Beyond the Test World
The Uganda Cricket Association has received a major shipment of equipment from Australia , the largest ever donation in the history of Ugandan cricket
The Swaziland Cricket Association has presented 35 ICC Basic Coaching Certificates to sports teachers who attended the coaching clinics held last month
Bermuda's Premier, Alex Scott, has pledged $11m to Bermuda's cricket team over the next five years:
The package of spending also includes cash for youth development, ground and infrastructure improvements and support for the national team beyond the World Cup.
The Papua New Guinea cricket board (PNGCB) has received extra funding, and have opened up a qualifying structure to allow more teams and players to qualify for the National Cricket Championship.
The chairman of the PNGCB Mick Nades announced this during the signing of K25,000 sponsorship from SP Brewery to back the Board to stage SP Lager Super Series cricket title. Nades said Port Moresby had been the dominant force in PNG cricket history and arguably the best organised competition in the country. With the new structure, the top teams in the elimination process will proceed to play in the championship. All five affiliated associations – Port Moresby, Lae, Central, Alotau and Popondetta – have been invited including five invitational sides – Aroma Coast, Fairfax, Koita Warriors, PNG Development Squad and Tabubil. Port Moresby will field three teams, Port Moresby 1, Port Moresby 2 and Port Moresby U23, Central will have two teams, Central One and Central Two, while Alotau and Lae one each. Eleven teams will take part in the qualifying and elimination series which starts on March 18-19.
The Daily Telegraph has a remarkable report on how cricket is making a big comeback in Cuba after disappearing for almost 30 years
In the late 1990s, the game was confined to the traditional east of the island, but it soon spread to Havana, where there are more than 500 players now. "Thanks to someone in Argentina, we've got the rules of cricket translated into Spanish," Miss Ford told a journalist.
The USA Cricket Association is again under pressure, this time following the request to the ICC by the rival Major League Cricket to take control of the games Stateside
The USACA has adopted an approach of operating in virtual secrecy for some time, and it looks as if it had decided to deal with the ICC in the same way. If so, then it made a massive mistake. The ICC is highly professional, well organised, and holds the purse strings. Bluster and bull will not work.
The New Vision website reports that Uganda won four of the nine annual Africa regional development awards given out by the ICC
Sam Walusimbi, Uganda’s Under-19 coach, said the World Cup was a learning curve to the side that finished 14th out of the 16 playing nations.
The ICC announced a dramatic increase in the programme of one-day internationals for the six Associate Member countries that will participate in the 2007 World Cup.
The Swazi Observer reports that three local companies have been brought in as the new national shirt is unveilled
“We want to create a friendly environment within the cricket family and we will also present our development programmes to the ICC official."