wickets after dismissing them for a sub-70 score, while Bangladesh were defeated by South Africa by an innings and more than 100 runs. And Pakistan thumped West Indies 3-0 in their recent ODI series.

These matches do nothing more than inflate the statistics of the higher-ranked countries. Ajantha Mendis proved to be more than a handful for even a country like India (well-known for their spin-playing talents). Imagine what would happen when he plays against lower-ranked Zimbabwe.

Is an Indian victim for him the same as a Zimbabwe wicket? On paper, obviously it is. But the value of the wickets is definitely not the same. The effort that goes into getting those wickets is also incomparable.

Similarly, the century Graeme Smith scored against Bangladesh would not give him the same satisfaction as if he had scored it against Australia in the upcoming tour.

The presence of these lesser countries will inflate the figures of the bowlers/batsmen to such an extent that they look very impressive, especially when compared to the greats who had to contend with high-quality opposition in their times. So why are these countries still playing? Obviously, it has to do with ICC politics - that is complicated enough for discussions on another rainy day.

Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and West Indies should be made to play in a second division for the next year. Based on the performances and results in these matches, a decision could then be made on whether they could play the other countries.

Of course, a quantative framework has to be arrived at, to ensure that there is no bias in the assessment. International cricket definitely cannot go on the way it exists today.