Tony Munro

Cuba, the Falkland Islands and the hosts, Mexico, are among the four countries set to make their official debuts at the World Cricket League Americas Division Four next year.

The other participant will be fellow debutante, Costa Rica in the event tentatively scheduled between May and September.

Cuba were to make an international debut of sorts in the 2008 Stanford 20/20 tournament before an embargo by the US Government blocked their involvement.

For the Falkland Islands, it will be one of two tournaments they will play next year. The other is a triangular involving three locations named after Viscount Falkland, the commander of part of the Royalist forces at the Battle of Newbury in 1643 in the English Civil War between King Charles I and Oliver Cromwell. The triangular, to be played at Falkland in Fife from July 19-24 will feature Falkland (Fife), Falkland (Newbury, Berkshire) and the Falkland Islands. The tournament is part of Falkland Fife CC's 150th anniversary celebrations. Incidentally, the islands were named for Viscount Falkland as his son was the Secretary of State for the Admiralty when Captain John Davies sighted the Falkland Islands in 1682.

Meanwhile, in the coming 2009-10 season separate Twenty20 tournaments are to be played at the Islands' capital, Stanley, and military base at Mount Pleasant, with the winners of both meeting in a final. The traditional highlight of the season, the South Atlantic Ashes, between the Governor's XI (representing the civilans) and the Commander of the British Forces XI (representing the military) will be played as a three-match series in January, February and March.

	The Brazilian team celebrate winning the WCL Americas Division 3 tournament © Cricinfo Ltd

Tony Munro

Brazil and Belize won their matches on the final day of the World Cricket League Americas Division 3 tournament in Santiago on Monday, to seal the first and second places respectively. Brazil beat Peru by 18 runs in what was possibly the latter's best performance of the tournament, while the Belize beat hosts Chile by two wickets.

Captain Matthew Featherstone led the charge for Brazil, top scoring with 77 in his team's total of 251 for 6 in 50 overs, while Greigor Caisley (48) and Rubabul Islam (39) provided good back-up. Tony Sanford was the main wicket-taker for Peru, taking 2 for 51 from his 10 overs.

Peru ended the tournament in spirited fashion, managing 233 for 9 in reply. Michael Soulsby was their main contributor with 57, while Ahmed Ansari Nadeem chipped in with 29. Vince Bastick took 4 for 59 from 8.4 overs for Brazil.

Chile captain Simon Shalders won the toss and elected to bat in their battle for second place against Belize. Shalders led the way, top scoring with 59, as Tristan Bradbrook (48) and Guy Hooper (40) lent good support. Belize captain Dirk Sutherland bowled well to take 5 for 32 from nine overs, to keep Chile to 223 for 9 from its 50 overs.

Sutherland performed with the bat as well, staying undefeated on 39, while Robert Casasola (60) provided the backbone to the reply and saw them through with 21 balls to spare. Pablo Meijas was the pick of the Chilean bowlers with 2 for 37.

Scores:

Belize 224 for 8 (Casasola 60, Sutherlund 39*, Mejias 2-37) beat Chile 223 for 9 (Shalders 59, Bradbrook 48, Hooper 40, Sutherland 5-32) by two wickets

Brazil 251 for 6 (Featherstone 77, Caisley 48, Islam 39, Sanford 2-51) beat Peru 233 for 9 (Michael Soulsby 57, Ahmed Ansari Nadeem 29, Bastick 4-59) by 18 runs

	Simon Shalders after making 195 not out against Peru © ICC

Matches on day two of the ICC Americas Division 3 tournament in Santiago were abandoned around 3.00 pm due to persistent showers. Both games started as scheduled but there were insufficient breaks in the rain for them to be completed.

The match between first-round winners, Chile, and Brazil had enough play for Chile to make 31 for 0 from 9.2 overs. The other game involving Peru and Belize had only five overs and Belize made 13 for 1. Both matches will now start afresh on Monday, previously the scheduled reserve day.

Meanwhile, Chile captain Simon Shalders' unbeaten 195 on Saturday against Peru is now (unofficially at least) third on the list of highest individual scores in official ICC cricket at the Associate and Affiliate level. Arshad Ali (United Arab Emirates) made 213 against Brunei in the 2006 ACC Trophy, while Gerrie Snyman (Namibia) hit 196 against the UAE in the 2007 World Cricket League Division 2 tournament. Thanks - Grant Dugmore and Andrew Nixon.

Tony Munro

An unbeaten 195 from captain Simon Shalders launched Chile to a 163-run win over Peru in Santiago in their first game of the World Cricket League Americas Division Three campaign on Friday.

Shalders smashed seven sixes and 24 fours to boost Chile to 323-5 from their 50 overs; Peru only managed 160 in reply. Such was Shalders' dominance that the next best scorer for Chile was Guy Hooper (32), while Tristan Bradbrook (21) also chipped in. Nadeem Ahmed Ansad was the only Peru bowler to hold out against the rampage, taking 1 for 29 from his ten overs.

Peru captain Miles Buesst (32) and Chris Abbott (20) were the main contributors against the Chilean attack led by Kamran Zeb (4-24) and John Fecci (3-23).

Continue reading "Wins for Chile and Brazil"

Tony Munro

The latest regional qualifying tournament for the World Cricket League kicks off on Friday when Americas Division Three involving hosts, Chile, Belize, Brazil and Peru commences in Santiago.

There'll be a touch of deja vu for three of the four teams - Chile, Brazil and Peru. This will be the third tournament where they have met in 12 months. Last October, all four teams met when Americas Division Three was staged, while the South American Championships brought three of the teams together earlier this year.

Chile go into the tournament arguably as favourites due to a combination of home advantage and recent results against the same opposition - they finished above these three teams in the corresponding tournament last year, and ahead of Brazil and Peru at the South American Championships.

Continue reading "Chile favourites in Americas Division Three"

Tony Munro

Brazil warmed up for the World Cricket League Americas Division Three tournament starting in Santiago on Friday with a 3-0 one-day series win over Mexico in São Paulo last weekend. Brazil won the first two matches fairly easily, but the dead rubber was more even, Mexico falling just 16 runs short.

In the first match, Brazil captain Matt Featherstone showed good form ahead of the Americas Division Three tournament in Santiago, Chile, hitting an unbeaten 100. The former Kent Cricket Board player received solid support from Greigor Caisley (56) and Rubab Ulisam (52 not out). Spinners Travis McNaught (4-3 in the second game) and Viren Nirula (six wickets in the third match) also bowled well in the series for Brazil.

Continue reading "Brazil ease past Mexico"

Tony Munro

Chile began their preparations for the World Cricket League Americas Division 3 tournament next month with a seven-wicket loss to an Argentina Under-25 team in a Twenty20 game in Santiago on Friday.

The bright spots for Chile were the performances of national U-19 players Cristian Eyzaguirre and Tristan Bradbrook - Eyzaguirre took one of the three Argentinian wickets to fall, while Bradbrook hit a useful 21.

Bowling had been identified as a potential weakness for the hosts and this was the case as the visitors struck 150, and losing just three wickets in its 20 overs. Alejo Tisera (46), Carlos Gibson (38) and David Mauro (29) were the main contributors for Argentina A.

In reply, Chile managed 127 for 7 with captain Simon Shalders (27), Hector Fuenzalida (24), Bradbrook (21) and Kamram Zeb (18) chipping in.

Two 50-over matches will be played on Saturday and Sunday, also in Santiago. Chile play Belize, Brazil and Peru in the WCL Division 3 tournament from October 9-12 in Santiago.

On day two of the ICC Americas WCL Division Two Championship, Bahamas virtually ensured they would claim the title and promotion to the Americas Division One tournament later in the year, when they beat a spirited Panama by six wickets.

Strong favourites at the outset, Bahamas were made to work hard by the organised Panama outfit, and there were moments throughout the contest when Panama had a chance.

After electing to bat first at Snellen Park, Panama made a confident start and by the 32nd over were in a strong position at 141 for 3. Openers Soyab Chohan (30) and Nilesh Bhakta (37) added 52, and a total of 250 was on the cards. However the introduction of Jonathan Barry turned the innings around. With his second ball he removed Irfan Tarajia (27) and proceeded to wreck the middle and lower order, finishing with outstanding figures of 5 for 14 from four overs as Panama lost their last seven wickets for 13.

Continue reading "Bahamas continue to set the pace"

On the first day in the ICC Americas WCL Division Two Championship, taking place in Paramaribo, Suriname, the hosts failed in an exciting run-chase to overcome a tidy Panama side, while strong pre-tournament favourites Bahamas hammered the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Playing on the impressive new Owru Kul oval, Suriname won the toss and looked to have made the best of the decision by reducing Panama to 26 for 3 after deciding to bowl. However man of the match Irfan Tarajia put up stubborn resistance while mixing caution and aggression, to register the first century of the tournament. Tarajia made 102 off 147 balls, including seven fours and seven sixes.

Continue reading "Panama and Bahamas find form"

Bermuda won the World Cricket League Americas Division 1 Championship for the first time. Canada has two previous wins and the USA won once. Bermuda took the title thank's to Canada's ten-wicket win over the USA last Saturday. The Cayman Islands beat Argentina on Saturday and this ensured they qualify for the Global Division 3 section of the World Cricket League in 2007.

Bermuda and Canada had already qualified for the Global World Cricket League (WCL) Division 1 as a result of their rankings in the 2005 ICC Trophy in Ireland. WCL Division 1 is in Kenya in January 2007. The USA will be in WCL Global Division 3.

Bermuda ended the Americas championship with three wins and one no-result for a total of 14 points. USA were second (two wins, one loss, one no result for 10 points). Canada came third edging out Cayman Islands on net run-rate (difference betwen rate of a team scoring runs when batting, and conceding runs when bowling). Both teams had two wins and two losses. Argentina came last with five losses.

The player of the tournament was US captain Steve Massiah, who also won the batting award for his 283 runs in 4 matches. Ronald Ebanks (Cayman) took the bowling award for 10 wickets. Bermuda took the fielding prizes with Stephen Outerbridge (fielder) and Kwame Tucker (wicketkeeper) getting the honours. Regular Bermuda wicketkeeper Dean Minors had to return home due to an illness in the family.

	John Davison watches his match-winning stroke go to the boundary to give Canada a 10-wicket win over USA © Eddie Norfolk

Davison won the toss and put USA in to bat, which proved to be a fine decision and the Canadian bowling contained the might of the USA top order, who had pummeled the bowlers in their previous matches.

Continue reading "Bermuda bag title after Canada's win"

	Sushil Nadkarni cuts during his 83 against Bermuda © Eddie Norfolk

A partnership of 168 runs in 24 overs between Sushil Nadkarni (83) and captain Steve Massiah (81) set the USA on their way to a large total but two rain interruptions meant their innings was eventually deemed to have closed after the second stoppage. The USA made 213 for 4 in just under 35 overs.

Continue reading "Rain halts Bermuda's progress"

Canada won their first game of the tournament, beating Argentina by 9 wickets in a rain interrupted match. Canada were required to score 137 in 33 overs, following a disruption to their innings. John Davison, the captain, made an attacking 53 off 34 balls and Sandeep Jyoti made an undefeated 46 in miserable conditions. Canada bowled fairly tidily in restricting Argentina to 182 for the loss of 8 wickets in 50 overs. Opening bowler Steve Welsh bowled a tidy spell, conceding just 18 runs in his 10 overs and picking up two wickets. Alejandro Ferguson top-scored for Argentina with an unbeaten 49.

Eddie Norfolk

The United States cruised to a comfortable seven-wicket win over Argentina on the third day of the Americas Championship at Maple Leaf CC in Toronto, Canada, and in doing so set up a potential championship decider with Bermuda on Friday.

Continue reading "USA set up Bermuda showdown"

	Bermuda's Lionel Cann slams one of his five sixes during his undefeated 139 © Eddie Norfolk

Continue reading "Canada sink to a new low"