Intercontinental Cup final set for Chelmsford

The final of the ICC Intercontinental Cup between Ireland and Canada will take place at Chelmsford between May 21 and 24. It will be the first time and Intercontinental Cup tie has taken place in England. The previous finals have been in the UAE and Dubai.

Ireland, the holders, qualified by topping Group A, beating UAE and Namibia and drawing with Scotland. Canada qualified through victories over Bermuda and Kenya, although they lost to Netherlands.

The new format of the tournament means sides play a minimum of three four-day matches in this tournament, increasing to seven four-day matches in 2007 and 2008 when it is hoped the event will be a full round-robin format. That compares to a minimum of just two three-day matches per year under the previous structure which, until the semi-finals, was regionally based rather than global.