ICC CWC Qualifiers announced

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jaybro
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ICC CWC Qualifiers announced

Post by jaybro »

Hosts Zimbabwe to feature on the opening day on 4 March in Bulawayo; Windies to start campaign in Harare on 6 March.
10 teams to fight out for two available places in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, which is now 500 days away

Netherlands plus three highest finishing Associate Member sides to earn ODI status till 2022
Two-time world champions the Windies will be the star attraction when 10 sides converge on Zimbabwe next month for the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018, to battle it out for the two remaining places in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. The announcement marks 500 days to the ICC’s pinnacle 50-over tournament, which will be staged in the United Kingdom from 30 May to 15 July.

Queen’s Sports Club and Bulawayo Athletic Club in Bulawayo, Harare Sports Club and Old Hararians Sports Club in Harare and Kwekwe Sports Club, Kwekwe, will share 34 matches between them from 4 to 25 March, with Harare Sports Club staging the final.

The Windies, along with Afghanistan, Ireland and Zimbabwe, had missed out on automatic qualification for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 by finishing outside the top eight on the MRF Tyres ICC ODI Team Rankings at the 30 September 2017 cut-off date. These four sides have been joined by Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Scotland and Papua New Guinea, who finished in the top four of the ICC World Cricket League Championship.The remaining two sides for the Zimbabwe tournament will be confirmed in Namibia from 8-15 February when Canada, Kenya, Namibia, Nepal, Oman and the United Arab Emirates will fight it out in the ICC World Cricket League Division 2, with the finalists getting a step closer to cherishing their dreams of playing in the ICC Cricket World Cup.

Eighty-three teams had embarked on the road to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 way back in 2013 through the ICC World Cricket League, introduced to give the teams outside the top 12 meaningful competition as part of the World Cup qualification.The 10 teams taking part in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018 are split into two groups of five teams. The Windies, Ireland, the Netherlands, Papua New Guinea and winners of the ICC World Cricket League Division 2 make up Group A, while Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, Scotland, Hong Kong and runners-up of the ICC World Cricket League Division 2 form Group B.

Each side will play the other teams in their group once with the top three from the groups progressing to the Super Six stage. The teams each play three Super Six matches against the sides they did not meet in the group stage. All points won in the groups will be carried over to the Super Six stage apart from those gained against the bottom two from each group.

The finalists will both progress to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, whilst the Netherlands (ICC World Cricket League Championship winners) and the three highest finishing Associate Members will earn ODI status till 2022 upon the conclusion of the event.

As such, only matches between Afghanistan, Ireland, Hong Kong, Papua New Guinea, Scotland, the Windies, Zimbabwe and potentially the United Arab Emirates (if they qualify) will have ODI status in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018.

Hosts Zimbabwe will feature on the opening day of the tournament on 4 March when they will take on the runners-up from the Namibia tournament at the Queen’s Sports Club, Bulawayo, while the Windies will square-off against the winners of the Namibia tournament on 6 March at Old Hararians Cricket Club in Harare.Scotland will defend the title they had won at Bert Sutcliffe, Lincoln, New Zealand, in February 2014 when they defeated the United Arab Emirates by 41 runs. Preston Mommsen had won the player of the final for his unbeaten 139.

Zimbabwe Cricket chairman Tavengwa Mukuhlani: “We are tremendously excited to be hosting the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018 event which will bring some of the world’s most talented and gifted cricketers to our beautiful country. As the very proud hosts, we are very passionate about what we do on and off the field and we are leaving no stone unturned to ensure we deliver an extraordinarily memorable tournament.

“While the ultimate goal for the teams involved will be to secure one of the two remaining berths at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 in England and Wales, tournaments such as the qualifier event always provide the platform for raw talent and unheralded players to emerge and this can only put the game of cricket in good stead.”

ICC Chief Executive David Richardson said: “This will undoubtedly be a competitive and hard fought tournament with two tickets for the ICC Cricket World Cup up for grabs as well as ODI status. Seeing four Full Member sides up against our best Associate Member teams who have progressed through qualification will make for some exciting cricket.

“This is the conclusion of a four-year qualification process that began with regional events and progressed through to the global World Cricket League. There is a huge amount at stake for all ten teams battling it out for the remaining two spots at the ICC Cricket World Cup.”

Groups:

Group A: Windies (A1); Ireland (A2); Netherlands (A3); Papua New Guinea (A4); ICC World Cricket League Division 2 (WCL Div.2) winner (A5)

Group B: Afghanistan (B1); Zimbabwe (B2); Scotland (B3); Hong Kong (B4); ICC World Cricket League Division 2 (WCL Div.2) runners-up (B5)

Fixtures (warm-up matches):

Tuesday, 27 February – Afghanistan v Windies, Harare Sports Club (HSC); Hong Kong v Netherlands, Old Hararians (OH); WCL Div.2 (winner) v WCL Div.2 (runners-up), Kwekwe (KK); Zimbabwe v Ireland, Queen’s Sports Club (QSC); Scotland v PNG, Bulawayo Athletic Club (BAC)

Thursday, 1 March – WCL Div.2 (winners) v Windies, Harare Sports Club (HSC); Afghanistan v Netherlands, Old Hararians (OH); Hong Kong v WCL Div.2 (runners-up), Kwekwe (KK); Scotland v Ireland, Queen’s Sports Club (QSC); Zimbabwe v PNG, Bulawayo Athletic Club (BAC)

Tournament Proper (first round):

Sunday, 4 March – PNG v WCL Div.2 winner, HSC; Ireland v Netherlands, OH; Zimbabwe v WCL Div.2 (runners-up), Queens Sports Club (QSC); Afghanistan v Scotland, BAC

Tuesday, 6 March – PNG v Ireland, HSC; Windies v WCL Div.2 (winner), OH; Zimbabwe v Afghanistan, QSC; Scotland v Hong Kong, BAC

Thursday, 8 March – Netherlands v WCL Div.2 (winner), HSC; Windies v PNG, OH; Scotland v WCL Div.2 (runners-up), QSC; Afghanistan v Hong Kong, BAC

Saturday, 10 March – Windies v Ireland, HSC; PNG v Netherlands, OH; Zimbabwe v Hong Kong, QSC; Afghanistan v WCL Div.2 (runners-up), BAC

Monday, 12 March – Windies v Netherlands, HSC; Ireland v WCL Div.2 (winners), OH; Hong Kong v WCL Div.2 (runners-up), QSC; Zimbabwe v Scotland, BAC



Super Sixes

Thursday, 15 March – A1 v B1, HSC; A3 v B3, QSC; A5 v B4 (play-off), OH; A4 v B5 (play-off), KK

Friday, 16 March – A2 v B2, HSC

Saturday, 17 March – 9th/10th position play-off, OH; 7th/8th position play-off, KK

Sunday, 18 March – A2 v B3, HSC

Monday, 19 March – A1 v B2, HSC

Tuesday, 20 March – A3 v B1, HSC

Thursday, 22 March – A1 v B3, HSC; A3 v B2, OH

Friday, 23 March – A2 v B1, HSC

Sunday, 25 March – FINAL, HSC
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Re: ICC CWC Qualifiers announced

Post by brmtaylor.com admin »

Why aren't Zim playing their games at HSC?

Madness. In terms of the advantage, crowd support, players transport, etc.

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Re: ICC CWC Qualifiers announced

Post by CrimsonAvenger »

To begin with, we are in the easier pool. So, can't afford to drop any points in the league stages and go to the super sixes topping the tables for group B. In whatever order it is, we'll most likely see the Windies, Ireland and the Dutch coming through from group A. To make it through to the finals, we must win at least 2 of the 3 matches in the Super Six. We might be able to go through with a single win in super sixes too if we remain unbeaten in our group, but that is still too big a risk.

Can we remain undefeated in our group? I think we are capable of that on paper.

Can we do well in the super sixes? We would have to play out of our skins to ensure that. I'm not entirely confident we can. But we need some X factor to carry us through - someone like a Mire or a fully in-form Raza.

We would ideally want the guys in group A to take points off each other to make it a bit easy for us. Our qualification at best looks 50-50.

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Black Mamba
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Re: ICC CWC Qualifiers announced

Post by Black Mamba »

Mehluli Sibanda on twitter :

Domestic cricket will resume in February with 50 overs cricket in preparation for the World Cup Qualifier, its an opportunity for those not in the national team to prove they deserve to be selected. Far as I heard, Logan Cup will only resume in April

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Re: ICC CWC Qualifiers announced

Post by Flakeman »

Is this event going to be globally televised?

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Black Mamba
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Re: ICC CWC Qualifiers announced

Post by Black Mamba »

Flakeman wrote:
Mon Jan 15, 2018 3:01 pm
Is this event going to be globally televised?
yes, Star Sports has tv rights for all ICC events till 2023

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Re: ICC CWC Qualifiers announced

Post by Kriterion_BD »

So there will be a total of 7 games, with 5 of them counting, to decide who qualifies for the WC. Sounds fair and gives all teams an opportunity to recover from a bad game.
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Re: ICC CWC Qualifiers announced

Post by zimbos_05 »

We've lost to two of the teams in our group recently, and one of them have got the upper hand over us quite a bit. We should make it out of our group, but beyond that, we really do need to up our game.

Also, why are we not playing any games in Harare? What is the go with that. How is that meant to help us in terms of support and getting the crowd behind us. We need to make the most of home advantage.

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Re: ICC CWC Qualifiers announced

Post by Mr Twig »

zimbos_05 wrote:
Tue Jan 16, 2018 1:41 am
We've lost to two of the teams in our group recently, and one of them have got the upper hand over us quite a bit. We should make it out of our group, but beyond that, we really do need to up our game.

Also, why are we not playing any games in Harare? What is the go with that. How is that meant to help us in terms of support and getting the crowd behind us. We need to make the most of home advantage.
It's an ICC run event so they pretty much decide everything. Bulawayo is still a home crowd advantage.

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Re: ICC CWC Qualifiers announced

Post by Ming »

Is it better to face Afghanistan at Queens or at HSC? I'm happy that we avoided playing them at BAC: I seem to remember that their pitches can be a bit of a minefield.
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