Sometimes there are things that you're just not very good at. You should be good at them, you can see no reason why you wouldn't be good at them - but you're not.

Take me and art, for example.I was a decent student in my younger days, possessing a good memory for facts and figures and having a flair for languages in particular.

However, there was one subject which I had no time for - art. I absolutely hated it and made no secret of the fact. I dropped it as soon as I could from my curriculum and je ne regrette rien in the intervening 35 years.

The Irish cricket team have passed all examinations they've faced in the last decade but this month they failed for the first time.

While other Associate nations have embraced the T20 format, Ireland have placed it third in their list of priorities, behind their stated goals of Test status and 50 over ODI cricket.

That said, they prepared as thoroughly as could be expected. They played six matches in Australia and the UAE, followed by a training camp in India and two warm-up matches ahead of the competition proper.

What followed was an unmitigated disaster as a last over loss to Oman - I now know how Pakistan, England and the West Indies all felt - was followed by a wash-out versus Bangladesh and an Ardmoresque collapse against The Netherlands in a six over lottery.

There was fierce criticism of the brand of cricket the team played - one former international likened their outdated approach to that of the English one-day side before their Damascan conversion after the World Cup debacle in Australia last year.

I was impressed by Ireland Head Coach John Bracewell during the competition, especially in his dealings with the media. He wasn't offering excuses, but explanations. We haven't the luxury of an excess of available players and have to make do with the resources at hand.

The Irish ethos in recent times has been to avoid the hired guns route favoured by some Associate teams. Overseas players with little or no affinity haven't been selected - only those resident or with strong family ties are used.

The high profile retirements of a number of key players mean the team has indeed lost its fear factor among fellow Associates. A winning run of 22 games has been replaced with a record of seven losses in the last 12 matches.

T20 for the squad has become like art for me at school - unless there's a major shift in emphasis from Cricket Ireland - it appears a subject that could be dropped given the fact there are no scheduled T20I's on the horizon for the next three years at least.

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One area where the Associate countries have performed admirably in recent times has been to change the mindset of media to their inclusion at world events.

There have been high profile calls for the abandonment of the myopic self serving interests of the Full members and the ICC over their decision to reduce the 2019 World Cup to ten teams.

Brian Lara, Michael Vaughan and Sachin Tendulkar are the latest legends to ask for the decision to be reconsidered. Hopefully if the nefarious Giles Clarke is replaced at ICC in the years ahead, then there may still be time for the World to be put back into the World Cup.

Peter Borren and Preston Mommsen both spoke passionately and eloquently about the plight of Associate countries - William Porterfield and Ireland have been at the media forefront for years about funding and fixtures, but it's hard to speak out when you've been beaten by Oman.

Hopefully Afghanistan will continue to play in their own unique carefree manner and claim a scalp in the Super 10's. It would do wonders for the sport and give the expansionists some ammunition rather than the harbingers of doom intent on strangling the game.

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While I felt sorry for the players after their exit at phase one - I felt even sorrier for the Irish media (all two of then) and a band of loyal supporters who travelled to India at great expense and no little inconvenience.

A taste of what was to come in Dharamashala awaited them at the second warm-up game versus Zimbabwe, for which there were no tickets on sale.

The police and army at first refused them access to the ground, and only after several vociferous protests relented - after taking away any food, water and coins they had. They were then coralled in and treated with the upmost contempt.

There was little shelter at the stadium - India's answer to Stormont in terms of temperature and climate - and for supporters out in the open, that meant a drenching and an altogether unpleasant experience.

Ger Siggins (Sunday Independent) spent an hour trying to gain access despite being on the accreditation list. "You have no accreditation, you are not getting in."

"I'm here to collect my accreditation - how do I get it if you won't let me in?"

This connundrum was repeated across all the media wanting to gain entry - the fiasco seeing one press conference with a tournament organiser taking place outside the stadium as there were more journalists outside than in.

There was the debacle of Scottish fans turning up for a game to buy tickets only to be told there were none on sale at the venue - they would have to travel 20 miles to the old ground to purchase them. The local authority had placed a small ad in a local paper in Hindi tannouncing this but hadn't informed the BCCI, ICC or the media.

After that the blame game starts - a vicious circle in which nobody wins and the fans invariably lose.

For once I actually feel sorry for the ICC - many of the problems are out of their control and they are left tearing their hair out in frustration.

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Back in 1991 when I started work in Lycra with Du Pont, they decided to trial a Just-In-Time method called Kanban (ŠÅ”Â?) (literally signboard or billboard in Japanese). It was developed by Taiichi Ohno, an industrial engineer at Toyota, as a system to improve and maintain a high level of production.

The system had many plus points, but there were one or two weaknesses which the workers quickly latched onto - especially as the company wanted to reduce working hours and over-time affecting pay and conditions.

India took this JIT/Kanban to new levels in the build up to the tournament. I went on a Saturday to inspect the room where press conferences would be held - none existed. However, 24 hours later, a small army of joiners, electricians etc had one assembled.

The same happened at our team hotel with internet and a bar. If there are two things India has, it's money and available labour.

The modus operandi seems to be Instead of build it and they will come, rather, they come and then we build it.