Singapore beat Bahrain yesterday to take the trophy of the World Cricket League Division 6. Click here for the full report and leave your comments below,

Mulewa Dharmichand

Wow. What a couple of days this has been. We’ve won two matches in two days, that four wins in a row and have now guaranteed ourselves promotion to the World Cricket League Division 5.

I wasn’t too happy to get out today for only four runs but I was very pleased to see Buddhika and Narender clock up the runs for us and secure us the win (Click here for the bulletin).

It’s been a good few days for us and we’re looking forward to having a day off tomorrow and I might go watch one of the other matches that are being replayed because of the rain on Tuesday.

We were lucky to get our match in on Tuesday – we had some torrential downpours in Singapore and the Singapore Cricket Club was the only ground able to play after the rain – you should see the pictures of Indian Association it was at least ten centimeters under water, but luckily it was so sunny today all the grounds dried up enough for everyone to get a game in.

It’s funny at the moment staying in a hotel when Singapore’s my home, but it’s good for us as a team and it means we get a real feel for the tournament, being around the other teams and having the whole "event experience".

I’m looking forward to a quiet day tomorrow and readying myself for the last group stage match which is against Malaysia who we really want to beat especially since we lost to them in the Stan Nagaiah Trophy before the ICC WCL Div.6 started. I know I want to make it five wins out of five before Saturday’s final.

Buddika Mendis continues to shine for Singapore, who remained unbeaten in the fourth round of matches in the ICC World Cricket League Division 6. Botswana and Malaysia also notched wins, but Guernsey suffered yet another defeat. Click here for the full round-up.

There were wins for Singapore, Bahrain and Malaysia in the second round of matches of the ICC World Cricket League Division Six, currently underway in Singapore. Here's the full round-up.

Mulewa Dharmichand

It’s been a great start to the tournament here in Singapore and I don’t think many things come close to winning Man of the Match for our first game, so for me personally it’s been a good start, especially since I managed to bag six wickets.

For the team, I think we had a good first game, especially since we won so convincingly and it was a game we knew we had to win – in our minds it was a key game no matter who we were playing.

It’s really competitive cricket here, more than I saw in Jersey when we played in Division 5 last time, and the wickets we’ve got here are more run–friendly so hopefully people we’ll see some good games. Although having said that, I’ll be looking to take lots of wickets and making sure the opposition teams don’t make lots of runs!

Before the tournament started, I was involved in the organising side and now that’s over with, it’s good to be able to focus on playing cricket and being part of the team – it’s a good feeling to just have to perform as a player and not have to wear my Singapore Cricket Association hat.

I think team has got a good lift with today’s win, as prior to the tournament we had a couple of bad games and then last week we had a Twenty20 tournament here in Singapore which went well and helped to boost team morale but with that win today at SCC – we’re all in a good mood and ready to take on our next challenge – Botswana.

Dharmichand Mulewa is the Singapore vice-captain

There were wins for the hosts, Singapore, along with Norway and Bahrain on the opening day of the ICC World Cricket League Division 6. Click here for a full round-up, and be sure to read our exclusive player diaries from the leading figures in the tournament.

Six teams start their next step towards the 2015 World Cup on Saturday, as the ICC World Cricket League Division 6 gets underway in Singapore. The diverse nations of Bahrain, Botswana, Malaysia, Guernsey, Norway and Singapore will compete for the two places to gain promotion to Division 5, which is due to be held in Nepal in February 2010.

Click here for the full report

Full coverage, including scorecards, reports and photographs will be on Cricinfo throughout the tournament

Trevor Chappell, the former Australia batsman, has been named coach of Singapore ahead of their ICC World Cricket League Division 6 campaign next month.

Chappell, younger brother of Ian and Greg, has coached Bangladesh and spent time as a fielding adviser to Sri Lanka. "There is plenty to be happy about,'' Chappell told the Singapore Cricket Association website. "There is plenty of talent. Obviously, there are areas we can improve.''

Full story here.

Nepal, the odds-on favourites who have dominated recent Asian Cricket Council Under-19 tournaments, were brought down to earth with a bump by Hong Kong who sent them crashing to a 36-run defeat. The result means both teams go through to the semi-finals.

Irfan Ahmed was the star of the show for Hong Kong, thumping 103 off 101 balls in a score of 193 for 7. Nepal struggled from the off and were bowled out for 157, Irfan Ahmed making the Man-of-the-Match adjudication a formality with 3 for 72 while Shakeel Haq took 4 for 17.
In the other Group A match, Singapore beat Saudi Arabia by 39 runs.

With Afghanistan already through from Group B, the other place was between UAE and Qatar, and it was Qatar who went through, bowling Bhutan out for 69 and coasting to a nine-wicket win - UAE’s 130-run defeat of Oman wasn’t enough.

Afghanistan will play a shell-shocked Nepal, while Hong Kong meet Qatar

Nepal, the odds-on favourites who have dominated recent Asian Cricket Council Under-19 tournaments, were brought down to earth with a bump by Hong Kong who sent them crashing to a 36-run defeat. The result means both teams go through to the semi-finals.

Irfan Ahmed was the star of the show for Hong Kong, thumping 103 off 101 balls in a score of 193 for 7. Nepal struggled from the off and were bowled out for 157, Irfan Ahmed making the Man-of-the-Match adjudication a formality with 3 for 72 while Shakeel Haq took 4 for 17.
In the other Group A match, Singapore beat Saudi Arabia by 39 runs.

With Afghanistan already through from Group B, the other place was between UAE and Qatar, and it was Qatar who went through, bowling Bhutan out for 69 and coasting to a nine-wicket win - UAE’s 130-run defeat of Oman wasn’t enough.

Afghanistan will play a shell-shocked Nepal, while Hong Kong meet Qatar

Nepal and Afghanistan made it two wins out of two on the second day of the ACC Under-19 Elite Cup in Kuwait.

Nepal’s win was against Malaysia, one of the pre-tournament favourites, and it extended their winning run against them to seven matches. Malaysia batted on winning the toss and scored 203, built around 90 from Keithan. Gyanendra Malla, Nepal’s captain, made 86 not out as they passed the target with six wickets in hand.

Afghanistan dismissed Oman for 188 (their last five wickets fell for 20) and then cruised to an eight-wicket win as Iqbal Maliki (86)and Noor ul Haq (79) put on 157 for the first wicket.

Hong Kong opened their account with a four-wicket win over Singapore who they bowled out for 124, aided by no fewer than five run-outs. Jamie Atkinson, who made his first-class debut for Durham UCCE earlier this month, hit 61 to spearhead the chase.

Pre-tournament favourites Malaysia and Nepal cruised to easy wins on the opening day of the ten-team ACC Under-19 Elite Cup in Kuwait. Afghanistan, whose senior side were the success story of the recent ICC World Cup Qualifiers, also got off to a flying start, but there was a surprise defeat for UAE.

Malaysia eased to a five-wicket win with more than ten overs to spare over Singapore after bowling them out for 183, Prem Dadlani providing the bulk of Singapore’s run with 96.

Nepal had more trouble in beating Saudi Arabia, and they had Amrit Bhattarai to thank as his 82 helped them to 233 after they had slipped to 76 for 7. That was too much for the Saudis who were bowled out for 96.

Afghanistan thrashed Bhutan by eight wickets after bowling them out for 63, ambling home in 13 overs.

UAE were bundled to a two-wicket defeat by Qatar after being bowled out for 164.

The Asian Cricket Council has announced its rankings for non Test-playing countries and Singapore have emerged as the leading side with Nepal and UAE second and third.

The rankings were based on two years’ performances in various levels of competition, including Under -15, U-17, U-19 and ACC Trophy events.

Click here for the full rankings.

Medium-pacer Chaminda Ruwan took five wickets as Singapore completed a 35-run win over Qatar at the Bayuemas Oval. A team effort from the batsmen, with five of them making more than 26, lifted Singapore to 227. Qatar looked in control as half-centuries from captain Omer Taj and Tamoor Sajjad left them needing 98 off the last 20 overs, with seven wickets in hand. Ruwan, though, ripped through the middle order - four wickets falling in the space of six runs - to consign Qatar to defeat.

Samir Inamdar, the chairman of Cricket Kenya, was elected as the chairman of the Associate and Affiliate members of the ICC at the annual conference in Dubai.

Inamdar, who was already one of the three representatives of the non Test-playing countries on the ICC executive board, replaces H.H. Tunku Imran who stood down because of his commitments with the IOC.

Inamdar, who polled 26 votes, is joined on the ICC executive board, by Imran Khwaja (Singapore, 22 votes) and Neil Speight (Bermuda, 21). Rene van Iashort from the Netherlands received 18 votes while Israel’s Stanley Pearman, who was a sitting representative, finished bottom of the pile with 16 votes.

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"

It may be three long years years away, but the road to the 2011 World Cup begins this week in the unlikely setting of Jersey. More famed for its cattle and potatoes than a venue for cricket tournaments, Jersey plays host to 12 of the world's lesser-known teams in Division 5 of the World Cricket League (WCL), as they battle to climb the ladder to the fourth division and dream of a World Cup place in Asia.

Will Luke previews Division 5 of the World Cricket League which gets underway this week.

Singapore have beaten Malaysia 3-0 in the Stan Nagaiah Trophy one-day series in Kuala Lumpur. They won the first and last matches by convincing margins, although they only squeezed home by three wickets in the penultimate over in the middle game. Singapore now head to Europe for the ICC World Cricket League Division Five in Guernsey.

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.

Singapore won the ACC U-15 Elite Cup 2007 last week, beating Kuwait by four wickets in the final played in Bhaktapur.

Kuwait made 121 for 7 in 40 overs after choosing to bat first. Apporv Sanjay Gaur notched 43 while Sarangdev Krishnan took two wickets. In reply, Singapore were down to 17 for 4 at one stage but patient batting from Mohit Kulkarki (24), Man of the Match Prasheen Param (30*) and Usman Manazir (26*) took them to victory in the 35th over.

Three Singapore cricketers are off to Perth in Australia to fast-track their improvement.

Chetan Suryawanshi, Shoib Razzak and Pramodh Raja will play in the Western Australian Cricket Association League until early March, before returning to the local league.

Suryawanshi and Shoib will start off in Grade 2, while Raja will play Grade 3.

In June, in another of its overseas exposure programmes, the SCA sent seven players to Chennai, India, for a 10-day training course.

'We are committed to raising the standard of the national team, and one of the best ways is to send them off to Australia, where the competition is stiff,'' said Singapore Cricket Association deputy president Mahmood Gaznavi, who also chairs the development committee.

Read the full story at The Strait Times.

	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.

Click here for the full story.

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.