Uganda will travel to Dubai in February to play the United Arab Emirates and later host Namibia in August in their ICC Intercontinental Shield campaign. Uganda started well with a win in Bermuda, and are early favourites to reach the final.

And Uganda have hired a South African coach, Fayyaaz Mohiudeen, as a temporary replacement for Ebrahim Mohammed who is back home attending a course.

The Scotsman has reported that Scotland’s ICC Intercontinental Cup match against Zimbabwe A is likely to be played in Dubai. If so, that would avoid the politically difficult situation of Scotland playing in Harare and the even more troublesome prospect of hosting the game in Scotland given the government’s hardline towards allowing teams from Zimbabwe into the UK. Peter Chingoka, the Zimbabwe Cricket chairman, and Ozias Bvute, the chief executive, are both barred from entering the European Union because of their links to the Mugabe regime.

The Scottish selectors have invested in youth by selecting a young squad with an average age of 25 against Canada in the ICC Intercontinental Cup and two ODIs in Aberdeen over the next ten days. Scotland will play a four-day Intercontinental Cup match from July 2-5 before taking on Canada for two 50-over fixtures on July 7 and 8.

Scotland, looking to rebuild in the wake of their failure to qualify for the 2011 World Cup, have named two teams with distinctive challengers under two different captains. Gordon Drummond will lead the Intercontinental Cup squad for the four-day match and Gavin Hamilton will take over for the ODIs.

"With these selections, we are starting to look ahead over the next four years and, broadly speaking, we are seeking to give the younger generation as much experience as we can," said coach Peter Steindl. "We believe that some cricketers are more suited to the longer form of the game, while some flourish in the one-day variety. With more and more top-quality youngsters pushing for places in the national squads, those squads may show more differences as time goes on. It’s up to the players to make their case on the field."

Drummond termed this an exciting time for Scottish cricket. "I am delighted to have been asked to take responsibility for the Intercontinental Cup squad, where we need players who are in for the long haul. The matches against Canada and, next month, Ireland, will certainly be a test to be savoured. The players will, I’m sure, rise to the occasion."

Intercontinental Cup squad:

Gordon Drummond (capt), Ryan Watson, Fraser Watts, Jan Stander, Neil McCallum, Simon Smith (wk), Qasim Sheikh, Moneeb Iqbal, Majid Haq, Richie Berrington, Calum MacLeod, Ewan Chalmers.

ODI squad:

Gavin Hamilton (capt), Navdeep Poonia, Gordon Drummond, Ryan Watson, Fraser Watts, Jan Stander, Neil McCallum, Simon Smith (wk), Majid Haq, Richie Berrington, Calum MacLeod, Ross Lyons.

The 2009-10 Intercontinental Cup is just around the corner, and Ireland are this weekend due to announce their squad for their first match against Kenya on July 3. Ahead of that, however, Ireland A are taking on a young Yorkshire team who yesterday compiled an impressive 337, with Chavez Younes top-scoring on 71. Cricket Europe has the full report and a scorecard.

Zimbabwe Cricket has confirmed that it will enter an A side into the 2009-10 Intercontinental Cup, in accordance with the recommendations of the ICC's task force.

Continue reading "Zimbabwe enters side into ICC competition"

Canada have confirmed details of their European tour which will include four ODIs and the opening two games in the 2009-10 Intercontinental Cup.

The trip will start with the Intercontinental Cup tie against Scotland (July 2 to 5) and that will be followed by two ODIs, also against Scotland, on July 7 and 8.

From there the team fly to the Netherlands where they play two more ODIs (July 11 and 12), finishing off with their second Intercontinental Cup match between July 15 and 18.

Laurie Peters, Namibia’s chief executive, has called the ICC’s decision to restructure the Intercontinental Cup as “disappointing” and said that it will have a negative affect on cricket in the country.

Continue reading "Namibia anger as ICC dumps them from cup"

Zimbabwe Cricket has told Cricinfo that it is working with the ICC on proposals that it enters a team into the 2009-10 Intercontinental Cup. The tournament features the leading eight Associates who play each other in four-day first-class matches spread over more than a year, with the top two playing-off in a final at a neutral venue.

The idea that Zimbabwe, who have been suspended from Test cricket since 2005, participate in the competition was one of the proposals put forward to the ICC to enable their cricketers to prepare for an eventual return to the Test arena. A ZC spokesman said that the board were “in principle agreeable” and it was sorting out the “finer details” with the ICC.

Continue reading "Intercontinental Cup could include Zimbabwe"

Tony Munro

Kenya will be playing for a win in the Intercontinental Cup match against Ireland starting in Nairobi on Saturday despite needing just a draw to qualify for the final.

"My approach is to always play positive cricket and the Kenyan team will approach the game in this frame of mind,” Andy Kirsten, the coach, told Cricinfo. “There are a few scenarios which will see us reach the final, but the most clear one is to go and win the match, so that is what we aim to do.”

Continue reading "Kenya aim for outright win"

Tony Munro

This weekend Namibia plays Ireland in the Intercontinental Cup. It’s Namibia's last qualifying match while Ireland has another against Kenya after this. Cricinfo spoke to the captain, Louis Burger.

Well, it’s your last chance to cement a place in the final and your opponents, Ireland, have a game in hand. Nothing like a bit of pressure to bring out the best out of the team, is it?

LB: Yes, we play every game to win and Ireland will be no exception in this regard. They will be coming at us really hard as they also want a place in the final. The pressure is a bit relieved on our side seeing that we are virtually assured of a spot in the final unless Ireland and Kenya finish in an outright tie, which is very unlikely, and we have to gain no points in the Ireland game.

Namibia hadn't hit a ball in anger for about five months prior to the Bermuda match. How did you rate the performance and in which areas would you like to see improvement?

LB: To us it was the beginning of the season and our preparations for the Bermuda game was intense seeing that we wanted the 20 points to relieve the pressure of having to gain points in our last game to go to the final.

Having said that, I was happy with our performance. We didn’t really know what to expect of the wicket and weather but eventually everything worked out, and we managed to get full points even though the wicket turned a lot and had half a day of cricket rained off.

Obviously the World Cup qualifiers next year would be in the back of your mind, but why is winning the Intercontinental Cup important?

LB: It’s all about reaching goals we set ourselves at the beginning of the year. Our first goal was to get into the final, which we are almost sure of at this moment. The next goal is to win the final. Our last goal is to qualify for the next World Cup and with the World Cup Qualifiers just a few months away, I feel that this is already a real confidence booster. To win this competition will give us the confidence to go into any game knowing that we can beat whoever the opposition is.

After this, Namibia start their campaign against the amateur South African provincial teams. How important is playing in this competition and in what areas does it improve your cricket?

The two seasons prior to the previous World Cup qualifiers, we did not play in this competition. Previously we did and it was called the Bowl Competition back then. Even though this is an amateur competition the standard of cricket is high and it gives us the opportunity to play against really tough opposition. To play as much competitive cricket as possible makes you a better team and help you cope in tight situations as you have been there before playing in this kind of competition. The competition consists out of a three day game followed by a limited overs match which gives one the opportunity to play both forms of the game over 4 days.

Ireland won the last meeting between the teams. How much will that enter into team planning?

LB: I don’t think that really bothers us. Quite a few of our players didn’t go on that tour due to working commitments, and also, both teams have a few new players. So yes, we don’t really look at what happened two years ago. We’d rather focus on what lies ahead. We do know that Ireland are a decent team and that they will be coming hard and so will we. Hopefully it will be a great contest.

Andre Botha has scored three centuries in the 07-08 Cup for Ireland , including 150s against Scotland and Holland . Does the team know much about him? Have you got plan in place for him?:

LB:Yes I know Andre very well seeing that we played together in Griqualand West in South Africa . We are good friends and he is a very good cricketer and you can’t take that away from him. Cricket is an interesting game and no one can predict what’s going to happen on the day and hopefully (laughs) he won’t score too many runs against us.

You must be in charge of one of the most versatile teams at Associate level. Why is it that Namibian cricket produces so many allrounders?

LB:It’s difficult to say why but, yes, it is very nice to be leading a team with so many individually talented cricketers. We probably have four to five individuals who, on their day, can take the game away from the opposition. And to top it all, we blend together as a great team with great team spirit which feels like one big family.

On a lighter note, I suppose that with the great (flat) batting wickets in Namibia, all the bowlers coming here eventually convert themselves into batsmen, which makes them good all-rounders eventually.

What is Ireland's greatest asset as a team?

LB: They have had the opportunity to play competitive cricket over the past 2 years. The World Cup, ODIs and so forth.

Ireland's rain-affected match against Canada was frustratingly cut short with no play possible on the fourth and final day, but Ireland have closed the gap on an already tightly packed top four in the Intercontinental Cup table

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Scotland will have little time to prepare for their Intercontinental Cup clash with Canada after they were stranded in Bermuda by the after-effects of Hurricane Bertha.

The storm had been expected to disrupt their game with Bermuda but as it happened the match was unaffected. But it hit the region afterwards, leaving the Scottish players stranded in their hotel rooms.

“The airport in Hamilton was shut down and the squad were unable to make their connection to Toronto,” Cricket Scotland chief executive Roddy Smith said. “The guys were confined to their rooms all day to escape the worst of the wind and heavy rain.

"We were given the option of delaying the start of the Canada match by 24 hours, but we decided against that because of the tight schedule next week when the lads go to Belfast for the European Championships."

Scotland will have less than a day to acclimitise to conditions which are far removed from those experienced in Bermuda as the match in Toronto starts on July 16.

Scotland will travel to Bermuda and Canada next month without several front-line players who are being rested for other matches later in the summer.

Scotland captain Ryan Watson, along with Gavin Hamilton, Craig Wright, Glenn Rogers and John Blain, have not been included in the 13-man squad which will play Intercontinental Cup matches in Bermuda (July 10-13) and Canada (July 16-19).

But, after discussions with the selectors, they will leave behind a group of experienced players who are being ‘rested’ in preparation for other major matches later in July and August.

“Although Scotland cannot now hope to win the Cup itself, we will certainly take these matches seriously, and the players know that they represent an excellent platform for their talents,” Peter Steindl, Scotland’s coach, said. “For our own ranking in the global game, we aim to win both matches."

Roddy Smith, Cricket Scotland’s chief executive, added: "It is vital that we build strength in depth among our international squads - particularly with next year’s World Cup qualifying tournament in mind."

Scotland squad Fraser Watts (capt), Richie Berrington, Dewald Nel, Sean Weeraratna, Gordon Drummond, Gordon Goudie, Dougie Lockhart, Majid Haq, Ross Lyons, Qasim Sheikh, Neil McCallum, Gregor Maiden, Colin Smith (wkt).

Bermuda will host their first international match in four years when they play Scotland in the Intercontinental Cup after the National Sports Centre ground received ICC approval.

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	Arshad Ali, the former UAE captain, struck 185 in UAE's win over Bermuda last year © Eddie Norfolk

UAE might be languishing at second from bottom in the 2007-08 Intercontinental Cup, but they remain confident of reversing their fortunes ahead of their match against Namibia on Wednesday.

In three matches, they have only won one match - an excellent 138-run win over Bermuda last November. And it was this win which inspired UAE, and their captain, Saqib Ali, to believe in themselves. UAE were dismissed for a lowly 143, conceding a first-innings deficit of 168, but fought back brilliantly on days three and four to win by 138 runs.

"It was an unbelievable win for us," Saqib said. "That victory really gave us the belief that we can do well in this competition. I think we have what it takes. We have plenty of experience with people like Khurram Khan and Arshad Ali and there is a good feeling in the squad."

In spite of their bullishness, UAE's preparations for Wednesday's match have been far from ideal, with heavy rains sweeping the region. "Also it is a new pitch at Sharjah Stadium," Saqib said, "so we don't really know how it is going to play."

Saqib took over the reins from Arshadfor the Bermuda match, and the new-found freedom paid immediate dividends for Arshad whose mammoth 185 set-up UAE's matchwinning 449.

"I decided that I wanted to play as just an ordinary player, not captain," Arshad said. "It is easier for me that way and since I gave up the captaincy I have been doing very well, scoring runs and taking wickets."

Namibia, meanwhile, come into the match following an impressive eight-wicket win over Canada in October. Their win was set-up by a fine 163 from Bjorn Kotze, but neither his brother, Deon, or Louis Klazinga, who took 6 for 82 in the match, have made the trip. UAE, though, will not be underestimating Namibia.

"We are wary of Namibia. We know they have a good side with plenty of experience and lots of batting," Saqib said. "It will be very interesting. I am looking forward to it."

Concern is growing that the civil unrest in Kenya might put the Intercontinental Cup tie against Namibia at the end of the month in doubt. It has already delayed Kenya's preparations for the match against UAE in Sharjah.

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The inaugural ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier, which will take place in Belfast at the start of August, is the highlight of the Associates schedule for 2008 which was announced by the ICC today.

The three-day Qualifier will feature the six leading Associates - Bermuda, Canada, Ireland, Kenya, the Netherlands and Scotland - with the winners going through to the ICC World Twenty20 in England in 2009. The two successful teams will also stand to gain US$250,000 each for qualifying.

Click here for the full story

Tony Cozier is, rightly, one of the most respected journalists in the game. His work to cover and promote cricket in the Caribbean has been unstinting for almost four decades. And yet even the best writers have off days, and his attack on the way that the ICC funds the Intercontinental Cup, the first-class competition for the Associates, is one of those.

Continue reading "ICC must go on funding cricket's expansion"

Tony Cozier, the veteran Caribbean journalist and broadcaster, has launched a scathing attack on the way the ICC funds global cricket outside the Test-playing countries.

Writing in his column which is syndicated throughout the Caribbean, Cozier was angry at the way that established regions, such as West Indies, were not allocated more money instead of so much being spent by the ICC on Associate competitions.

“Certainly there is no ICC venture more illogical or costly than the one dubbed the Inter-Continental Cup,” he wrote. “It is an annual tournament, described by the ICC as its ‘flagship first-class competition’, comprising round-robin, four-day matches between its second tier members, those one below Test status. These are countries where the game has always been based on amateur, weekend, one-day club cricket. They play no four-day domestic matches and almost certainly never will.

“Yet the ICC doles out heaven knows how much cash every year to fly them, and their own entourage of officials, across the world and to house and feed them at venues as scattered as Aberdeen, Dublin, Namibia, Toronto, Sharjah and Windhoek.

“Canada were unable to raise their strongest team for the African tour because many of their best players simply could not get time off from their jobs. The same problem affects others, rendering the tournament even less relevant.”

The ICC maintains that the competition enables players from Associate countries to gain more experience in the longer form of the game.

Bermuda batsman Lionel Cann has been sent home from the tour of Africa and the Middle East after the Bermuda Cricket Board chose to increase his suspension for showing dissent when he was given out lbw against Kenya on Saturday.

Cann took his time leaving the crease after being given out for a golden duck then hit a trash can with his bat as he left the field. The ICC has already dealt with the offence - handing him a two-match suspension from one-day-internationals after finding him guilty of showing "serious dissent at an umpire's decision". That ruling had meant Cann would have been eligible for the two four-day Intercontinental Cup games against Kenya and the UAE.

But the BCB announced that they had upped his suspension. In a short statement the executive voard announced its decision that Cann should play no further part in the tour and revealed it was making arrangements for him to fly home as soon as possible.

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Namibia have beaten Canada by eight wickets in their Intercontinental Cup match at Windhoek. Click here for the bulletin and leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Bermuda's confidence has been hit by the absence of their leading batsman, David Hemp © Getty Images

Their squad is severely depleted and inexperienced and they have just been humiliated in two warm-up one-dayers against Denmark. But according to Gus Logie, the Bermuda coach, his side are embarking on a new era with confidence.

Logie's men take on Netherlands in their Intercontinental Cup match on Monday with only four surviving players from their disastrous World Cup campaign in the Caribbean earlier this year: Irvine Romaine, Stephen Outerbridge, Dwayne Leverock, the crowds' favourite, and Lionel Cann.

Continue reading "Bermuda embark on new era"

The best things in life are free, or so they say. The Intercontinental Cup final may not be the best thing ever - particularly where Derbyshire and Northamptonshire are concerned, as they won't release their Irish players - but there is no charge for entry for what promises to be a quality contest.

In an era where the cost of sports tickets is ever-spiralling, the opportunity to see two of the best Associates, who are World Cup qualifiers to boot, is not to be sniffed at. You may have to make it to Leicester for the privilege (the game was originally scheduled for Chelmsford in Essex) but Grace Road is an intimate ground which could reward the spectators who come to see if Ireland can retain their title against Canada.

Continue reading "Smiling Irish eye cup prize"

If you are in Leicester this week, then head down to Grace Road to catch the Intercontinental Cup final – for free. That’s right. It’s your chance to see Canada (including John Davison) take on the reigning champions and World Cup heroes Ireland. The four-day match kicks off on Tuesday 22.

The fixtures for the first half of the 2007-08 Intercontinental Cup have been released by the ICC.

The tournament undergoes a change of format once again, with the group stages scrapped and a round-robin system introduced. This will mean that the eight participants play seven matches after the two-year span of the competition.

The event kicks off on June 28 when Canada, who meet Ireland in the final of the 2006-07 tournament at Leicester between May 22 and 25, meet Netherlands in Toronto.

Scotland play back-to-back matches against Ireland and Netherlands at the start of August, while Bermuda will be in Europe to take on the same opponents at the end of the month.

The schedule shows that Bermuda are the busiest country in 2007 with four matches, all away from home. In addition to their European trip, they play Kenya in Nairobi at the start of November and from there go straight to the meet UAE.

Namibia, on the other hand, have only one game inked in, while Kenya have two.

Henry Osinde will replace Ashish Patel in Canada's squad for the Intercontinental Cup final against Ireland next month. Patel could not get time off work according to the CCA website.

The ICC has announced that the final of the Intercontinental Cup between Canada and Ireland will be held at Grace Road, Leicester between May 22 and 25.

The County Ground at Chelmsford had originally been earmarked to stage the game, but negotiations between Essex and the ICC broke down earlier in the month.