Bangladesh romped to a nine-wicket win over Malaysia in the third-place play-off in the CLICO International Under-15 tournament in Trinidad. Ireland defeated ICC Americas by two wickets to secure fifth place, while Netherlands thumped Kenya to take seventh.

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There were big wins for West Indies, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Malaysia on the second day of the CLICO International U-15 Championship in the Caribbean. Of the three, only Bangladesh are not guaranteed a semi-final place, meaning the winner of their match against Ireland will progress to the last four.

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John Campbell struck 112 for West Indies Under-15s in the CLICO International Under-15 Championship. Click here for the full report. Scorelines and cards for the other matches can be found below.

West Indies 237 (Campbell 112) beat Bangladesh 200 (Nelson 3-43) by 37 runs
Scorecard

Ireland 111 for 3 (Getkate 31*) beat Kenya 110 (Karim 46, Getkate 4-17) by seven wickets
Scorecard

Pakistan 332 for 5 (Naeem 90) beat Netherlands 102 (Worries 20, Gohar 3-32) by 230 runs
Scorecard

Malaysia 157 for 8 (Goonasagaran 33, Hazim 19*) beat Americas 156 (Joshi 64, Zahid 3-36) by two wickets
Scorecard

An unbeaten 122 from Kraigg Brathwaite was the highlight of the opening matches in the Clico International Under-15 Championships. His innings steered West Indies to 240 for 6 and they then bowled out Malaysia for 94 to record a 146-run victory. Click here for a full report.

The match between Bangladesh and Netherlands turned out to be a one-sided affair with the Dutch being bundled out for 94 after being put in to bat. Netherlands, who were 58 for 9 at one stage, only saved face with a last-wicket stand of 36. Khaza Khairuddin was the most successful bowler for Bangladesh taking 3 for 24. Bangladesh cruised to 95 for 1 with the captain, Nazeef Ahmed, scoring 32 and Ahamedul Kabir 43 not out.

Bangladesh now meet the winner of the game between Pakistan and Ireland, which is scheduled for Sunday April 20, 2008.

The Asian Cricket Council has confirmed Malaysia as the venue for the 2008 ACC Trophy Elite Division. The 10-team tournament will be held from July 25 to August 3, with all matches likely to be staged in Kuala Lumpur.

It was also confirmed the ACC Trophy will be held as two separate tournaments for the first time.

The ACC Trophy Elite tournament will be contested by the top 10 ranked ACC members: Afghanistan, Bahrain, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Malaysia, Nepal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and the holders, the United Arab Emirates.

The ACC Trophy Challenge for the remaining ACC members is likely to be staged in Kuwait from January 11-17, 2009. Among the invitees are Bhutan, Brunei, Burma, China, Iran, the Maldives, Oman and Thailand, although it remains to be seen whether China fields a team.
Tony Munro

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.

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	Singapore's captain Rezza Gaznavi receives the ACC Under-15 Elite Cup © ACC

The Asian Cricket Council had taken drastic action on Saturday and kicked out hosts and defending champions Nepal as well as Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Malaysia, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Thailand after its medical board reported that all the squads from those countries contained players over the stipulated age limit. Sunday's semi-finals - Nepal v Singapore and Afghanistan v Hong Kong - were scrapped.

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The 2007 ACC Twenty20 Cup gets underway on October 27, a ten-team tournament held in Kuwait.

Hong Kong Cricket's website, which Cricinfo hosts, will have more once the tournament gets underway.

Australia Under-19s walloped Malaysia by 183 runs in the first of two one-day friendlies at Kelab Aman in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. The New Straits Times has a full report:

Four Australians posted half centuries as they compiled 306 runs in 50 overs before dismissing Malaysia for 123 runs in 43 overs.

Isaiah Borgas, batting at No 4 for Australia, knocked an elegant 81 runs off 72 balls which included seven boundaries and three sixes, Anthony Murphy chipped in with 60 off 84 balls, Tim Buzzard scored 54 and James Faulkner was unbeaten on 50.

In reply, Malaysia lost the wicket of opener Faris Almas Lee (2) in the fourth over before Shafiq Sharif (16) and Faizal Abu Hassan (8) exited cheaply as Malaysia struggled against the Australian seamers and spinners.

Seven bowlers each from Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Nepal and the UAE will be sent to the MRF Pace Foundation, run by Dennis Lillee, ahead of the 2007 and 2008 World Cricket League.

"It is the ACC's intention that these teams do well in the World Cricket League and the MRF camp in Chennai is to prepare the five qualifiers for World Cup qualification. An invitation was extended to the Malaysian Under-19 squad to train at MRF as they have pre-qualified for the 2008 U-19 World Cup next February and can benefit from the opportunity to train from this year," says ACC Development Manager Sultan Rana.

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"

Malaysia put on a brave front before going down by five wickets against Sri Lanka in the opening match of the HSBC Malaysian Under-19 Invitational tri-series at the Kinrara Oval.

It was a result which the young Malaysians, led by skipper Faris Almas-Lee, should not look into with sadness or shame but instead hold their heads high at the end of the day as there was so much excitement provided by the hosts which had the Test-playing nation gripped with nail-biting anxiety.

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Australia could prepare for their 2006-07 season with a tri-series in Malaysia according to Bernama, a Malaysian news agency:

The tournament would most likely comprise six pool matches and a final, with four matches to be played in Malaysia and three in Singapore.

The tournament would be Australia's first international series since it toured Bangladesh in April, and would be the first step in what will be a massive six-month period which includes the Champions Trophy, the home Ashes series against England and the World Cup in the Caribbean, starting in March.

The Asian Cricket Council Development Committee has proposed that the next ACC Trophy be held in Kuala Lumpur in August. Eighteen teams will participate.