ICC WORLD CRICKET LEAGUE

World Cricket League Division 2 - Ready Reckoner

by Bertus de Jong • Last updated on

UAE will look to continue their rich vein of form and finish at the top © ICC

World Cricket League Division 2, which kicks off on Thursday (February 8) in Namibia, will see six Associate teams face off for a last shot at securing a berth at the World Cup Qualifier, to be held next month in Zimbabwe.

Namibia, Kenya, the UAE and Nepal (all relegated from the World Cricket League Championship) together with Oman and Canada (promoted from Division 3) will meet in Windhoek to contest the final tournament in this edition of the World Cricket League - the ICC's elaborate World Cup qualification ladder - which kicked off with Division 8 in Samoa all the way back in 2012.

The format

The format follows the template for almost all World Cricket League events - a round robin followed by playoffs. The main business of the tournament will be settled through a simple six team group stage, with all the teams playing each other once.

After the group stage, the top two teams on points (with net run rate as the first tie-breaker) progress to the final, whilst the third and fourth ranked teams contest the third place playoff and the bottom two teams face off for the wooden spoon.

With three matches played simultaneously on every game-day and only two rest/reserve days, the six-team tournament lasts just eight days in total.

What's at stake?

First (and second) prize is progress to the ten-team World Cup Qualifier to be held in Zimbabwe in March, and a shot at one of the two World Cup berths on offer there. The two teams finishing on top after the group stage will join Zimbabwe, West Indies, Afghanistan, Ireland, the Netherlands, Scotland, Hong Kong and Papua New Guinea in seeking to claim a ticket to the 2019 World Cup in England.

Also on offer in Zimbabwe is ODI status for the next cycle for the three Associate teams (other than the Netherlands) that finish highest in the final standings. The two Division 2 finalists will also likely be assured a spot in the next edition of the World Cricket League Championship - the ICC's premiere Associate 50-over competition, as well as contesting the final for the title of Division 2 Champions.

With both finalists already assured of progressing to the Qualifier, the final standings for the rest of the ladder are likely to be more significant than the outcome of the final itself. The exact structure of the upper divisions of the next edition of the World Cricket League (2017-2022) has not yet been decided, but it's likely that the standings at the end of this tournament will determine which teams will participate in the next WCL Championship, and which will be relegated to Division 3. Where exactly that cut-off will fall, however, will probably not be known until well after the tournament has concluded.

The teams

Namibia,the hosts, find themselves on familiar territory in more ways than one, hosting Division 2 for the third time in four iterations, having never failed to secure promotion at the tournament but invariably finding themselves relegated right back again. After finishing runners-up to the Dutch in the last edition of the Division 2, Namibia had a tough time of it in the WCLC, losing all but 3 of their 14 matches and finishing at the bottom of the table. Nonetheless they have a solid record at Division 2, a handful of recent wins under their belt in the South African provincial competition, and of course home advantage - which traditionally counts for a lot in the WCL.

Kenyahave fallen a long way since their 2003 World Cup semi final run and the days of their "permanent" ODI status. Once seen as the "next cab off the rank" for Full Membership and Test Status, nearly two decades of administrative difficulties and on-field decline have seen Kenya eclipsed first by Ireland and then Afghanistan, lose their ODI status and continue to slip further behind the pack. Finishing 3rd in the last edition of Division 2, it was only the elevation of Ireland and Afghanistan to the FTP and consequent restructure of the WCL that saw Kenya secure a berth in the last WCL Championship. They performed creditably enough there, winning 6 of their 14 matches including one against eventual champions the Netherlands, but it was not enough for a top four finish. Though there are signs of recovery in Kenyan cricket, a string of heavy defeats in their warm-ups against Zimbabwe A will have done little for their confidence, and they head to Windhoek as clear underdogs.

The United Arab Emirates are the only side with ODI status at the tournament, having finished as runners-up behind Scotland at the last World Cup Qualifier. Despite a disappointing run in the WCLC, where they won just five matches and finished sixth, the Emiratis will fancy their chances of bouncing back. A 5-0 whitewash of Zimbabwe A in Dubai in November followed by two convincing wins against Nepal in the WCLC and a decent showing in the recent tri-series with Ireland and Scotland suggest the UAE are the form team at this level. While the Emirates' recent record away from home is rather less imposing, they start the tournament among the front-runners.

Fan favourites Nepal head into their second Division 2, having finished 4th at the last edition and hoping to go two better this time round. It's a big ask for Paras Khadka's men, who don't traditionally travel well outside of Asia and now face arguably an even tougher field than in 2015. They've made the best of their warm-up tour to the UAE, winning two of three matches against a strong UAE A side, but would have preferred to spend more time in Africa ahead of the tournament to acclimatise. Currently in something of a transitional phase - with emerging youngsters still finding their place in the side - and arguably somewhat under-cooked, it's fair to say Nepal remain more fan favourite than bookie's pick.

Oman is one of the few teams at the tournament on an unambiguously upward trajectory. Starting from 2016 Division 5 in Jersey, Oman have won promotion three times on the trot to reach Division 2 for the first time in more than a decade, and will sense a real chance to make it four in a row next week. Though Division 2 has been something of a ceiling for Oman in the past, with recent series wins against the USA and Hong Kong behind them the "Red Brigade" have plenty of momentum on their side.

Canada, much like Kenya, were once a leading Associate and a regular at the World Cup, but have seen their fortunes decline in recent years. A poor World Cup Qualifier in 2014 saw them miss out on the World Cup for the first time since 1999, as well as costing them their ODI status and seeing them relegated to Division 2. Taking wooden spoon at that 2015 edition was a historic low for Canadian cricket, but a strong showing in Uganda last year saw them bounce back from Division 3, winning promotion along with Oman.

The conditions

Conventional wisdom may say Namibian conditions are a lot like South Africa, but don't expect a run-fest. The last edition, also played at Windhoek, saw only a single 300-plus total and an average first innings score well under 200.

Expect some swing early in the mornings, and possibly some turn later on, especially at Wanderers. Trusco United especially is traditionally a tough ground for batsmen - low and slowish and occasionally somewhat two-paced, whereas Wanderers and Affies are usually faster and closer to what one might expect in Southern Africa. Of the three, Affies is generally considered the best batting track - quick with a bit of bounce but generally true, and with shorter boundaries than Wanderers or United.

February is the wettest month of the year in Namibia, though still mostly dry and hot, morning mist and afternoon thunder storms are not unusual. Even in a country famous for its deserts, rain-abbreviated matches or even total wash-outs are not entirely impossible.

What they said

Sarel Burger, Namibia: Qualifying for the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier is only the first step, but it would be the reward for exceptional hard work for a long period of time.

Rakep Patel, Kenya: Qualifying would be the culmination of a journey that started when the World Cricket League cycle begun.

Rohan Mustafa, UAE: The players are very excited to be given this opportunity to compete against such quality teams over a short time frame.

Paras Khadka, Nepal: ICC World Cricket League Division 2 will be like a royal rumble, where every team will give their best in order to seal their places for the next level.

Sultan Ahmed, Oman: We are all looking forward to the ICC World Cricket League Division 2.

Nitish Kumar, Canada: I am very excited for the event, we have been working so hard, so I believe it is time to convert that into performances and get Canada back to where we were four years ago.

Schedule

08 February: Kenya v UAE (Wanderers); Nepal v Namibia (Affies); Oman v Canada (United)

09 February: UAE v Canada (Wanderers); Nepal v Oman (Affies); Kenya v Namibia (United)

10 February: Rest/Reserve

11 February: Namibia v Oman (Wanderers); Kenya v Canada (Affies); UAE v Nepal (United)

12 February: Kenya v Nepal (Wanderers); UAE v Oman (Affies); Namibia v Canada (United)

13 February: Rest/Reserve

14 February: Nepal v Canada (Wanderers); UAE v Namibia (Affies); Kenya v Oman (United)

15 February: Final (Wanderers); 3rd v 4th Playoff (Affies); 5th v 6th Playoff (United)

Squads

Namibia:Sarel Burger (captain); Stephan Baard, Jean Bredenkamp,Petrus Burger, Gerhard Erasmus,Jan Frylinck,Zane Green,Jean-Pierre Kotze,Lohandre Louwrens,Bernhard Scholtz,Johannes Smit,Louis van der Westhuizen,Christoffel Viljoen,Craig Williams

Kenya:Rakep Patel (captain), Collins Obuya, Gurdeep Bhagat Singh, Dhiren Gondaria, Irfan Karim, Nelson Odhiambo, Shem Ngoche, Hiren Varaiya, Nehemiah Ngoche Odhiambo, Emmanuel Ringera Bundi, Lucas Ndandason, Rushabhvardhan Patel, Alex Auma Obanda, Karan Kaul

UAE: Rohan Mustafa (captain), Muhammad Ashfaq Ahmed, Ghulam Shabbir, Rameez Shahzad, Muhammad Boota, Muhammad Usman, Adnan Mufti, Shaiman Anwar, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Qadeer Ahmed, Muhammad Naveed, Muhammad Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan

Nepal:Paras Khadka (captain), Gyanendra Malla,Sharad Vesawkar,Basant Regmi,Shakti Prasad Gauchan,Sompal Kami,Anil Kumar Sah,Rohit Kumar Paudel, Karan KC, Md. Arif Sheikh,Sandeep Lamichhane,Dipendra Singh Airee,Dilap Nath,Lalit Bhandari

Oman:Sultan Ahmed (captain), Aaqib Ilyas Sulehri, Ahmad Fayyaz Butt, Ajay Vrajlal Lalcheta, Swapnil Sunil Khadye, Bilal Khan, Khawar Ali, Muhammed Nadeem, Muhammad Naseem, Zeeshan Maqsood, Jay Viram Odedra, Jatinder Singh, Vaibhav Shridhar Wategaonkar, Kaleemullah Kaleemullah

Canada:Nitish Kumar (captain), Bhavindu Adhihetty, Cecil Pervez, Dhanuka Pathirana, Ruvindu Gunasekera, Hamza Tariq, Srimantha Wijeyeratne, Junaid Siddiqui, Nicholas Kirton, Navneet Dhaliwal, Nikhil Dutta, Dilon Heyliger, Saad Zafar, Satsimranjit Dhindsa

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