Last chance to book berth at World Cup 2015
Five years worth of fluctuating fortunes in the World Cricket League Championship culminates in the 2014 ICC World Cup Qualifier, beginning in New Zealand on Monday
Group A
What the coaches and captains said
Aqib Javed, UAE coach: "We have a good batting unit, but it has struggled on green, seaming tracks. That's why I am working extra hard with the batters specifically on how to counter seam and swing."
Paul Collingwood, Scotland coach: "We've got confidence from the three wins (in practice games). We've nailed down an approach that we want to use throughout the tournament, and the guys have performed well in the middle."
Pubudu Dassanayake, Nepal coach: "It has really helped us to be here early and get used to the conditions. The guys took two to three days to get over the jet lag and now we're really settled. The conditions are very different here. Weather-wise, it is similar to Nepal."
Andy Pick, Canada coach: "We spent a few days in Auckland and played against a local team. It was an acclimatisation process really. Some guys have come from Winnipeg, where the temperature was minus 20 degrees, and they've come here where it's 20 degrees or so, so for some of them the temperature change has been up to 40 degrees!"
Anton Roux, Netherlands coach: "We focused immensely on our strength and conditioning prior to the World T20 Qualifiers and this tournament. I think it is safe to say that this is the fittest that the Dutch team has been in a long time."
Peter Borren, Netherlands captain: "I would say that we have a very good chance of qualifying. The team spent a fantastic week training and playing in Whangarei."
Kyle Coetzer, Scotland captain: "Our momentum is good. We've got the leading spin bowlers in Associate cricket - Majid Haq especially."
Jimmy Hansra, Canada captain: "The tournament format means there will be no meaningless matches. So we'll have to be on our toes throughout."
Paras Khadka, Nepal captain: "The main reason we came here early was to acclimatise. We felt that in Bermuda for WCL Division 3 in April 2013, the first week was really hard - the time difference, the temperature. It's really helped us to have the time here."
They narrowly missed out on one of the two places available for World Cup qualification in the WCL Championship, finishing just one point behind Afghanistan. They were good enough to sweep both 50-over games they played against Afghanistan during the competition and went 6-2 overall in games played in the UAE with their only losses at home coming to Ireland.
After finishing fifth in the WCL Championship and a disappointing seventh at November's World Twenty20 Qualifier, a mini shakeup occurred with coach Pete Steindl leaving and Paul Collingwood moving up from assistant coach to the top role for the World Cup qualifiers. Scotland need to exploit the seaming conditions in New Zealand if they are to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 2007.
Despite qualifying for the last three World Cups, Canada are the most vulnerable of any of the four Associate ODI nations in this event of not progressing to the Super Six stage. They performed poorly in November at the World Twenty20 Qualifier, finishing 12th, and wound up dead last in the WCL Championship. Head coach Gus Logie was dismissed upon the team's return from the UAE in December and it is up to interim coach Andy Pick to turn things around on short notice if Canada have any chance of keeping their World Cup streak alive.
This team is one of the most balanced sides in the competition, with a pair of quality fast bowlers in Aizaz Khan and allrounder Irfan Ahmed to go along with good support from spinners Nadeem Ahmed and Nizakat Khan. However, they will miss out on the experience of left-arm spinner Munir Dar, who was the second highest wicket-taker at the World T20 Qualifier. His action was reported twice during the tournament and he was subsequently ruled illegal by the ICC resulting in his suspension from bowling in international cricket for 12 months.
No team has climbed higher through the most recent WCL tournament cycle than Nepal to reach the qualifier. They started in Division Five in 2010, which they hosted and won, before winning both Division Four in Malaysia in 2012 and Division Three in Bermuda last May. Even though their attack is spin heavy, they have demonstrated that they can be successful in varied conditions away from home.
Group B
The pre-tournament favourites are banking on a quality seam attack and a steady batting unit to produce a return trip to the World Cup. Captain Peter Borren is a former New Zealand U-19 representative and will be drawing on his experiences before migrating to Holland to aid his adopted country at this event.
Their weaknesses were exposed in a competitive group at the World Twenty20 Qualifier, but Kenya should now benefit from being paired with fellow African nations Namibia and Uganda in Group B. Steve Tikolo was one of the few bright spots in November after coming out of retirement and if he can produce a few more vintage innings then it should be enough for them to get into the Super Sixes.
If they had been placed in Group A, Namibia would have a slim chance of making it out of the group stage. They finished equal with Canada on four points in the WCL Championship, but by virtue of having two wins to Canada's one, they were seventh in the standings on tie-breaker instead of eighth which subsequently resulted in Namibia landing in Group B and Canada in Group A.
The Pacific Islanders showed plenty of energy at the World Twenty20 Qualifier, making it out of the group stage, but the lack of an explosive slogger in their line-up probably prevented them in the end from finishing in the top six. The steady accumulation of runs needed in 50-over cricket better suits their playing style and will aid their chances of success in this tournament.
After winning just one game at the 2005 ICC Trophy and two at the 2009 World Cup Qualifier, Uganda are aiming to change their struggles at this tournament. However, the chances of that happening are slim due to the nature of conditions and their lack of batting depth. Uganda must rely on their sharp fielding to make up for deficiencies with the bat and in the pace bowling department.
Peter Della Penna is ESPNcricinfo's USA correspondent. He tweets here