OUTSIDE THE CIRCLE 8

Following WC Qualifier disappointment, focus shifts to WCL Division 4

by Bertus de Jong • Published on

Despite Nepal's recent successes both on and off the field, even winning ODI status at the WC Qualifier, they remain in administrative purgatory. © ICC

With the dust settled on the World Cup Qualifier, it seems an opportune time to catch up with what's been happening in the rest of the Associates world, and take a quick look at what (possibly) lies ahead outside the Full Member arena.

The Qualifier brought the 2015-2018 World Cricket League cycle to an end, and an unhappy one for Associates, without a single non-full member making it to the World Cup. The next cycle has already begun however, albeit without any clear idea of where it's headed. Jersey and Vanuatu took the first step toward the 2023 World Cup back in September, taking first place and runner-up respectively in WCL Division 5 in South Africa to win promotion - joining Uganda, Singapore, Malaysia and Denmark at Division 4 to be held in Kuala Lumpur at the end of this month.

Yet as things stand, though the end goal of qualification for the 2023 World Cup is clear enough, the route is rather mysterious. The top two teams from Division 4 can expect promotion to Division 3, to be held later in the year at an as-yet-unannounced venue, and from that tournament the two will progress to Division 2, apparently scheduled for some time in 2019, but thereafter the pathway vanishes into the haze. No announcement has yet been made on the future of the World Cricket League Championship (nor indeed the 4-day Intercontinental Cup) and it is understood that all Associate competitions on qualification pathways are currently under review. It is just possible that the ICC's quarterly meeting in Kolkata later this month might provide some clarity, but insiders suggest no firm decision should be expected even then.

Nonetheless details of preparations and touring parties for Division 4 have begun to trickle in, the most eye-catching announcement being the inclusion of former South Australia stalwart and current Vanuatu head coach Shane Deitz in the Vanuatu squad. Dietz took up the role back in 2014 following a stint coaching in Wellington, and the relaxation of ICC eligibility criteria following in June of last year meant the 42-year-old left-handed batsman and occasional wicket-keeper now qualifies for his adopted country on residency.

Uganda's preparations meanwhile continue apace. Having just returned from a tour to Qatar and India, Roger Mukasa's side welcomed Saudi Arabia for a 4 match one-day series and a single T20 to be split across Kyambogo and Lugogo, honours currently even with two 50-over matches played.

Denmark have also announced their touring party, with some notable omissions in the form of former skipper Michael Pedersen and Aftab Ahmed - their lead wicket taker at the previous edition of Division 4 - and one-time England test bowler Anjad Khan. Under 19 graduates Shangeev Thanikaithasan and brothers Jonas and Mads Henriksen come into the squad, which departs next week following winter training with half the players joining head coach Jeremy Bray in Pakistan while the remainder will head down to warm weather facilities at La Manga in Spain.

Hosts Malaysia meanwhile welcomed Singapore earlier this month to contest the Stan Nagaiah Trophy, the series eventually unresolved at one game apiece after the opener was washed out, Malaysia took the second and Singapore clung on by two runs to tie the series at 1-1 in the final game.

Whilst rumours continue to swirl around the possibility of Malaysia becoming the 22nd (and only 2nd Associate) country to host a Test Match as Pakistan reportedly consider switching their October series against New Zealand from Sharjah to Malaysia's Kinrara Oval, more immediately they expect to welcome an A team from nearer neighbours Hong Kong immediately ahead of Division 4.

Hong Kong themselves will likely be glad of the opportunity to get some competitive cricket under their belts, and to be able make use of Malaysia's facilities, given their limited resources at home and sparse fixture list. With the top-ranked associates entering what is known in ICC circles as a "fallow year" without any structured competition, there is little in the way of concrete fixtures on the agenda for Hong Kong in the near future.

With the exception of the Asia Cup Qualifier (likely to be brought forward to June or July and relocated out of India owing to expected visa issues), Asia's top associates will be left to arrange their own fixtures at their own expense for the coming months. As yet little has been confirmed, though Papua New Guinea and Hong Kong have reportedly pencilled in reciprocal tours for October, and hope to include at least one other Associate, possibly Nepal or the Netherlands, to maximise the cricket-to-airfare cost ratios.

More immediate and concrete was the announcement that the MCC will be hosting the Netherlands and Nepal for a three-way T20 competition, with three matches to be played consecutively at Lords onJuly 29th. As yet no further fixtures have been announced, though it seems unlikely Nepal will be flying to Europe just for a single day's cricket. Equally uncertain are putative tours by the Scots and Ireland to the Netherlands, - understood still to be subject to financing - as is a mooted reciprocal tour by the Netherlands to Nepal after the conclusion of the Netherlands domestic season, though given the paucity of competitive fixtures on the Dutch agenda ahead of the 2020 ODI league a winter tour of some sort is likely.

Such arrangements are inevitably complicated by Nepal's continued lack of a functioning cricket board. Despite Nepal's recent successes both on and off the field, winning ODI status at the WC Qualifier and currently putting on the second of its two successful annual domestic T20 competitions, they remain in administrative purgatory. The ongoing Ruslan Dhangadhi Premier League is an entirely private venture, run without the oversight of the currently suspended Cricket Association of Nepal, and the prospect of ODI status and its concomitant funding seems only to have heightened competition over control of cricket in the country.

Ahead of a proposed Special General Assembly (possibly to be held later this month) the Cricket Players Association of Nepal has threatened to step in, bemoaning lack of headway; "The ICC has been trying its level best to final common ground for agreement amongst CAN and stakeholders for the establishment of the robust governing body", CPAN told My Republica, "We are depressed to see that no material progress has been made in this regard."

Meanwhile Associate cricket's other long-running administrative farce rumbles on down in Kenya, with a similar coterie of former and current players looking to take matters into their own hands. As of press time it is unclear whether Cricket Kenya's scheduled elections (to replace recently resigned chair Jackie Janmohammed amongst others) actually went ahead last week, but if they did it was in spite of the objections of various prominent figures including Steve Tikolo, Martin Sujji and Collins Obuya.

Likewise soldiering on without the benefit of a functioning board, a group sharing considerable personnel with the above have announced their intention to stage a veterans' T20 competition in the country in July. The "Legends Cup" is tentatively scheduled to take place in Nairobi fromJuly 19 to July 28, featuring franchise teams three comprising players from Kenya, South Africa, Zimbabwe, West Indies and England; India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh; Australia and New Zealand. Along with Tikolo and former captain Maurice Odumbe, former Idia internationals Balwinder Sandhu and Syed Kirmani were on hand to lend their support to the project.

In other African news, former Ireland international Andre Botha has been appointed CEO of the Malawi Cricket Union. Having spent the last seven years coaching in his native South Africa, Malawi's new CEO will doubtless be called upon to do a fair bit of hands on coaching work too as he helps ready the side for their upcoming World T20 Sub-Regional Qualifier in Botswana later this year.

Botha was not the only Irishman to put himself out for the Associate cause this week however. Despite Ireland's own elevation to Full Membership, skipper William Porterfield made clear he'd not forgotten where he came from when he went out of his way to call attention to the plight of Associate countries excluded from the coming World Cup following his side's defeat to Afghanistan at the Qualifier. "We've got a pathway, as hard as it is ... ourselves and Afghanistan ... but just so that two or three teams can play nine games on TV and the ICC can cash in ... other countries are leaving here not knowing what's going to happen next week." His sentiments were echoed in a still more impassioned plea from the Player of the Tournament, Zimbabwe's Sikander Raza who dedicated his award to all those teams shut out of the World Cup, and their fans' denied dreams.

Their pleas fell, unsurprisingly, on deaf ears. It is not the first time public objections have been raised to the ten team format for the coming two World Cups, though it was perhaps the first time anyone had done so with ICC CEO David Richardson mere feet away. Richardson told the Belfast Telegraph after the presentations that the format might be "looked at" come 2023, but asked that the 10-team tournament be "given a chance", before moving on to explain that opportunities were set to expand in the T20 arena, with the possibility of moving the World T20 from a 4-year to a 2-year cycle as early as 2022, adding "there is no doubt that T20 is the fastest-growing sport in the world and that's the way to go."

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