Scotland is widely regarded as the strongest associate nation. But they have been unlucky at times. Remember the 2023 ODI World Cup?Scotland had defeated Ireland in the group phase and then they shocked everyone when they took down West Indies in the Super-6 phase. They also managed to defeat Zimbabwe, but that was more or less expected. But when it mattered the most, they narrowly lost to Netherlands, and it meant that Netherlands qualified for the 2023 World Cup instead of Scotland.
No teams remain the same for years, specially there's wide fluctuations in associate teams. Not just 2013, Scotland too performed well in 2024 T20 world cup but this time they failed to qualify. The test membership and ODI full members also needs a revision as the member teams too are not being able to keep up their performance and would probably lose with a few top associate nations.
T20 world cup gives a good and fair opportunity for associate teams and players to show their talents. We've got England, Ireland and Netherlands along with Italy from Europe this time for 2026 T20 world cup.