Much is spoken about the expansion of the international game, and if, as expected, proposals for a significant increase in funding for the Associates is approved when the ICC meets in June, then their progress should be further boosted.

But cash and goodwill can only go so far. What is widely agreed is that to improve, the leading Associates need to play more, and against the elite top ten Full Member countries. And that is where the problems come.

A casual glance at the international schedule will show that the major countries are on an almost constant global tour. In part this is because of the requirements of the Future Tours Programme, but more often than not the large gaps in that schedule are filled with lucrative one-day tours or tournaments.

In an ideal world, there would be time for India or England to undertake ambassadorial tours to Kenya or the Netherlands. But given the choice between a lucrative three-match series against commercially attractive opposition containing star names or a trip to a cricketing outpost in Africa or Europe, it's not a contest.

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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.

Click here for the full report

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.

Click here for the full round-up

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 suspension of Adeel Raja, the Netherlands offspinner, has been reduced to eight months following an appeal from his board.

On 9 September last year, after the Hoofdklasse final, Raja tested positive for the banned substance finasteride, which he had been taking as a measure against hair loss. He had received a dispensation from the KNCB, but when this expired on 1 July 2007 he had omitted to apply for an extension.

Finasteride is banned because it can be used as a masking agent to disguise the use of steroids. There was no suggestion that Raja had employed any other banned agent, or that he had derived any advantage from his use of finasteride.

The KNCB Disciplinary Committee had imposed a two year suspension, with the second year suspended, meaning that Raja would have been unable to take any part in the 2008 domestic season.

CricketEurope has the full story.

As widely expected, the ICC executive board approved proposals to reduce the number of Associates participating at the 2011 World Cup from six to four.

This was done, so the ICC claimed, to reduce the length of an event which many considered to be too bloated in 2007 from 47 days to 38.

The ICC's 10 Full Members automatically qualify and they will be joined by the top four teams from next years World Cup Qualifiers in Dubai. As thing stands, this means that Ireland have to qualify for a tournament they reached the Super Sixes at last time, while Zimbabwe, who are below them in the official ICC One-Day Rankings, do not.

Alternative proposals, including one which would have involved a pre-qualifying tournament featuring the top six Associates as well as Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, were earlier rejected by the ICC's chief executives committee.

Associate Member Bermuda picked up two prizes in the ICC Development Program Annual awards, making them the winners in this year’s competition. They were awarded the Best Overall Cricket Development Program and the Photo of the year titled “It’s a Catch”.

Continue reading "Bermuda's development recognised by the ICC"

ICC Europe has announced the schedule and venues for the ICC European Division 1 Championship to be held in Ireland from the July 25 to 31, 2008.

The 50-over round-robin tournament will see Europe's top six Associate and Affiliate countries - Denmark, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway and Scotland - fight it out for Europe's top spot. Six cricket grounds will be used to host a total of 15 matches that will see each country come face to face over five days.

Click here for the full story

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.

As revealed by Cricinfo last month, the 2011 World Cup will be shortened and the main victims of the change will be the Associate countries who will have their numbers cut from six to four.

"It is a move we both feared and expected and it's not great news for the Associates," Warren Deutrom, the chief executive of the Irish Cricket Union, told Cricinfo. "Neither is it a great vote of confidence in the ICC's own High Performance Programme.

Click here to tell us what you think of this? Is it the start of the gradual elimination of smaller countries from the World Cup or a necessary and welcome move?

Daan van Bunge, who announced his retirement after the World Cup, has made himself available for the forthcoming season. van Bunge, 24, explained that he had rediscovered his appetite for the game.

Netherlands have appointed Peter Drinnen as their coach, replacing Peter Cantrell, who stepped down following last year's World Cup.

Drinnen, the former Scotland coach who resigned in July, has signed a contract until April 2009 subject to meeting the requirements of Dutch immigration law.

"This is an important step towards the professionalisation of the Dutch national side," Marc Asselbergs, the KNCB chairman, told Cricket Europe. "We won't be letting a single day go unused on our way to the qualifying tournament in spring 2009."

Drinnen, whose time at Scotland ended in controversy, is looking forward to the new challenge. "I'm a positive man who is able to motivate himself and who is keen both to set goals and to achieve them," he said. "There is an energy and optimism within the team and board about the future and I am excited to be joining the KNCB at this time.

"As with most smaller nations the remit is broader than just the national team and I am certainly looking forward to working across all ages."

Peter Drinnen will be appointed as the new Netherlands coach at a meeting of the Dutch board on December 13, according to the Cricket Netherland website.

Drinnen was coach of Scotland until July this year when he stepped down in unhappy circumstances after senior players were reported to have instigated a whispering campaign against him. He has continued to work with the A and Under-23 teams.

While many senior clubs outside the main cricket countries play on artificial wickets, few play on artificial outfields, but that might happen in the Netherlands.

A report on Cricket Europe suggests that Hoofdklasse club HBS Den Haag may be forced to do just that as a result of the local authorities wanting to lay artificial football pitches over the main cricket ground. If the work goes ahead, it is likely to be completed in time for the 2008 season. The club maintains that every step has been taken to ensure the outfield is not too bouncy and is not to hard on diving fielders.

Such outfields are allowed in lower leagues in the country, but it seems likely that there will be opposition to HBS Den Haag's proposal, although there are signs that the national board will back the scheme.

Such a situation occurred in England in the 1990s after artificial hockey pitches were laid on the outfield of a Surrey club. But it was deeply unpopular with players, mainly because even the best surface is hard on feet and bodies, and the club actually folded after a couple of years because members left to join sides with grass outfields.

Cricket Europe have reported that there are growing problems inside Dutch cricket with the mass resignation of the youth committee a sign that the Dutch board (KNCB) could face major opposition oat next month’s AGM.

The Umpires’ Committee has been dissolved and re-formed after splits within the existing group made its functioning problematic, and there have been further difficulties between the Board and its Accommodation Committee.

With continuing financial problems, little sign so far of increased sponsorship income, and a very restricted international programme which sees the national side idle between August 2007 and the next Intercontinental Cup matches in April 2008, the voices of criticism are mounting into a chorus.

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.

With an outstanding century by coach Ryan Maron – his third of the season – and a totally committed effort in the field, VRA Amsterdam took their third successive Hoofdklasse title on Saturday, beating Voorburg by 20 runs in the final.

Click here for a full report from Cricket Europe.

A strong Dutch squad will fly to India next weekend to play four Twenty20 matches and three fifty-over games.

The side will be led by Peter Borren, and is largely made up of players who have represented their country over the summer. Only four of them, however – Borren, Ryan ten Doeschate, Adeel Raja, and Darron Reekers – were in the World Cup squad.

Click here for the full report from Cricket Europe.

Squad Peter Borren (capt, VRA), Atse Buurman (Voorburg), Jeroen Brand (Quick Haag), Mudassar Bukhari (VVV), Ryan ten Doeschate (Essex), Tom de Grooth (HCC), Maurits Jonkman (HCC), Somesh Kohli (Quick Haag), Geert Maarten Mol (Quick Haag), Adeel Raja (VRA), Pieter Seelaar (Hermes-DVS), Darron Reekers (Quick Haag), Maurits van Nierop (VRA), and Jelte Schoonheim (VOC).

Kenya have two players in the running for the ICC Associate ODI Player of the Year award. Steve Tikolo and Thomas Odoyo have been shortlisted for the new category. Canada's Ashish Bagai and Ryan ten Doeschate, of Netherlands, are the other players vying for the prize.

The talented Tikolo was in consistent form – his highlight a fifty against England in the World Cup - while Odoyo delivered with both bat and ball.
 
Ten Doeschate hit an unbeaten century in the World Cricket League, and added a hatful of wickets. At the World Cup which followed he struck two fifties in three matches including one against South Africa.

Bagai was a member of Canada's World Cup teams in 2003 and 2007. He came to prominence this winter with two centuries at the World Cricket League, where he was named Player of the Tournament, ahead of the World Cup.

The first ICC Awards were held four years ago, but this is the first time there will be an Associate Player of the Year. The winner will be named in Johannesburg, South Africa, on September 10 as teams gather for the initial ICC World Twenty20 championship.

Click here for the shortlists for all of the awards.

At long last, Netherlands have advertised for a new coach. Paul Jan-Bakker has been in charge since Peter Cantrell's resignation after the 2007 World Cup, and the ICC have the full advertisement at their site.

An exciting opportunity exists to join the Dutch Cricket Association (KNCB), one of the six ICC High Performance Program Associate Members. The Netherlands have qualified for the last two ICC Cricket World Cup tournaments.

The KNCB is seeking a highly qualified National Coach initially to develop and prepare their National Team to qualify in 2009 for the next World Cup. The National Coach will be responsible for the overall management of the international program which includes planning, development, implementation and evaluation of specialised cricket training and competition programs, and development of younger talent for the future.

A programme of international fixtures is in place including the Intercontinental Cup (First Class), World Cricket League and regional events, and plans are being explored for further ODI’s against Full and Associate ICC member countries outside of ICC feature tournaments.

The successful candidate will be in position to assist to establish a strategic direction for the national program that is in keeping with KNCB's overall vision for the future.

Final applications will close on Sunday 16th September 2007

Quick Haag won the first-ever Nachenius Tjeenk Twenty20 Cup final in Schiedam on Saturday evening, beating hosts Hermes-DVS by 32 runs in front of a crowd of several hundred.

Chasing 139 to win, Hermes were torn apart by spells from Darron Reekers and Henk-Jan Mol, who took six wickets in the space of eight overs to turn a promising position of 31 for 0 into 57 for 6. Pankaj Joshi and Lou Borrani had given their side a good platform, but once the wickets started to fall Quick kept the pressure up and never gave the hosts a chance of getting back into the game.

Check out Cricket Europe for Rod Lyall's full report

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"

Offspinner Muhammad Kashif has withdrawn from the Netherlands side for the tour to Canada because of a family bereavement. 33-year-old legspinner Mangesh Panchal has been drafted into the squad.

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.

The inaugural ICC European Twenty20 Challenge competition has been cancelled because three of the countries due to take part have announced they are playing ODIs in Belfast at the same time.

Europe's four ICC Associate Member High-Performance countries - Scotland, Ireland, Netherlands and Denmark - were set to compete in the championship, which was a new addition to the European tournament program for 2007. But Scotland, Ireland and Netherlands have taken on other commitments and that made the tournament impractical.

Richard Holdsworth, the ICC's regional development manager for Europe, said: "The recent announcement of an ODI series between India and South Africa in Belfast is fantastic news for the further promotion of the game in Ireland. It will provide additional world class cricket for the many followers in Ireland, but most importantly both of these ICC Full Members have agreed to play against Ireland.

Continue reading "Inaugural European Twenty20 tournament cancelled"

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.

Martin Williamson has written an article which highlights the pressures players for Associate countries face as they compete with the budgets of the Full Members.

In expanding the game, the ICC has, rightly, offered more matches to the Associates. On top of any ODIs they can persuade Full Member countries to give them, as well as tournaments they arrange among themselves, they participate in the Intercontinental Cup, the World Cricket League and the four-yearly ICC Trophy. But that expansion has not taken into account that the players remain amateur.

The flaw in the ICC's plan is that the increased demands have not been backed by additional funding. In the year ending April 30, 2007, Scotland were scheduled to play 46 days of cricket (including warm-ups for tournaments) as a national side; the numbers for the other Associates are similar - Bermuda 45, Canada 43, Ireland 42, Kenya 37, Netherlands 24. That does include time spent preparing, travelling and acclimatising.

The direct funding they receive for that from the ICC amounts to US$215,000, of which $125,000 is not actually handed over to the boards but is retained by the ICC and used to offset other costs, such as paying for coaches and hosting training camps. Compare that with the lowest-ranked Full Member, Zimbabwe, who will receive around US$10 million with no requirement to account for how it is spent. In the same period, they had 37 days cricket scheduled. That really puts into perspective Ireland's achievement in Jamaica.

Daan van Bunge, the Netherlands spinner who achieved unwelcome fame during the World Cup when he was hit for six sixes in an over by Hershcelle Gibbs, has announced that he will be unavailable for international matches for the foreseeable future. He will continue to play for his club.

van Bunge, 24, said that he was unable to balance the demands of pursuing a career in sports management with the demands of representing his country. “The time has come when I have to choose,” van Bunge told cricketeurope.com. “I've considered alternatives, such as only being available for home matches, but I have to give priority to my studies, and it wouldn't be fair to players who are fully committed to training and playing if I were to take a place in the side.”

	Going easy on the minnows? © Getty Images

Robert Craddock, writing in The Australian, thinks he knows why.

It is understood commentators have been told by Global Cricket Corp producers that it frowns on them denigrating the minnows. However, it is deemed acceptable for commentators to call an event a mismatch but not to say some of the nations do not deserve to be in the tournament.

Some commentators who agree with the directive and feel the minnows are a necessary part of global expansion are happy to abide by it. Others, who feel the tournament has been devalued by their presence, would rather speak their mind.

And Craddock concluded by saying that some of the players themselves are aware of the real picture.

The widespread feeling that the minnows are enjoying every moment of their matches against the big boys is wide of the mark. Several Dutch players privately conceded they feel embarrassed by their team's efforts.

Keep your eyes and ears open and see if what you are watching tallies with what you are being told.

Scotland have underlined their position at the top of the ICC Associate ODI rankings after good performances in the World Cricket League in Nairobi. Kenya, who beat Scotland in the final, are not included as they are part of the main rankings until 2009.

Scotland beta Netherlands, Canada and Ireland in the tournament, giving them a 69% win rate against other Associates, well clear of Netherlands in second place. Ireland ate third after a disappointing event, Canada are fourth and Bermuda fifth.

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"

Martin Williamson looks at what message is being sent to the Associates by the ICC deciding to appoint Darrell Hair to officiate in their tournament ... and do the ICC even know where they stand.

Continue reading "Mixed messages from Dubai"

The announcement that the ICC is to expand the World Cricket League (WCL) to five divisions is great news for European Cricket.

The expansion will see a total of seven Associates and Affiliates from the Europe Region compete in the WCL. New additions Norway and Jersey are set to join the European top five teams who already compete in the competition.

Continue reading "High hopes for European Cricket"

he 2007 season will be one of Netherlands' busiest with international fixtures against Canada, Ireland and Scotland as well as the World Cup in March.

In the light of this, the country's domestic competition has been revamped, although changes have fallen short of what some had been hoping for.

Continue reading "Domestic changes in the Netherlands"