Beyond the Test World

Botswana unbeaten in Africa World Cricket League

Tony Munro — 2008-10-07T13:18:41+00:00

By Tony Munro

Botswana is the only unbeaten team after three matches in the Africa World Cricket League Division 2 tournament being played in Benoni, South Africa this week.

Its five-wicket win over Nigeria yesterday gives it six points ahead of Mozambique, Nigeria and Zambia, with four points each, while Ghana and Swaziland, both promoted from Division 3 are yet to record a win.

In the other matches yesterday, Mozambique defeated Swaziland by 100 runs and Zambia defeated Ghana by 112 runs.

Play resumes tomorrow after today's rest day, with Botswana meeting Zambia, Mozambique playing Nigeria and either Ghana facing Swaziland.

Mozambique, which only began playing cricket in the early 1990s, beat Ghana in its first game before narrowly losing by 11 runs to Zambia. Both those countries have been playing cricket for much longer.

Surkari hit with two-match ban

Martin Williamson — 2008-10-06T12:24:50+00:00

Zubin Surkari has been handed a two-game suspension and fined by the Canadian Cricket Association for conduct and behaviour-related charges.

Cricket takes the spotlight in Tanzania

Will Luke — 2008-10-06T11:32:23+00:00

Hamisi Abdallah

Hamisi Abdallah cracks one through the covers during his 31 against Jersey © ICC

Today is the rest day in the World Cricket League and teams now have a better idea of what they need to do if they are going to progress in this competition.

After a fantastic win against Jersey on Saturday, we (Tanzania) were a bit disappointed to lose yesterday to Hong Kong who was an excellent team. There was a great crowd at that game and there has been lots of interest from the media on a daily basis; cricket has been back page news for the past fortnight which doesn’t always happen here.

Cricket in Tanzania is going from strength to strength and it is a sign of how far that we have come that we can stage this tournament, having held an ICC Africa event here back in 2006.

I play my cricket in Dar Es Salaam, where I work for the Tanzania Cricket Association as a Development Officer, and there is a thriving cricket community with the A league having two divisions, with 15 teams in total and four grounds with turf wickets.

But cricket is also popular in other areas as well and our national side is made up of players from across the country.

Lots of people used to think that only Indians played cricket in Tanzania, but the efforts of the national association to spread the games into schools, which is where I first experienced playing the game, means that the sport is popular amongst black Africans as well.

When I go into the schools and see the talent that is coming up, particularly those guys who come for extra coaching at our Academy, then the future is certainly looking very bright. At the opening ceremony of the event, over 100 children from the local cricket programme had the opportunity to showcase their skills to a watching audience, and I think everybody was very impressed by what they saw.

I spent my morning today going to visit a project run by the Tanzanian Youth Coalition, along with a player or representative from the other five teams, which provides an opportunity for young people in Tanzania to receive education.

The visit was part of the ICC’s partnership with UNAIDS and UNICEF on AIDS awareness, which is a big problem in Tanzania. It was great for the other players to have an opportunity to see a different side to my country and the great work that charities do here.

I don’t think many people at the centre had ever met anybody from the likes of Jersey, Afghanistan or Hong Kong either. Tomorrow the attention will go back on the cricket and it is a massive game for us against Afghanistan who has won their first two matches.

We have played against them in a warm-up match and I can’t wait to try and get another victory in this tournament. We just need to focus on the basics and I think we have a good chance of beating Afghanistan.

Hamisi Abdallah is the Tanzania allrounder, one of a number of players blogging for Cricinfo their experience of the World Cricket League in Tanzania

Change of name in Kuwait

Martin Williamson — 2008-10-06T09:38:20+00:00

A restructuring will see the Kuwait Cricket Association become Kuwait Cricket. The move is part of a streamlining of the board’s structure

Fiji's bankers and soliders prepare themselves

Will Luke — 2008-10-03T13:50:09+00:00

Although we haven’t won any of our practice matches, the Fiji boys feel ready for the start of the tournament on Saturday.

Some of our players haven’t played on a turf wicket for 18 months so it has been useful to get to experience the conditions and adjust to the different bounce to the artificial wickets that we are used to playing on back at home.

I work as a bank officer back in Fiji and our team is made up of soldiers, a lecturer and a graphic designer. We are all lucky that our work has been very supportive in allowing us to prepare for this tournament and take the time off to represent our country.

Although rugby and soccer are probably the most popular sports back in Fiji, we have been receiving a lot of support. We even had the opportunity to go and meet the president before we departed which was a really good experience. It turned out that he used to play a bit of cricket himself, but I couldn’t find out too much more than that. In Fiji, it is tradition that when you are in the company of somebody so senior, you only speak when you are spoken to.

We play Afghanistan in our opening match of the tournament and we have heard that they have a really good bowling attack. I believe Italy are one of the favourites, while we found out yesterday that Hong Kong has a really strong team as well, with an excellent spin attack.

My main focus is to make sure I take plenty of wickets and try and make an important contribution with the bat at No.7, either taking my team to victory or rebuilding an innings if we have struggled early on.

It is the opening ceremony of the tournament today and I am hoping to have the opportunity to meet the players from other teams and talk to them not only about cricket, but what life is like back in their country. I have never been to any of the other five countries that we are playing against in the tournament so it is a good opportunity to learn about how other people live their lives.

I really enjoy having the opportunity to travel and meet people, so it is great that as well as getting a chance to play cricket in ICC events like this, I have the opportunity to experience different cultures.

My father used to play for Fiji and in his time there was never an opportunity to take part in events like the one we are playing in this week, which I think makes me appreciate being part of the squad at this tournament.

We are all desperate to do as well as we can in the next six matches and perhaps we can get the opportunity to experience some South American culture next January for Division 3 in Argentina.

Greg Browne is the Fiji batsman, one of a number of players blogging for Cricinfo their experience of the World Cricket League in Tanzania

Jersey begin Africa adventure

Will Luke — 2008-10-01T08:54:57+00:00

Matt Hague

The Jersey squad arrived in Tanzania today full of excitement about the adventures that lie ahead. We have been talking about coming to play in this tournament ever since we qualified in May, particularly in the last couple of weeks when we have been meeting most days for training, so it is great to finally be here and I can’t wait for the tournament to start.

It was amazing on the journey from the airport to the hotel to get a taste of what life in Tanzania is really like. I, like many of the squad, have never been to Africa before; we couldn’t believe the amount of traffic, which meant we crawled along on the team bus, and the pace of life here seems different to home as well. It makes the island life of Jersey look like a rollercoaster in comparison. We have to play six games in eight days, so the tournament schedule is pretty tough, but I would love to try and see what Dar Es Salaam has to offer and experience some of the culture.

There were people selling all kinds of stuff next to the road. Somebody had even set up a mini shoe shop on the pavement – you wonder how they make a living – and there were lots of people at every traffic light trying to sell you all kind of different things. I think we’ll need to change some of our US dollars into local currency so we can buy some of the fresh fruit that was for sale by the side of the road which looked very appetizing and perhaps I’ll see if I can get some presents for the family as well from the street traders.

After checking into our hotel, which is located right next to the sea and only half-an-hour of all three venues, we went to our first practice session this afternoon, which we basically used to help recover from the jet lag and do some light fielding drills.

I’m looking forward to my first opportunity of seeing how the wickets play when we take on Fiji in a practice match tomorrow and examining what we need to adapt to the different conditions.

That’s not just dealing with how the ball bounces on the wicket, or the difference in the outfield in comparison to back at home, but looking at how we can adjust our tactics to local conditions.

Playing in Jersey it is quite common for a bowler to bowl his 10 overs straight through. I think the heat and humidity will make that a challenge for anybody to do in Tanzania, but until we’ve had the opportunity to experience the conditions ahead of our first competitive match on Saturday we really don’t know.

Being here at this level of ICC event really hits home how things have changed for cricket in Jersey. It is amazing to think that just three years ago our only international game of the season was against Guernsey.

Then when we became a member of the ICC in 2005 we had the opportunity to go and play in Scotland and Italy which was absolutely fantastic, but to think that a team of Jersey cricketers have travelled all the way to Africa, to play against countries like Fiji, Hong Kong and Tanzania, with a dream of progressing to Division 3 of this event in Argentina is unbelievable.

I think we have an even more talented squad than the one that played in Jersey, with the addition of some really promising youngsters which is a great sign for the Development Program that our Board has invested in so heavily.

At the age of 34, if we’re not successful in this tournament, I may never ever have the opportunity again of playing this level of international cricket, so while our youngsters are keen to make the most of their opportunities, the old timers in the squad don’t want this fairytale story of trying to qualify for the 2011 World Cup to end just yet! I quite fancy a trip to Argentina in January when the weather back home will be freezing.

With the experience of Peter Kirsten as coach, to help guide us through our African adventure, and a side full of confidence after our win at the European Championships Division 2, we’re a side ready for the challenges that the next fortnight will throw at us and I can’t wait for the real action to begin on Saturday.

Matt Hague is the Jersey captain

Burger sizzles with confidence over Ireland clash

Tony Munro — 2008-10-01T08:50:30+00:00

Tony Munro

This weekend Namibia plays Ireland in the Intercontinental Cup. It’s Namibia's last qualifying match while Ireland has another against Kenya after this. Cricinfo spoke to the captain, Louis Burger.

Well, it’s your last chance to cement a place in the final and your opponents, Ireland, have a game in hand. Nothing like a bit of pressure to bring out the best out of the team, is it?

LB: Yes, we play every game to win and Ireland will be no exception in this regard. They will be coming at us really hard as they also want a place in the final. The pressure is a bit relieved on our side seeing that we are virtually assured of a spot in the final unless Ireland and Kenya finish in an outright tie, which is very unlikely, and we have to gain no points in the Ireland game.

Namibia hadn't hit a ball in anger for about five months prior to the Bermuda match. How did you rate the performance and in which areas would you like to see improvement?

LB: To us it was the beginning of the season and our preparations for the Bermuda game was intense seeing that we wanted the 20 points to relieve the pressure of having to gain points in our last game to go to the final.

Having said that, I was happy with our performance. We didn’t really know what to expect of the wicket and weather but eventually everything worked out, and we managed to get full points even though the wicket turned a lot and had half a day of cricket rained off.

Obviously the World Cup qualifiers next year would be in the back of your mind, but why is winning the Intercontinental Cup important?

LB: It’s all about reaching goals we set ourselves at the beginning of the year. Our first goal was to get into the final, which we are almost sure of at this moment. The next goal is to win the final. Our last goal is to qualify for the next World Cup and with the World Cup Qualifiers just a few months away, I feel that this is already a real confidence booster. To win this competition will give us the confidence to go into any game knowing that we can beat whoever the opposition is.

After this, Namibia start their campaign against the amateur South African provincial teams. How important is playing in this competition and in what areas does it improve your cricket?

The two seasons prior to the previous World Cup qualifiers, we did not play in this competition. Previously we did and it was called the Bowl Competition back then. Even though this is an amateur competition the standard of cricket is high and it gives us the opportunity to play against really tough opposition. To play as much competitive cricket as possible makes you a better team and help you cope in tight situations as you have been there before playing in this kind of competition. The competition consists out of a three day game followed by a limited overs match which gives one the opportunity to play both forms of the game over 4 days.

Ireland won the last meeting between the teams. How much will that enter into team planning?

LB: I don’t think that really bothers us. Quite a few of our players didn’t go on that tour due to working commitments, and also, both teams have a few new players. So yes, we don’t really look at what happened two years ago. We’d rather focus on what lies ahead. We do know that Ireland are a decent team and that they will be coming hard and so will we. Hopefully it will be a great contest.

Andre Botha has scored three centuries in the 07-08 Cup for Ireland , including 150s against Scotland and Holland . Does the team know much about him? Have you got plan in place for him?:

LB:Yes I know Andre very well seeing that we played together in Griqualand West in South Africa . We are good friends and he is a very good cricketer and you can’t take that away from him. Cricket is an interesting game and no one can predict what’s going to happen on the day and hopefully (laughs) he won’t score too many runs against us.

You must be in charge of one of the most versatile teams at Associate level. Why is it that Namibian cricket produces so many allrounders?

LB:It’s difficult to say why but, yes, it is very nice to be leading a team with so many individually talented cricketers. We probably have four to five individuals who, on their day, can take the game away from the opposition. And to top it all, we blend together as a great team with great team spirit which feels like one big family.

On a lighter note, I suppose that with the great (flat) batting wickets in Namibia, all the bowlers coming here eventually convert themselves into batsmen, which makes them good all-rounders eventually.

What is Ireland's greatest asset as a team?

LB: They have had the opportunity to play competitive cricket over the past 2 years. The World Cup, ODIs and so forth.

Confusion in Nairobi

Martin Williamson — 2008-09-29T09:11:30+00:00

Getting accurate scorecards from major matches in Kenya is not always a simple process, and that was underlined by confusion which followed the third and final one-dayer between Kenya and the Pakistan Academy side at Nairobi Gymkhana.

At the end of the match it emerged that there were three different versions of the final card. The match’s official scorer, who was not familiar with the Pakistan side, made several mistakes. The Pakistan scorer provided a different card, and Cricinfo’s scorer turned in yet another.

In the end, it was decided the scores kept by the official scorer would be accepted as the legitimate scorecard.

Canadians Down Under

Mathew Varghese — 2008-09-28T12:39:15+00:00

Tony Munro

Trevin Bastiampillai will spend the winter playing cricket during the Australian summer © Eddie Norfolk

One member each from Canadian men's and women's national teams will each spend the northern hemisphere winter playing club cricket in Sydney.

Trevin Bastiampillai, the Sri Lankan-born batsman,who has played six first-class matches and five ODIs for Canada, will play with Blacktown in the Sydney Grade competition.

Nineteen-year-old Monali Patel, from Tranzac CC in the Toronto & District league, will play for St George-Sutherland in the Sydney women's competition.

Namibia name squad for Intercontinental Cup game

Tony Munro — 2008-09-26T12:49:55+00:00

Tony Munro

Cricket Namibia has named a squad of 13, with some changes from the team that beat Bermuda by 103 runs earlier this month, for its crucial Intercontinental Cup match against Ireland scheduled for October 3-6 in Windhoek, Namibia.

Offbreak bowler Wilbur Slabber replaces Bernard Scholtz while opening batsman Raymond van Schoor is unavailable due to end of year examinations.

Namibia squad:

JB Burger, Deon Kotze, Sarel Burger, Louis Burger (capt), Gerrie Snyman, Bjorn Kotze, Craig Williams, Tobias Verwey (wk), Nicholaas Scholtz, Kola Burger, Louis Klazinga, LP van der Westhuizen, Wilbur Slabber

Pakistan CC complete Austrian double

Martin Williamson — 2008-09-25T12:38:05+00:00

While the Austrian Cricket Association has had a difficult year off the field, on it the competition has been stronger than ever.

Thirteen teams competed for the open league title with teams being split into two groups: the northern league, comprising the nine Vienna based teams, and the southern league consisting of teams from Graz, Ljubljana (Slovenia), Salzburg and Velden. With the exception of Salzburg CC, who won all of their games, the group stages were keenly contested. A sign of the closeness of the competition being that Vienna CC, who finished top of the northern league, lost three of their eight games.

The group stages were followed by quarter and semi-finals with Pakistan CC and Austria CC Wien overcoming Vienna CC and United Nations CC respectively in the semis.

The Open League final was played on a cold, damp, windy, grey Saturday. Austria CC Wien amassed 203 for 6 in their 45 overs (reduced from 50 due to the weather), with PCC knocking off the runs in the 43rd over for the loss of seven wickets.

To cap a memorable weekend for PCC, the following day they beat Pakistan Falken CC in the inaugural Austrian Cricket Association Twenty20 competition. Chasing 104 for victory Pakistan Falkens were unable to get the four runs needed off the last ball to win leaving Pakistan CC with the league and cup double.
Neil Foster

Global invites for $100,000 Twenty20 in Florida

Martin Williamson — 2008-09-25T07:03:32+00:00

Days after the announcement of a Twenty20 competition in North East region, Cricket Council USA (CCUSA) unveiled what it described as "the richest Twenty20 tournament in the United States".

"We will give $100,000 prize money to the winner of the UST20 Cricket Tournament '09," said MAQ Qureshi, the chairman and chief executive of CCUSA, adding that the event was open to clubs from anywhere in the world. "I'm sure that this tournament will bring the best cricketers in the USA and abroad to display their cricket skills and of course the opportunity to win the prize money."

Click here for more.

Netherlands international found dead in Cape Town street

Martin Williamson — 2008-09-25T07:02:06+00:00

Former Netherlands international Maurits van Nierop has been found dead in a street in Cape Town. He was 25. The circumstances surrounding his death are unclear.

Click here for more.

Hague believes Jersey have no fears

Martin Williamson — 2008-09-24T13:28:05+00:00

After finishing second in the Division 5 tournament in May, including an impressive semi-final victory over the USA, and then winning a dramatic game against Guernsey to seal the ICC European Championships Division 2, the side is in confident mood despite Jersey only becoming an ICC Member back in 2005.

“I think when we started in ICC competitions in Scotland a couple of years, some of our players were in awe of the other teams. We’ve now got rid of that and we now think we can beat anybody,” said Hague. “We definitely think we can go forward in this competition.”

Boosted by the addition of young talents such as Anthony Hawkins-Kay, a fast bowler, and Ben Stevens, a promising spinner, the side has added some fresh faces to the side that performed well on home soil in Division 5, although Ryan Driver will again be a key player.

Hague, who will lead his side in a difficult opening day fixture against Tanzania, who host the tournament, is confident his side can adapt to local conditions. “I don’t know how tough it will be. It will be different and it might be hotter but we definitely have the talent to adjust,” he said. “We’ve played Italy, beaten them twice, but I am guessing Hong Kong, who has been playing against international teams in the Asia Cup – and Afghanistan will be competitive.”

Fiji enjoy high-level support

Martin Williamson — 2008-09-24T13:25:15+00:00

Fiji’s cricket team met President Ratu Josefa Iloilo as the side prepared to travel to Tanzania for the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 4.

Jone Salele, the Fiji Team Manager presented a whale’s tooth to the president as part of a reception at Government House. “Let the flags fly when you return and remember cricket is a sport for chiefs so keep that reputation,” said Ratu Iloilo, himself a former cricketer, reported the Fiji Daily Post News.

“It would be hard to let our country down knowing support is with us and with strong words from the President, we are hoping for a positive outing” added Salele.

Fiji face Afghanistan on the opening day of the tournament, which begins on October 4.