Maldives and Bhutan recorded decisive wins on the third day of the Asian Cricket Council Challenge in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

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Tony Munro

	Nexus batsman Ahmed Hassan Sobir drives © Cricinfo Ltd.

Defending champions Hinnavaru Hiriya have started their title defence in convincing fashion by winning their first match in the 45th annual Cyprea Cup Maldive Islands national tournament by an innings and 44 runs last week.

The win was set up by a first-innings century from Mahmood Riyaz, which allowed Hinnavaru to declare at 228 for 6 before Nexus themselves declared at 81 for 9 to avoid giving Hinnavaru a bonus point.

Nexus were then asked to follow on but were all out for 103. Mahafooz Mohamed, who was the destroyer in the first innings with 4 for 30, followed it up with 3 for 33.

The Cyprea Cup is the main tournament on the Maldive Islands' cricket calendar and features the country's best players as well as professionals from Sri Lanka who are flown in for the event.

Players whose teams didn't qualify for the tournament can play for one of the four teams. Four teams, the winner and runners-up from the previous year's Cyprea Cup and the top two teams from the limited-overs tournament play two-day qualifying matches before a three-day final.

Most cricket activity in the Maldives centres on the capital, Male, although it is also played in the southern most island, Addu Atoll. Offu beat MS Helping Hand in the first game of the tournament on October 17-18. There are six qualifying matches in total before the three-day long final is played from December 4-6.

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 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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Saudi Arabia won the ACC Under-19 Challenge Cup, but the tournament was marred by six of the ten participants withdrawing.

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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"

Bangladesh intends including cricket as a new event when it hosts the 11th South Asian Games in 2008. Eight nations - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka - are expected to participate in the biennial meeting.

Continue reading "Bangladesh want cricket in 2008 South Asian Games"

Although the date for their match against Middle Eastern Cup champions, Bahrain, remains unknown BTTW's Asian sources say there is no mystery as to why the Maldives won the recent ACC Emerging Nations tournament tournament in Bangkok where they beat Thailand.

Factors ranging from the class of captain, Moosa Kaleem, benefactor of a cricket upbringing in Sri Lanka and Malaysia; team practice five days a week - under floodlights if necessary - compared to the more part-time Thailand and Bhutan as well as the support of the sports-minded Maldivian government, led by cricket fanatic & President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.