Beyond the Test World
It's unbelievable that we are here
Hamid Hassan, the Afghanistan bowler, blogs for Cricinfo from the ICC World Cup Qualifiers in South Africa
Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
Hamid Hassan, the Afghanistan bowler, blogs for Cricinfo from the ICC World Cup Qualifiers in South Africa.
I am very happy we are in the qualifiers and that we are one step away from playing at the 2011 World Cup. We will try our best to qualify for the Super Eight stages of the competition and, hopefully, we can do well.
It is unbelievable that we are here, as we started in Division 5 of the World Cricket League last year when there were 12 teams and everybody said the USA and Jersey were the favourites for that tournament. Nobody really expected us to do well, and we didn’t expect that much as we knew we were playing against some very good teams who had played at a much higher level than us.
Our victory over Nepal in the semi-final of Division 5 was amazing and we grew in confidence when we won a dramatic final against Jersey. We went away after that event and worked really hard at our game and did very well in Division 4 in Tanzania which we also won. Division 3 was much tougher and we lost our first match against Uganda, but bounced back with some really good performances, which meant we needed to beat the Cayman Islands in our last match to qualify.
Full postAfghanistan have World Cup in their sights
Afghanistan will begin their bid to secure a place in the 2011 World Cup by taking on Denmark in the opening game of the World Cup Qualifiers on April 1
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
Afghanistan will begin their bid to secure a place in the 2011 World Cup by taking on Denmark in the opening game of the World Cup Qualifiers on April 1. It is the first of their five matches and upcoming opponents include Bermuda, Kenya, Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates.
If Afghanistan finish among the top four in Group B, they will progress to the Super Eights stage and, if they are among the top four at the end of the tournament, they will qualify for the World Cup
"Denmark is a must-win match because it would leave us needing one more victory to reach the Super Eights phase," Afghanistan coach Kabir Khan told AFP. "Afghanistan have progressed by leaps and bounds and, if we play to our potential, qualification for the World Cup is possible. Being a largely unknown cricket entity can only help us.
"We have not played much cricket at international level so other teams do not know much about us, but we know a lot about them, especially the United Arab Emirates as I coached them for two years.”
Full postChile squad benefits from youth programme
Michael Meade
Kanishkaa Balachandran
25-Feb-2013
Michael Meade
The last few months in Chilean cricket have been quite busy with the ICC Centennial beach cricket tournament in Vina del Mar followed by three touring sides (Honourable Artillery Company CC, Falkland CC & Hollywood Goldien Oldies ) as well as the beginning of the second half of Chile's domestic competition, the Metropolitan Cup.
The Chilean youth development program that started in 2002 is finally starting to reflect on the national team. The Chile squad for South American Championships (SAC) in Sao Paulo includes four Chileans.
Christian Eyzaguirre and Thomas Dawes are both products of the youth development program and we are excited to see them make their debut at the SAC. Tristan Bradbrook and Pablo Mejias learnt their cricket in Australia and will also be making their debuts. Eyzaguirre, Dawes and Bradbrook are all members of Chile’s Under-19 squad which is planning on participating in the ICC Americas U-19 tournament later this year. This will be the first time that Chile will compete at the U-19 level.
Full postInzamam courted by American Premier League
Inzamam-ul-Haq and up to seven disaffected members of the Lahore Badshahs ICL franchise are in discussions with an American entrepreneur who hopes to establish an international Twenty20 tournament in New York City.
Martin Williamson
25-Feb-2013
Inzamam-ul-Haq and up to seven disaffected members of the Lahore Badshahs ICL franchise are in discussions with an American entrepreneur who hopes to establish an international Twenty20 tournament in New York City.
Full postCollege tournament in the USA
The USA rarely receives much publicity in the papers' sport sections
Will Luke
25-Feb-2013
The USA rarely receives much publicity in the papers' sport sections. Every now and then, however, it makes an appearance, often owing to the plucky efforts of a group of fans. Or, in this case, a group of college students attempting to create their own tournament.
With only a few weeks’ notice, the five teams did what many college students do this time of year: they packed their sunscreen and headed to Florida. Nearly 60 players drove or flew at their own expense to the lush cricket pitches of Central Broward Regional Park. They played Twenty20, a version of cricket in which many stuffy traditions are left behind and matches are completed in about three hours instead of taking up to five days. The only custom-built cricket stadium in the United States stands in this park, but securing the 5,000-seat facility was far too rich a luxury for the tournament’s shoestring budget. Competing on the park’s manicured fields was already an upgrade over the converted soccer fields and tennis courts the players were used to.
“I wanted them to see the stadium to know what they are playing for,” said Lloyd Jodah, the founder and president of American College Cricket. “That is where we want to be next year.”
The idea for the college tournament came to him last year as he campaigned to have cricket included in the Olympics. Standing on Wall Street with a cricket bat in one hand and petitions in the other, Jodah, 50, an immigrant from Guyana who works selling health club memberships, met Kalpesh Patel, a Jamaican business student from the University of Miami.
Full postMiandad excited by scope of cricket in China
Javed Miandad, the former Pakistan batsman, has said cricket has tremendous potential to grow in China, having observed how the youngsters have taken to the game following a visit to the country as a Pakistan cricket ambassador.
Kanishkaa Balachandran
25-Feb-2013
Javed Miandad, the former Pakistan batsman, has said cricket has tremendous potential to grow in China, having observed how the youngsters have taken to the game following a visit to the country as a Pakistan cricket ambassador.
"The interest of cricket in China is amazing and I think the country can progress by leaps and bounds," Miandad told AFP on his return home. "I saw great interest among the students and the support from the government adds to the potential which is very heartening. I would love to go back and help them make a strong team for international events."
Miandad had quit as director general of the Pakistan Cricket Board in January and in his new role as ambassador, was approached by Afghanistan to help them qualify for the 2011 World Cup. He said Pakistan will play an active role in developing cricket in China by providing the right facilities and expertise.
"Pakistan and China have signed a memorandum of understanding under which we will provide them coaches so that they can learn the basics and improve at a grass-roots level," he said.
Full postKenya suffer warm-up defeat
Kenya’s warm-up for next week’s World Cup Qualifiers continued in South Africa with Jimmy Kamande cracking a 49-ball 62, but they couldn’t reach the testing target of 293 set by Titans B
Will Luke
25-Feb-2013
Titans B 292 for 7 (Wiesie 90*, Odoyo 2-40) beat Kenya 244 for 9 (Kamande 62) by 48 runs
Kenya’s warm-up for next week’s World Cup Qualifiers continued in South Africa with Jimmy Kamande cracking a 49-ball 62, but they couldn’t reach the testing target of 293 set by Titans B.
The hosts’ 292 for 7 was set up by D Wiesie’s unbeaten 90, a rollicking 56-ball innings which contained nine fours and two sixes. In addition there were fifties from M Sekota and P Matan.
Morris Ouma (47) got Kenya’s reply off to a good start, but with wickets falling at regular intervals at the other end, not even Kamande’s best efforts could loft Kenya up to their target and they fell 48 runs short.
Full postJakarta League reaches quarter-final stage
The 11-team Jakarta Cricket League reaches the business stage of the season this weekend when eight sides contest the quarter-finals.
Tony Munro
25-Feb-2013
The 11-team Jakarta Cricket League reaches the business stage of the season this weekend when eight sides contest the quarter-finals.
The quarter-finals begin a knock-out process which culminates in the Grand Final on May 17.
The three quarter-finals being played this weekend are minor premier Senayan vs Bogor at Cibubur, Ceylon v Rebels at Karawaci and GMIS-1 plays India XI at Purwakarta on March 22. The fourth semi-finalist will be decided when ISCI Woods plays Challengers at Cibubur on April 5.
The highlight of the domestic season was the addition of the Jakarta Globe Tigers, the first club in the league to be run completely by Indonesian officials, and comprise primarily locally born players. Although winless, the players showed great improvement as the season went on.
Full postCanada well beaten by Zimbabwe A
Canada were well beaten by Zimbabwe A in their final warm-up match ahead of next week’s ICC World Cup Qualifiers
Martin Williamson
25-Feb-2013
Canada were well beaten by Zimbabwe A in their final warm-up match ahead of next week’s ICC World Cup Qualifiers. After winning the toss, Canada slipped to 35 for 4 after 15 overs and even though Sandeep Jyoti (32) helped them stumble past a hundred, their eventual total of 142 from 48.1 overs was never likely to be enough. Zimbabwe A, fresh from a successful tour of Namibia, lost wickets steadily, but an unbeaten 61 from Mbekezeli Mabuza steered them to a six-wicket win.
Full postAssociates continue preparations in South Africa
The preparations for the ICC World Cup Qualifiers continued in South Africa at the weekend.
Martin Williamson
25-Feb-2013
The preparations for the ICC World Cup Qualifiers continued in South Africa at the weekend.
Ryan Watson led from the front in Scotland’s win over Westerns in Pretoria, his 73 guiding them home after being set a modest target of 170. “It was a good result and important to get our first go out in the middle,” coach Pete Steindl said. “There are one or two areas that need to be worked on but we also had some good individual performances."
Ireland’s batsmen were in good form as they piled up 309 for 8 against Eastern Province, William Porterfield’s 97 the main innings, but a weakened bowling attack was in less inspired mood as the hosts squeezed to a one-wicket win with two balls in hand.
On Friday, Netherlands beat Boland Academy by 29 runs, but it took a superb sixth-wicket stand of 174 between Mudassar Bukhari and Peter Borren to dig them out of a hole. Bukhari finished on 128 not out from 100 balls, Borren with 74 from 79.
Full post