Beyond the Test World
A language with few cricket terms
Germany's Andre Leslie writes about the ICC WCL Division Eight.
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
Germany's Andre Leslie writes about the ICC WCL Division Eight.
It's great to have finished top of our group after beating Bahamas in our third game on Tuesday. Our victory was a solid team effort, but the standout performance definitely came from our legspinner Kashif Haider. He bagged an amazing eight wickets.
I'm so pleased for Kashi. He regularly bowls well for us but often misses out on the wickets a bit. Against Bahamas, his turn and control was superb. If only we could improve his fashion sense, he might pass for Germany's next Shane Warne.
In the field yesterday, our energy levels were much better and there was plenty of encouragement. Because of our different backgrounds we have Urdu and Hindi, Punjabi, Sinhala and English speakers in the team. The only language that everyone speaks is German. The problem is, the language doesn't have too many cricket expressions. One German word for stumps translates to "wooden goal" for instance. That doesn't sound so good.
Full postVanuatu benefits from rest day
Trevor Langa, Vanuatu's wicketkeeper, writes about the World Cricket League Division 8
Tariq Engineer
25-Feb-2013
Trevor Langa, Vanuatu's wicketkeeper, writes about the World Cricket League Division 8
Today went well for us but Suriname definitely tested us when we went into bat. They did well to restrict us to begin with, and they were bowling in the right areas. But it’s good to know we’re now through to the semi-finals of the tournament.
We fielded much better today than we did on Sunday. We picked ourselves up and it was good to have a rest day yesterday to refocus and look at what we needed to improve for today’s game.
I hit the winning runs today, which is a good feeling. It’s nice to bring home a victory for the team but we can’t rest on our laurels. Thursday’s game against Germany is a big match for us that could see us qualifying through to Division 7 in Botswana.
Full postKuwait, Germany go top with wins
Kuwait solidified their position at the top of Group A with their third easy victory, while Germany's Kashif Haider took his team to victory with the bowling performance of the tournament so far
Liam Brickhill
25-Feb-2013
Kuwait solidified their position at the top of Group A with their third easy victory, while Germany's Kashif Haider took his team to victory with the bowling performance of the tournament so far. Zambia eased to victory over Gibraltar despite Kieron Ferrary's hundred, and Vanuatu scrapped to a win over Suriname. For a full round-up of all the action click here.
Full postWe're still confident despite a loss to Kuwait
Trevor Langa, Vanuatu's wicketkeeper, writes about the World Cricket League Division 8
Liam Brickhill
25-Feb-2013
Trevor Langa, Vanuatu's wicketkeeper, writes about the World Cricket League Division 8
We were really looking forward to playing Kuwait today as we knew they’d be a challenge and they were definitely that. They got a lot of runs on the board, which was disappointing, but we didn’t help matters with some poor fielding today. We missed at least eight catches, including some really easy ones at point and also first slip. They batted out 50 overs and then they fielded out 50 overs against us – they are a seriously tough team but that being said if we hadn’t let them get to 400, then I think we would have been able to chase down the score a little bit better.
It’s never a great feeling to lose, but the mood on the bus home was positive – we were pleased that we batted out the 50 overs in an attempt to chase the total and we know we’ve still got all to play for on Tuesday against Suriname. The important thing for us is to keep our run-rate up so we finish top two and have a chance to make the play-offs for promotion to Division 7 in Botswana.
Tomorrow we’ve got a rest day – the team has a couple of recovery sessions planned in the pool but other than that it’s our chance to have a sleep in and get our minds off cricket for the day. I’m not too sure what I’m going to do, I think I’ll probably sleep and rest up for Tuesday and go out and explore Kuwait on the second rest day. I don’t think I’ll do too much shopping while I’m here though as I went a bit mad buying things in Dubai when we had a stopover so I’m not sure if there’s room to get anything more in my suitcase back to Vanuatu.
Full postGermany relax with visit to Kuwait City
Germany batsman Andre Leslie writes about the World Cricket League Division 8
Tariq Engineer
25-Feb-2013
Germany batsman Andre Leslie writes about the World Cricket League Division 8
The team is pretty chuffed with our two victories so far in the tournament here in Kuwait. But, we aren't getting too carried away - things are still tight in our group.
Our first match against Zambia was a close call. After scoring just 128 we knew we would need a massive effort in the field to turn things around. Once again it was our fast bowler, Ehsan Latif, who got the crucial wickets at the end. Our spinners also made a big contribution with some very economical bowling. The win gave us a great boost of confidence to start the tournament.
After “getting out of jail” against Zambia, we managed to do things a little easier on Sunday against Gibraltar. Our batting was very strong - thanks mainly to centuries from both Milan Fernando and our captain, Asif Khan. It is the first time we have had two centurions in one innings for a long time in German cricket. In the end we won by 130 runs.
Full postEarly starts, but worth it when you win
Trevor Langa, the Vanuatu wicketkeeper, writes about the World Cricket League Division 8
Andrew McGlashan
25-Feb-2013
Trevor Langa, the Vanuatu wicketkeeper, writes about the World Cricket League Division 8
Before we came to Kuwait we had camp in Brisbane with some of Cricket Australia’s High Performance guys and we also had talk from John Buchanan the former Aussie coach. He spoke to us about how to be a team on the field but also how to play to your best as individuals – I think that’s come through for us today against Bhutan.
Today was good day for us beating Bhutan – it was our first win ever in an ICC World Cricket League which was awesome, but our total today of 337 was also the highest Vanuatu has ever scored in a 50-over game which made it even more special. We can be proud of that but we have to look ahead to Sunday when face Kuwait who beat Suriname today very easily.
I think if people come to watch here in Kuwait, or if they see Vanuatu playing cricket, they might be surprised as we’re quite loud on the field. It keeps us upbeat and I think it helped us against Bhutan today.
Full postVanuatu and Kuwait open with huge wins
The World Cricket League Division 8 tournament began in Kuwait on Saturday with comprehensive victories for Vanuatu and Kuwait, a tight win for Germany and an efficient performance from Bermuda
Andrew McGlashan
25-Feb-2013
The World Cricket League Division 8 tournament began in Kuwait on Saturday with comprehensive victories for Vanuatu and Kuwait, a tight win for Germany and an efficient performance from Bermuda. For a full round-up of all the action click here.
Full postSquads named for inaugural WCL Division 8
The squads for the inaugural World Cricket League Division 8 tournament, to be held in Kuwait from November 6 to 12, have been announced
Liam Brickhill
25-Feb-2013
The squads for the inaugural World Cricket League Division 8 tournament, to be held in Kuwait from November 6 to 12, have been announced. Teams from Suriname, Vanuatu, Bhutan, Gibraltar, Germany, Zambia and the Bahamas will join hosts Kuwait at the event, and the top two sides will win promotion to the Division 7 edition in Botswana in May 2011.
Four grounds – Hubara, Unity, KEC and Sulaibiya - will host games and, with eight teams rather than the usual six competing, the tournament will be played in a slightly different format with two groups of four. The sixth day of the event will see play-offs between the groups after the final group standings have been completed on day four. The WCL Div. 8 final and position play-offs will then take place on 12 November.
Live scorecards from every game will be available through ESPNcricinfo, and a full fixture list can be found here.
Bahamas: Gregory Taylor, Marc Taylor, Jonathan Barry, Gerron Dean, Jermaine Adderley, Mario Ford, Dereck Gittens Jr, Robert Ford, Ashmeid Allie, Shanaka Perera, Julio Jemison, Dwight Weakley, Gregory Irvin, Narendra Ekanayake
Full postPNG train with Sri Lanka's one-day squad
Some of Papua New Guinea, Japan and Fiji’s most promising cricketers have had the chance to rub shoulders with the likes of Muttiah Muralitharan and Kumar Sangakkara at a training camp in Brisbane.
Liam Brickhill
25-Feb-2013
Some of Papua New Guinea, Japan and Fiji’s most promising cricketers have had the chance to rub shoulders with the likes of Muttiah Muralitharan and Kumar Sangakkara at a training camp in Brisbane.
The cricketers were taking part in the ICC’s East Asia Pacific High Performance Squad camp at the Cricket Australia Centre of Excellence, the same facilities being used by Sri Lanka’s one-day squad as they prepare for their upcoming series against Australia.
“Murali and I both bowl offspinners so the opportunity to watch this absolute legend in the nets was amazing,” said Barramundi bowler Jason Kila. “He was constantly harassing and attacking the batsman. He plays with absolute confidence.”
Full postICC avarice dooms Associates to the wilderness
The recent announcement of a restructuring of the bloated international calendar by the ICC was an opportunity to restore sanity to the world game
Martin Williamson
25-Feb-2013
The recent announcement of a restructuring of the bloated international calendar by the ICC was an opportunity to restore sanity to the world game. Instead, all it has confirmed is that the battle within the ICC between the money men and those with a genuine interest in the world game is over. As expected, the bean counters have won.
The 2015 World Cup will have 10 teams, and while ICC officials say that no final decision has been taken on how these teams will be selected and that there might be still be a chance for Associate members to participate through a qualifying tournament, there is little likelihood of this materialising.
The working party that made the recommendations was made up of David Collier (England), James Sutherland (Australia) and N Srinivasan (India) with no Associate representation, and only David Richardson of the ICC there as anyone remotely independent. With a sub-committee like that it's no wonder this decision was reached.
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