Afghanistan deserves a few matches against teams like Australia and New Zealand. But I believe that some of the SENA boards want to expel Afghanistan from international cricket and that complicates things. Even associate nations such as Scotland, Netherlands and Nepal are now performing better than Zimbabwe. And that too with 1/50th of the funding that Zimbabwe receive. But the ICC remains blind to this and they continue to prop up Zimbabwe by pumping tens of millions of USD into that country every year.
Yes this is worry that some major cricket boards (SENA) might be trying to exclude Afghanistan. Furthermore you highlight that associate nations like Scotland Netherlands and Nepal are now playing better than Zimbabwe despite receiving far less money which exactly makes question that why ICC continues to heavily fund Zimbabwe when those funds do not seem to improve their performance suggesting problem with how cricket resources are managed globally.
I got the point. This raises a fair question. why not support rising teams that perform better with fewer resources? maybe I've my point. First of all Zimbabwe is a full member of the ICC, also have rich history which gives them more rights and funding, even if their performance is poor. ICC may also believe that with continued support, Zimbabwe can recover and improve. anyway many fans now believe it’s time to change this system and funding teams based on performance, not just for any ties and history in cricket.
It is true that if the support is given to the team based on the position of the past history, then I think it is not possible to develop cricket. ICC needs to be dynamic in this regard. The Zimbabwe team has been with cricket for a long time but there is no improvement. Whereas Afghanistan has joined in ICC after a long time and they are doing well. In terms of financial support, I think more money needs to be spent on those who value cricket and where there is love for cricket and where potential can be found. I don't think the Zimbabwe team will improve even after another decade.