Multi-day International Cricket – Czarsportz Global

ICC Intercontinental Cup revival on the cards in ICC meeting post CWC 2023

Czarsportz Admin — Thu, 16 Nov 2023 17:05:00 +0000

ICC’s flagship First-class status competition for Associate countries used to provide the opportunity for Associate players to play red-ball cricket as opposed to the regular white-ball cricket, that their players are mostly content with playing throughout the year. But the absence of the competition since the completion of the previous edition in 2017 has not only robbed the Associates of quality longer-format action, but also for the world to take notice of players from the Associate member countries, who could have records for themselves and the country in first-class format.

It has always been a no-brainer when any young cricketer across the world is asked about their first ambition in terms of format, and the answer would be to play Test cricket for their country in front of their supporters. Even if the attendance was not up to the mark for first-class matches played during the earlier editions of the I-Cup, the issue could have been bettered a bit via live streaming of the games in today’s times.

After Afghanistan and Ireland moved to full member status and took their exit from the Intercontinental Cup, ICC had to look down on the cost measures for sustaining the tournament for a longer period, cause after they updated that a country can become a full member without having to acquire Test match playing status, most of the Cricket Boards found that running the tournament on a revenue-sharing basis (as suggested by ICC if the tournament takes place) wasn’t a profitable venture in the near future.

So, what about the likes of players from Scotland, Netherlands, Nepal, UAE and others, who have aspirations of playing the longer-format of the game. The current scenario is not in favor of having a tournament like I-Cup due to cost factors and not having an immediate impact of seeing an Associate member gain Test match playing status. However, as reported by Tristan Lavalette, there have been talks of reviving the tournament due to the funding available from ICC’s commercial media rights sales for the next 4 years and might include the currently non-playing WTC (World Test Championship) members Ireland, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe and some of the top Associate members.

The last first-class match involving an Associate member country was when Nepal hosted Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in a three-day game during the club’s visit to Nepal in 2019, as part of their 3-year development strategy for the sport in the country. Namibia, who earlier used to take part in South Africa’s provincial first-class tournament have also decided couple of years back to not take part in it due to financial aspects.

Few national squad players from Scotland and Netherlands get to play first-class cricket due to their contracts with some of England’s domestic county clubs. However, with no International first-class matches happening, only few players get the chance to play. An option would be to explore the idea with Cricket Ireland to have some players take part in the Inter-provincial series (also a doubt when that happens), but with Ireland themselves trying to make the competition more competitive to have a stronger group of players to form the national squad for Test cricket, it would take some time for something like that to happen.

T20 and ODI cricket remains the priority for Associate member countries at the moment, and the chance to see their players in the traditional whites may not come any sooner, if the revenue-sharing basis concept is not altered to provide some relaxation for the Associate cricket boards in terms of expense for hosting first-class matches.

Second division of WTC required to provide regular matches for non-WTC members

Czarsportz Admin — Mon, 16 May 2022 19:23:43 +0000

Much like ICC’s decision to award Women’s ODI status to select Associate member countries (although the criteria is not yet known much about), a similar approach needs to be formulated to provide regular Test/First-Class matches for the countries, who are not part of the World Test Championship (WTC) structure. Two of those three members are the last additions to Full membership status, Ireland and Afghanistan, and since their elevation to Test status more than four (4) years ago, there still remains a huge gap in terms of them getting the opportunity to play regular Test matches or First-Class matches against all the other Full member countries.

A second (2nd) division of WTC has the ability to bridge the gap a bit, by most likely including the countries currently in ICC CWC League 2 Championship and Netherlands (part of CWC Super League). Enabling them to again play First-Class cricket (after the cancellation of ICC Intercontinental Cup in 2017, which being the last edition) will not only get the players back to playing the red-ball game, it would also enable regular Test/First-Class matches for both Ireland and Afghanistan against their opponents in the 2nd division.

The last time a participating country in League 2 played a first-class game was back in 2019, when Nepal played a 3-day game with the visiting team of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) on their 1st Legacy tour of Nepal. Although players from Netherlands and Scotland are playing First-class games for their respective Clubs in England’s County Championship, it’s the lack of similar status games for the National squads of the countries, that has been missing for quite a while now. There would be an opportunity as well to try and have a promotion and relegation system in place for WTC, with the winner of the 2nd division replacing the bottom-placed country in the WTC for the next cycle.

Although a proposal was sent across to the boards couple of years back by ICC, asking them for their interest on playing First-Class matches against fellow Associate members on a cost-sharing expense model for having the matches hosted by each of the participating countries, the lack of enough response did not materialize the issue to go further into discussion and implementation stage.

ICC announce global coverage of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021

Czarsportz Admin — Fri, 15 Oct 2021 15:09:53 +0000

If the T20 format is the growth vehicle for International Cricket Council (ICC) to spread the sport across the globe, then the broadcast it provides for its marquee event will be of utmost importance for the organization. With that being in mind, ICC TV will be the go-to place along with all the regional broadcasters alongside digital services for full coverage of the 2021 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Oman and UAE from 17th October 2021.

ICC TV is supported by production services and broadcast partner Star Sports and equipment services partner NEP Broadcast Solutions. AE Live will deliver the on-air graphics for the coverage. The ICC TV production will see a minimum of 35 cameras at all venues. Viewers will be treated to state-of-the-art coverage which will include live player tracking and a dynamic field plot provided by Quidich Tracker. Cable-suspended camera system Spidercam and cricket analytics service CricViz will also be integral elements of the ICC TV coverage.

Territory	Linear	Digital
India	Star Sports Network	Hotstar
Pakistan	PTV Sports, Asports	Daraz app/www.daraz.pk
Bangladesh	GTV, T-Sports & BTV	Rabbithole, Toffee, Binge, Bioscope,Bkash,MySports, GameOn
Nepal, Maldives, Bhutan	Star Sports Network	TBC
Afghanistan	RTA Sports & Ariana TV	TBC
MENA	CricLife Max and Oman TV (Muscat Games Only)	Switch TV, Starz Play
Sri Lanka	Siyatha TV, Star Sports	www.siyathatv.lk
Australia	Fox Cricket	Foxtel GO, Foxtel NOW, Kayo Sports
UK and Ireland	Sky Sports Cricket, Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Mix	Sky Sports app & www.skysports.com
New Zealand	Sky Sport 3	Skysportnow.co.nz & skygo.co.nz
USA	Willow, Willow Xtra	ESPN+
Canada	Willow Canada	Hotstar
South Africa	SuperSport Cricket	www.supersport.com & the SuperSport app
Malaysia	Astro Cricket	Hotstar
Hong Kong	Astro Cricket (PCCW)	YuppTV
Singapore	Astro Cricket(Singtel)	Hotstar
Pacific Islands	TVWAN Action PNG & TVWAN Action PAC	PlayGo
Continental Europe and SEA(excluding SG and Malaysia)	NA	YuppTV

2021 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup – Full List Of Broadcasters

As part of the ICC’s partnership with Facebook, a dedicated team will be creating content exclusive for Instagram Reels and working with creators to reach new audiences. A suite of “challenge” videos will inspire fans young and old to get off the couch and beat their friends with a range of cricket skills. In addition to the Facebook deal, in the UK and New Zealand, fans can also view short format clips of the tournament on BBC and Spark, whilst in the US these can be viewed on ESPNCricinfo.com, ESPN.com and ESPN+.

Intercontinental Cup tournament scrapped for good as ICC prioritise white-ball cricket for Associates

Czarsportz Admin — Sat, 19 Jun 2021 05:38:00 +0000

The ICC Intercontinental Cup (4-day First-Class) competition for Associate member countries has been a definitive structure to ensure multi-day format exposure for players and it has benefited the likes of Ireland and Afghanistan on their way to becoming Test status countries.

Following Ireland’s and Afghanistan’s elevation to Test status and them being no longer part of the Intercontinental Cup structure, it was widely discussed on what the future lies with regards to the competition.

Following the ICC meetings in Singapore in 2019, ICC Global Development head William Glenwright had said that ICC remains committed towards providing a multi-day competition/structure for the Associate members and would seek out “expressions of interest” from the interested cricket boards to determine how it’ll be taken forward and a proposed structure will be provided to the members to have the choice of playing the longer format of the game.

As of today, there won’t be an expected start for the next cycle of the ICC Intercontinental Cup (2023-2031) and one assumes that the next set of developments in the matter will be up for discussion during the next ICC Annual General Meeting in July 2021.

ICC CEO Geoff Allardice has said that the current priority is to increase the competitiveness of the sport in more Associate countries in the T20 and 50-overs formats of the game and not in the 4-day format.

ICC formulating Test matches for Top Associates in 2023-2031 cycle

Czarsportz Admin — Sat, 03 Apr 2021 19:39:11 +0000

The International Cricket Council (ICC) will have plenty of agenda points in place for discussion when the chief executive committee meeting takes place later in April 2021.

The committee will discuss the expansion on the number of teams participating in the Cricket World Cup and it could revert to the 14-team format used in 2015 edition of the tournament, as reported in The Telegraph. The latest this development could get implemented upon is from the 2027 edition of the tournament.

The important thing will be how the global qualifiers will be structured and will there be changes for qualification spots from League 2 and Challenge League events to the global qualifiers.

The other point is to increase the total number of teams in the ICC T20 World Cup from the current 16 to 20 from the next edition after the conclusion of 2022 edition of the tournament in Australia. The current format let’s the Associate qualifiers play in the first round to again qualify for the Super 12 stage to play agains the top 10 ranked teams. The increase in the number of teams might change the group league format.

The ODI Super League structure will also get changed to ensure all the 13 countries in the league play each other during the course of the competition. However, there remain a big if on the resumption of bi-lateral series between India and Pakistan. But if the proposed changes get implemented, it would mean 36 ODI matches against the full member-status countries for the Associate country, who will be the 13th entrant (in case a full member country doesn’t end up at the 13th spot in the current Super League points table at the conclusion) in the Super League.

Another major discussion point currently in early development stages is to formulate a second division in the WTC (World Test Championship), which would see regular test matches being played between Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Ireland and the top Associate member countries (probably the ones with temporary ODI status competing in CWC League 2 + Netherlands). As reported by ESPN Cricinfo, the next committee meetings will bring forth the topic for discussion.

Can GDS be the First-Class solution for top Associate cricketers??

Czarsportz Admin — Wed, 25 Mar 2020 19:21:05 +0000

The sporting pinnacle of cricket, Test Cricket, which is played over a period of 5 days, is something every cricketer wishes to have played before they hang their boots into retirement. Well, it’s definitely the dream of every cricketer, but players who belong to the 12 countries who get to play them currently, are the ones that can dream of achieving their ultimate goal of playing the format for their country. So, what about the ones who don’t have that luxury? For starters, there are officially 93 other countries who play the sport in two formats (50-overs and T20), but the chance to play the purest form of the game remains elusive. Has always been and will most likely be the same in the future as well.

Before Afghanistan and Ireland’s elevation to Full membership status in 2017, the last country promoted to full membership was Bangladesh in 2000. So, there was a healthy gap of 16 years in-between. What transpired in this period was the programme designed by International Cricket Council to prepare other top-ranked countries in the Associate circuit for eventual test status. The Inter-Continental Cup, a 4-day format for Associates, which was granted First-Class status played over a cycle of 2 years was fully into effect, which since 2005 was won mostly by Ireland (four times) and Afghanistan (two times). 16 Associate countries have taken part in the competition, which ran for seven editions, with the 2015-2017 being the last held edition.

Outside of Ireland and Afghanistan, Scotland are the only country to have won the title (the inaugural edition held in 2004) and finished as runners-up once (2009-2010), while Canada have finished as runners-up twice (2004 and 2006-2007) and Kenya (2005), Namibia (2007-2008), Afghanistan (2011-2013) and Ireland (2015-2017) finishing once as the runners-up in the tournament. Namibia, in fact, have the best win % (44.1) in the event (among all countries who have played minimum of three editions of I-Cup) in 34 matches played over seven editions of the tournament, after Afghanistan and Ireland.

Top Run-Scorers in ICC Intercontinental Cup (All Editions combined)

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ICC issued a media release in 2018, asking for an expression of interest from teams who have competed in previous editions of the tournament. An ICC spokesperson said in 2019 that there were expression of interest coming from a few ICC Members, but it’s under consideration and discussion to see how the feasibility of the next ICC I-Cup may look like. In other words, pretty much doubtful at this point of time, if the hosting of matches has to be in a cost-sharing model between ICC and cricket boards participating in the tournament. A shame rather, as many deserving players in the Associate circuit will no longer have the opportunity to have played First-Class status games. A cricketing career with First-Class matches in the records is something an Associate country player could be well content with to retire with, rather than being known only as a white-ball cricketer or an ODI/T20 player for his country.

Top Wicket-Takers in ICC Intercontinental Cup (All Editions combined)

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In a scenario where a country-level competition or model does not suffice and the I-Cup never takes off again, the next possible solution that ICC can offer or develop is the concept of GDS (Global Development Squad). The WGDS (Women’s Global Development Squad) programme has been a successful one so far, with players from Associate member countries getting the opportunity to play the top franchise squads from Australia’s Women’s Big Bash League and England’s KIA Super League. A similar programme for men’s with the top players in the Associate circuit (selection completely at ICC’s behest) getting the opportunity to play First-Class cricket against some of the domestic sides across the globe once or twice a year (2 or 3 matches in the tour) wouldn’t be a bad idea to think about for starters at-least.

Even if matches against domestic sides in Full member countries don’t work out due to scheduling issues, there is always a possibility for the team to have matches set-up against the national “A” squads. The idea at the end of the day being providing the exposure to the best of Associate member country players to learn the craft of playing the longer version of the game, if a similar structure like I-Cup for Associates does not take off in the near future. The only Associate member to have played a First-Class match last year was Nepal, when Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) visited the country and played a 3-day game. There are currently eight Associate member countries with ODI status and further 12 more countries with List-A status (though ICC Challenge League tournament), and quite more than often, the struggle is mainly with the batting departments to sustain for longer periods of time, because of the overdose of T20 cricket being at the limelight at the moment. A First-Class structure or matches with the status can do wonders for some of the players, which will rub-off when they play the longer version of the white-ball version of the game.

Czarsportz analysis of ICC I-Cup prospects

Czarsportz Admin — Mon, 28 May 2018 07:37:01 +0000

The format, number of teams, schedules, are just some of the major points that will be discussed in the upcoming ICC meetings for sure as the new cycle resumption for ICC Intercontinental Cup cones up shortly.

The I-Cup, the game’s red-ball format for Associate members, has played a huge influence in shaping up the future for countries like Ireland and Afghanistan, who are now Cricket’s latest Test playing nations.

However, with the exit of both Ireland and Afghanistan from the Intercontinental Cup will leave a big void and the question that comes straight up is this “Is the competitiveness going to remain the same in the next cycle and with how many teams”??

Netherlands and Hong Kong, who finished 3rd and 4th in the 2015-2017 Intercontinental Cup, would love to start as favourites when the next cycle starts. As it is the case for the all the teams involved, it provides the players much required exposure to play multi-day format of the game.

By virtue of having ODI status, Netherlands, Scotland, UAE and Nepal should get entries in the next I-Cup cycle. Whether ICC decides to keep the tournament to a 6-team or a 8-team format, needs to be seen.

We analyze some of the team’s we think will be part of the I-Cup:

1) Netherlands – 3 wins, 2 losses and 2 drawn games constituted the Dutch campaign in the 2015-2017 cycle with a total tally of 72 points from 7 matches. Roelof van der Merwe (490 runs from 5 matches) was the leading run-scorer for Netherlands followed by Ben Cooper (451 runs from 4 matches), Stephen Myburgh (335 runs from 7 matches) & Maxwell O’Dowd (326 runs from 5 matches).

Roelof was also the 2nd highest wicket-taker for Netherlands with 18 wickets, the tally being led by Vivian Kingma (20 wickets from 5 matches). Most of the existing line-up will be expected to feature again but without Peter Borren, who has now retired from International Cricket.

Head Coach Ryan Campbell will know that having ODI status already, consistent performances in the Intercontinental Cup will go a long way in helping Netherlands bid to become a full member in the near future.

2) Scotland – Scots endured a disappointing campaign in the 2015-2017 cycle without registering a single win in their 7 matches but managed to finish 6th overall with 4 drawn games, collecting 46 points. With Cricket Scotland CEO having given well documented interview speaking about Scotland’s bid to become a full member, the results in Intercontinental Cup will matter in a big way.

Calum McLeod was the highest run-scorer for Scotland with 207 runs from 5 matches, followed by Richie Berrington (198 runs in 5 matches) and George Munsey (197 runs in 3 matches). Among the bowlers, Safyaan Sharif led the charts with 13 wickets from 5 matches, followed by Alasdair Evans (11 wickets in 5 matches). In Stuart Whittingham, Scotland has a bright prospect on their hands in the pace bowling department.

With constant changes to the side for red-ball cricket, Scotland Head Coach will be hoping that most of the core squad members are available for all the games if they have to pose a challenge for the Title.

3) United Arab Emirates – 2 wins and a one drawn game got then enough points to edge out Scotland for the 5th spot by just a points margin, finishing on 47 points from 7 matches. But what will hurt them is the fact that they suffered 4 losses as well during the season.

Like Scotland, even UAE went through the same troubles of not being able to field a set playing XI throughout the season and with players from other countries qualifying to play for UAE, it created more attrition levels in the squad as new players were tried out once their eligibility got confirmed.

The charismatic Shaiman Anwar was UAE’s highest run-scorer with 475 runs from 7 matches, followed by Rameez Shahzad (226 in 4 matches), Swapnil Patil (226 runs in 3 matches) and Muhammad Usman (217 runs in 5 matches). Amongst the bowlers, veteran Ahmed Raha was leaps and bounds ahead of his team-mates, picking up 32 wickets in 6 matches. Mohammad Naveed trailed behind with 14 wickets from 5 matches. Imran Haider will be the one to watch in the next cycle after two impressive games in the previous cycle, picking up 10 wickets in 2 matches.

UAE team has been able to field a consistent XI in white-ball cricket and Head Coach Dougie Brown would hope for the same to happen in red-ball format as well and improve on their performances, if they have to mount any kind of challenge for the Title.

4) Hong Kong – Based on their performance in the previous edition and being part of ICC World Cup Qualifiers, they along with Papua New Guinea might be featuring in the next cycle as well. It would do a huge amount of good for Hong Kong players, who now do not have the cushion of ODI status to get more regular fixtures as well.

A 4th place finish in the points table with 2 wins, 3 losses and a draw/abandoned game each, did not speak much for the team but their improvements in red-ball cricket was there to see for everyone.

Captain Babar Hayat led from the front after scoring a double-ton in the final group match, thus ending with a whopping 712 runs tally from 6 matches. He was followed by Nizakat Khan (435 runs in 6 matches) and Anshuman Rath (391 runs in 5 matches). Among the bowlers, Nadeem Ahmed was the top wicket-taker for the team with 28 wickets from 5 matches. Tanwir Afzal (16 wickets in 4 matches) and Ehsan Khan (11 wickets in 4 matches) will look to play the full campaign next time to have much more impact for the team in the bowling department.

It’s not an easy task by any means for Head Coach, Simon Cook, but if anyone can get Hong Kong match-ready with so much less cricket fixtures available for them and competitive on the field, it will be credit to all the hard work done by Cook.

5) Papua New Guinea – having managed 2 wins in the cycle, 4 losses and a drawn game saw them finish with 43 points from 7 matches to finish 2nd from the bottom in the points table. Head Coach Joe Dawes will know that continuation in the tournament for PNG will provide him ample preparatory time to make them go hard at the other team’s when the cycle starts.

There were strong performances with the bat from Assad Vala (700 runs in 7 matches), Lega Siaka (425 runs in 7 matches) and Mahuru Dai (374 runs in 7 matches). With the ball, Norman Vanua (20 wickets in 7 matches) and Mahuru Dai (17 wickets in 7 matches) were the top wicket-takers for PNG in the tournament.

PNG have also lost their ODI status after the World Cup Qualifiers and their participation in the I-Cup will ensure the growth of the players through the system on a continued manner without any abrupt stoppage.

6) Nepal – The new boys in the town will quickly need to rebound from their T20/ODI mentality to get ready to grind it out in the 4-day format, something the players have never experienced. With much of the squad made up of seasoned players and few upcoming youngsters, it would be interesting to see how they tackle the red-ball challenge.

Rest on Nepal’s tryst with Intercontinental Cup, continue reading here

In all likelihood, to ensure competitiveness of the I-Cup, ICC could very well keep the format based on the above mentioned countries only but only if they can think of making I-Cup format a double-round league, it would ensure better exposure for the Associate members in red-ball cricket.

With T20I status being provided to all Associate Men’s games from 01st Jan 2018, ICC and Cricket Boards could package the tours with 2 ODI/List-A for World Cricket League Championship, 2 T20I’s and I-Cup match to become a full tour of 5 matches across all the three formats, which also will provide the countries to try different players in different formats during the tour duration.

UAE announce squad for WCL matches against Nepal

Czarsportz Admin — Tue, 05 Dec 2017 13:11:00 +0000

Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) have announced a 14-member squad to take on Nepal in the final two World Cricket League (WCL) matches to be held at Sheikh Zayed International Stadium in Abu Dhabi on 6th and 8th Dec, 2017.

Although both UAE and Nepal are already relegated to WCL Division 2, the two matches will be most important for both the teams as both will face each other once again in Division 2 in Feb 2018 in Namibia. UAE can also leapfrog Nepal in the points table if they win both the matches.

Nepal have surprised everyone with regular skipper and vice-captain Paras Khadka and Gyanendra Malla sitting out both the warm-up matches against USA and Kenya. Both are expected to take the field tomorrow.

UAE WCL Squad vs Nepal:

Rohan Mustafa (Captain), Shaiman Anwar, Amjad Javed, Rameez Shahzad, Muhammad Usman, Adnan Mufti, Ghulam Shabber, Ahmed Raza, Muhammad Naveed, Imran Haider, Amir Hayat, Ashfaq Ahmed, Muhammad Boota & Zahoor Khan

2019-2021 Intercontinental Cup – Cost or Cricket??

Czarsportz Admin — Sun, 03 Dec 2017 09:24:13 +0000

The 2015-2017 ICC Intercontinental Cup came to a close on 02nd Dec, 2017 in UAE when Afghanistan won the trophy for the 2nd time and Ireland finished 2nd followed by Netherlands and Hong Kong. Afghanistan and Ireland now exit Intercontinental Cup as they were obliged to finish the current cycle after being awarded Test status in June 2017 by ICC.

The next cycle was expected to be from 2019-2021; however, ICC announced that they would be seeking expression of interest from Cricket Boards about their interest in playing the longer format of red-ball cricket, which aided Ireland and Afghanistan’s growth towards Test membership.

It will be a welcome return for Nepal in the red-ball format of the game, if it happens. Nepal last took part in the 2004-2005 edition of the tournament, which was played in the 3-day format. The crowd support will actually see filled out ground when Nepal play their home fixtures in the I-Cup tournament.

It needs to be seen how ICC wants to take forward the ICC Intercontinental Cup going forward as they expressed that if the tournament does take place, it will be on a cost-sharing basis between the Cricket Boards and themselves and till the time the outcome is notified to all cricketing circles, here’s a look at the top run-scorers and wicket-takers in I-Cup history so far.

In all likelihood, the final outcome on this matter might be announced in the 2019 Annual General Meeting. However, as of now, the probability of it happening looks bleak as the cost-sharing model wouldn’t be a financially viable option for the Boards.

Top Run Scorers in ICC Intercontinental Cup:

ICC Intercontinental Cup – Most runs
Player	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	100	50
SO Tikolo (Kenya)	19	32	2	1918	220	63.93	6	7
Arshad Ali (UAE)	24	46	2	1756	185	39.9	4	9
WTS Porterfield (Ireland)	24	39	2	1743	186	47.1	5	8
G Snyman (Namibia)	24	44	8	1733	230	48.13	2	10
Khurram Khan (UAE)	24	43	3	1730	121*	43.25	4	10
Saqib Ali (UAE)	18	34	4	1620	195	54	6	6
AR White (Ireland)	26	36	9	1552	152*	57.48	5	9
Mohammad Shahzad (Afghanistan)	19	32	5	1457	214*	53.96	4	7
NJ O’Brien (Ireland)	18	28	2	1386	176	53.3	6	4
KJ O’Brien (Ireland)	30	43	7	1384	171*	38.44	1	9
AC Botha (Ireland)	21	30	1	1352	186	46.62	5	3
PW Borren (Netherlands)	27	50	1	1331	109	27.16	2	5
Asghar Stanikzai (Afghanistan)	22	32	2	1327	145	44.23	5	2
SF Burger (Namibia)	28	50	3	1321	135	28.1	1	11
RN ten Doeschate (Netherlands)	8	12	3	1285	259*	142.77	7	1
CO Obuya (Kenya)	23	39	4	1261	91*	36.02	0	11
MA Ouma (Kenya)	22	40	1	1226	130	31.43	2	7
S Dhaniram (Canada)	20	37	8	1174	144	40.48	3	5
CG Williams (Namibia)	19	32	2	1166	140	38.86	4	4
EC Joyce (Ireland)	9	15	0	1024	231	68.26	3	3
JP Bray (Ireland)	12	19	0	998	190	52.52	3	4
PR Stirling (Ireland)	21	34	0	953	146	28.02	3	3
GC Wilson (Ireland)	22	34	2	938	95	29.31	0	6
IH Romaine (Bermuda)	17	31	1	932	111	31.06	2	4
R van Schoor (Namibia)	17	31	2	910	157	31.37	2	3
DF Watts (Scotland)	19	30	1	894	146	30.82	2	4
TN de Grooth (Netherlands)	20	35	1	892	196	26.23	1	5
DL Hemp (Bermuda)	7	13	4	861	247*	95.66	2	5
RR Watson (Scotland)	15	22	0	843	167	38.31	2	4
Mohammad Nabi (Afghanistan)	20	29	3	841	117	32.34	2	3
RD Berrington (Scotland)	19	30	3	840	129	31.11	2	4
Nawroz Mangal (Afghanistan)	14	24	2	832	168	37.81	1	5
A Bagai (Canada)	14	26	2	812	93	33.83	0	6
Qaiser Ali (Canada)	14	25	2	784	174	34.08	1	5
AR Cusack (Ireland)	15	22	3	761	130	40.05	1	4
SP Patil (UAE)	10	17	2	758	94	50.53	0	7
PM Seelaar (Netherlands)	23	41	10	751	138*	24.22	1	2
TM Odoyo (Kenya)	17	27	6	746	137	35.52	2	3
DO Obuya (Kenya)	12	22	0	733	115	33.31	1	6
AJ Burger (Namibia)	13	25	1	725	81	30.2	0	5
NFI McCallum (Scotland)	14	21	5	714	181	44.62	3	1
Babar Hayat (Hong Kong)	6	11	1	712	214*	71.2	3	1
CJ Smith (Bermuda)	8	12	1	707	138	64.27	2	5
SD Outerbridge (Bermuda)	12	23	0	706	113	30.69	1	6
A Vala (Papua New Guinea)	7	14	3	700	144*	63.63	3	3
LJ Burger (Namibia)	16	29	2	667	120	24.7	1	5
ES Szwarczynski (Netherlands)	18	30	1	664	93	22.89	0	5
B Zuiderent (Netherlands)	12	20	3	649	149*	38.17	1	5
EJG Morgan (Ex-Ireland)	8	13	2	639	209*	58.09	2	2

Afghanistan exit ICC Intercontinental Cup as Champions

Czarsportz Admin — Sat, 02 Dec 2017 11:58:11 +0000

The Afghan national cricket team has won the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Intercontinental Cup 2017 after beating the United Arab Emirates by 10 wickets and exit the Championship as Champions.

2017 will be remembered for all good Cricketing reasons in Afghanistan for @ACBofficials.
Congrats to the entire nation for winning the #ICCICUP17 tournament. The blue tigers played in this tournament like a real Champions.@EklilHakimi @MashalAtif @WillGlenwright @SadatNaderi

— Shafiq Stanikzai (@ShafiqStanikzai) December 2, 2017

After the seventh and last round of matches in the 2015/2017 Intercontinental Cup cycle, Afghanistan finished on top of the eight-team table with 121 points, while Ireland settled for the second spot with 109 points. Both the teams had exited from the WCL Championship in 2016.

ICC Intercontinental Cup Final Points Table

After Rohan Mustafa and Chirag Suri’s defiant 146-run opening stand after UAE were asked to follow-on, Afghanistan made inroads regularly following their dismissals to bowl out UAE for 331 in 100.3 overs in their 2nd innings to get a target of only 18 runs to win the match.

Afghanistan beat @EmiratesCricket by 10 wickets to win the @ICC Intercontinental Cup 2015-2017 pic.twitter.com/hVaKxyTt8v

— Afghanistan Cricket Board (@ACBofficials) December 2, 2017

Rashid Khan took 5/83 in the 2nd innings with Mohammad Nabi and Zahir Khan taking two wickets apiece.

Afghanistan openers did not take much time as they reached 21/0 with Ihsanullah and Javed Ahmadi taking the team to victory and the Championship.

Congratulations to Afghanistan on winning the #ICup trophy!

They chase down their winning total of 19 to beat the UAE by ten wickets! pic.twitter.com/7fKHTdOgCh

— ICC (@ICC) December 2, 2017

Afghanistan thus claimed their 2nd Intercontinental Cup trophy and now head for a possible test debut in 2018.