ICC Europe has announced the tournament fixture schedule for the upcoming ICC European Under-19 Division 2 Championship to be held in Antwerp and Brussels, Belgium.

This will be the third time that a Division 2 tournament has been staged at this age group and will see the Under-19 national squads from Belgium, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Israel, Italy and Isle of Man contest the Championship title over a series of 50-over and Twenty20 matches.

“The competition is of particular importance to national development programmes and player pathways as it gives young cricketers a taste of international cricket before they play
for their country's senior side,” said, ICC Europe regional development manager
Richard Holdsworth. "With seven teams participating, this event is one of the larger tournaments in Europe this summer. There is nothing greater than representing your country in any sport and to be able to do so prior to senior level will hopefully inspire continued growth and development of cricketers in our junior age groups."

The ICC European Division 2 Championship gets underway on Monday in Guernsey. Six countries - Croatia, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Guernsey and Jersey - will compete for the title, and their finishing positions will determine their potential entry into the proposed expansion of the World Cricket League.

Click here for the full preview.

France finished their short tour of Holland with an encouraging six-wicket win over a Netherlands side containing three players who recently took part in the Intercontinental Cup.

In the first game, shortened to 35-overs a side because of rain, Netherlands A won by 20 runs after posting 158 for 8. But the result meant they strengthened their side for the second match

After a steady but slow start Netherlands were 112 for 0 after 30 overs. France came back through Jon Houghton (3 for 49) and Tahir Mohammed (4 for 23, including three wickets in an over) and Netherlands were bowled out for 178 with four overs to go.

A couple of steady partnerships and a solid 62 from opener Arun Ayyavooraju, aided by some lusty blows from Shahid Malik (35) and captain Waseem Bhatti (32*), saw France home with 10 overs to spare.

Next week's ICC annual get-together promises to have more than its fair share of politicking, posturing and controversy. But, unless there is a major about-turn, it should also be a watershed for the Associates and Affiliates.

In 2009, income from the ICC's six-year media deal with ESPN-Star, worth over US$1 billion, kicks in, and while the game's big boys will still keep the lion's share, the rest will see substantial increases in their incomes.

Continue reading "Future bright beyond the Test world"

The number of people actively participating in cricket outside the Test-playing countries increased 17% in 2007, according to the ICC.

The research, carried out by the ICC's development program, was collated from 33 Associate and 58 Affiliate members. It showed that there were 338,051 male and female players in those countries in 2007, an increase of 49,158 on the previous year. Since 2002, when there were 144,047 participants, there has been a 135% rise.

Click here for the full story.

Denmark have won the 2008 European Indoor Championship in Finland, beating old foes Portugal in a thrilling encounter. Denmark scrambled a two-wicket win off the penultimate delivery, overhauling Portugal's total of 132.

Hamid Shah was their hero in the decider with an unbeaten 28, sharing a match-winning partnership with Taha Ahmed (25*), after they were precariously placed at 65 for 3. For Paulo Buccimazza, the captain of Portugal, there was the consolation of being awarded Player of the Tournament after finishing as the leading run scorer in the competition, and once again in the final showed his quality making an unbeaten 38.

Continue reading "Denmark take 2008 Indoor Championship title"

The tenth ICC European Indoor Championship take place this weekend in Kuortane, Finland. This will be the first tournament to take place in Finland and Kuortane will become the most northerly venue ever to be used for an official international cricket championship.

Originally held every year, the European Indoor Championship has now become a biennial event. The 2006 tournament was held at Lord's and was won by Denmark, who were victors in three of the last four championships. The only other winner in that period was Hellas (Greece), who defeated Denmark by 3 runs in the 2005 final in Herning, Denmark.

Read the full report at Cricinfo.

This French Life blog (no strapline or explanation necessary) have an interesting interview with Dave Szumowski, the national coach (or Entraîneur National).

Where are the hot-beds of French cricket?
The majority of clubs are located in Ile d'France followed by the south (east and west). Aquitaine, Midi Pyrénées, Languedoc Roussillon and PACA are organised in regional associations to assist with the management and promotion of cricket in the south. The remainder of the clubs are scattered throughout France from Lille in the north to Cannes in the south. France Cricket currently has 1,000 licensed members in 50 affiliated clubs.

There are more clubs and cricketers in France that are not yet affiliated to France Cricket and the challenge is to involve them all and make everyone in France aware that cricket exists so that they can join a club. We then have to encourage all clubs to become affiliated to France Cricket so that their members can be eligible to play for the national teams and the sport can be recognised as a 'Sport de Haut Niveau' resulting in the Government releasing much needed resources. It is hoped that when licence numbers reach 2,000 this main objective can be achieved.

The ICC Europe Cricket Committee (ECC) have confirmed Ireland as the host for next year's European Division One Championship.

They lasted hosted the tournament in 2002 when 12 teams participated. In the past five years, however, six more countries have joined including Europe's four High Performance Program countries: Denmark, Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands. Norway - who won Division Two in 2006 - also join Italy.

The previous championship, hosted by Scotland in 2006, crowned Ireland as the European Champions and 2008's event will also feature three official one-dayers.

Meanwhile it was also confirmed that Guernsey will host the Division Two Championship in August, a six-team tournament which includes France, Germany, Gibraltar and Jersey. The sixth place will be decided later this year when Croatia meet Israel on November 18.

Guernsey secured their first ever title when they beat Jersey in the final of the European Under-15 Division 2 Championship in La Manga, Spain on Saturday. Click here to read the full story.

The Crusaders, an Australian team comprising former Test, first-class and league players, will travel to France to play a match just outside Paris on June 27 in their 42-day tour of Europe.

The highlights of their tour will be matches against a President's Italian cricket X1, Switzerland, Duke of Norfolk's X1 and the MCC at the Lord's Nursery Ground.

The Australian's will spend a whole week in France visiting the Burgundy vinyards of the Cote d'Or, explore Paris and the Palace of Versailles and admire the beauty of Monet's gardens at Giverny.

The Crusaders will play a match against Standard Athletic Club 24th June (2pm) at Meudon. From Paris they will travel to the Somme battlefields of northern France and the adopted Australian village of Villers Bretonneux. Then south to the Loire Valley and Chateau Chenonceau and Chateau Villandry and the highlight of the tour - the match against l'Equipe de France de Cricket.

Full story at This French Life.

The European Cricket Council has announced a deal with ICC Europe, ECB and Premium TV to make ECBtv available on subscription throughout Europe.

In many areas of Europe there is no access to TV highlights of matches, and this move looks to make coverage accessible to everyone.

"ECB is pleased and excited to be able to offer Europe’s cricket fans access to ECBtv and it is hoped that it will take the game to previously uncharted areas, inspiring people to get involved in this great sport,” Richard Holdsworth, the ICC’s regional development manager, said. "Delivering live video coverage via broadband to European territories has brought people closer to the game than ever before.”

ECBtv shows Test and one-day international matches live to certain territories, as well as match highlights, exclusive interviews, press conferences, coaching master classes and many other features to a global audience. Live streams start at £2.99. Click here for full details.

It won't get many column inches in the mainstream cricket press, but the World Cricket League, which started in Nairobi yesterday and continues into next week, features the best of the rest, the six sides just under the ten Test-playing countries. For the two finalists, the rewards are bountiful - a place among the big boys in the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa this September, along with $250,000. For countries used to surviving on annual handouts from the ICC of less than $200,000, that's big money.

Continue reading "A long way from home"

The European Cricket Council's European Cricket Championships, which are being held in Scotland, are the first to be organised under the auspices of the International Cricket Council’s World Cricket League.

The tournament will feature 13 countries in two divisions playing 30 matches in seven days at 12 west of Scotland grounds, starting on Thursday (August 3).

The Division 1 sides - Scotland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Denmark and Italy - will play a round-robin tournament, from which there is no relegation. The three matches involving the first three named teams are deemed by the International Cricket Council as official One-Day Internationals, and will be played at Ayr Cricket Club, where ground facilities have been upgraded with support from South Ayrshire Council.

Scotland’s other two matches will be played at New Anniesland (against Denmark) and Hamilton Crescent (against Italy).

Division 2 consists of eight teams - France, Germany, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Hellas (Greece), Israel, Jersey and Norway - who will play in two initial pools of four, followed by crossover semi-finals and four ranking finals - and one team will be promoted to the first division in two years’ time. The facilities at all grounds have been equipped with additional weather protection and other enhancements, thanks to a range of local authority grants and commercial support.

A huge bonus is available for the Division 2 teams, with the winners not only promoted to the European Division 1 in 2008, but also a place in the new ICC World Cricket League Division 5 in 2007-08. This team will receive $20,000 towards preparation of that event, the venue of which is still to be decided.