ICC Trophy Ireland 2005 - Group B preview

The second part of a two-part preview looks at the teams that will contest Group B of the ICC Trophy 2005 which begins on 1 July in Ireland.

The top two teams in Group B will progress to the semi-finals of the ICC Trophy. They will also qualify for the ICC Cricket World Cup West Indies 2007.

The teams that finish third and fourth in the group will play-off against the third and fourth place finishers in Group A for the final ICC Cricket World Cup qualifying place.

All group stage matches will be played in the north of Ireland from Friday 1 July while the knock-out stages will be played in the south with the final at Clontarf near Dublin on 13 July.

Group B: Canada, Holland, Namibia, Oman, Papua New Guinea and Scotland

Hitting doesn't come any bigger than that of John Davison - and to prove it he holds the ICC Cricket World Cup record for the fastest century in the tournament's history. He reached his landmark hundred against the West Indies in South Africa two years ago off only 67 balls in an innings which included seven fours and six sixes. The Canadian captain is also quite handy with the ball - in last year's ICC Intercontinental Cup match against USA his wily off-spin bagged him 17 wickets.

Canada is the only side participating in this year's ICC Trophy to have won an ICC Cricket World Cup match, beating Bangladesh in the 2003 tournament.

Squad

It may have been over 40 years ago but they still talk about Holland's victory over the 1962 Australian side in The Hague. They certainly don't let the Australian captain of the time, Bob Simpson, forget about it - he just happens to be the current coach of the Holland team. In the 1990s there were victories over the West Indies and England - but the Dutch rate the ICC Cricket World Cup 1996 and, as holders of the ICC Trophy, the ICC Cricket World Cup South Africa 2003 as the real highlights of the country's cricketing history.

Roland Lefebvre is probably the best player Holland has produced. He played professional cricket for both Somerset and Glamorgan, led his team by example at the last ICC Cricket World Cup and nowadays is key to the future as national youth coach.

The holders will be captained by the experienced Tim de Leede in Ireland, a veteran of 35 ICC Trophy matches.

Squad

The appearance of the national team at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003 fired interest in cricket in Namibia. They put up a spirited fight against England in 2003 and the man of the match in that game, JB Burger, is in the squad for the ICC Trophy 2005.

Namibia will be coached by Andrew Waller, a veteran of three ICC Cricket World Cup tournaments with Zimbabwe.

Squad

All-rounder Hemin Desai was man of the match on four occasions during the recent ACC Trophy so it was no surprise when he was voted player of the tournament. He opened both the batting and bowling and he will again be in action in Ireland. Oman's chief coach is no stranger to the big time. Sandeep Patil played 29 Tests and 45 ODIs for India and was a member of the Indian ICC Cricket World Cup winning team in 1983. He was also coach to the Kenya national side which reached the semi-finals of the ICC World Cup in South Africa two years ago.

Squad

Papua New Guinea was the last team to qualify for the ICC Trophy 2005, earning its place by winning the ICC World Cup Qualifying Series Division 2 event in Malaysia.

It beat regional rival Fiji in the final of that event with the highly experienced Jamie Brazier making the decisive contribution to the 30-run victory, hitting 62 from 43 balls.

Squad

A former captain of England is perhaps the best cricketer to come from Scotland. Mike Denness played 28 Tests, was captain in 19 of them and had a batting average of just under 40.

Scotland are the first holders of the ICC Intercontinental Cup. The victory last year was the first time Scotland had won a major international cricket event.

Both Dougie Brown and Gavin Hamilton earned international honours with England earlier in their careers before re-qualifying for the country of their birth.

Squad

Full tournament information is available on the official tournament website www.icc-trophy.com.