The ICC Intercontinental Cup is a cricket tournament organised by the International Cricket Council as part of its cricket development program. It is designed to allow Associate Members of the ICC the chance to play first-class cricket matches against teams of similar skill in a competition environment and prepare them for eventual promotion to Test cricket status.
Tournament history:
2004: The inaugural ICC Intercontinental Cup was completed on 22 November 2004 when Scotland won the title in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. Scotland beat Canada by an innings and 84 runs in the final. The competition included 12 teams, divided by geographical region into four groups of three. Each team played the other two teams in its group once each. The top team in each group then progresses to the semi-finals, and the winners of those to the final. In order to encourage competitive play and avoid deadlocks, a point system including bonus points was used.
2005: The tournament was played for the second time in 2005. The teams and groupings were the same, except that Hong Kong came in to replace Malaysia, and the Cayman Islands replaced the United States who were expelled from the competition by the ICC because of then ongoing political problems within cricket in the US.
The points system was also modified so that teams could score unlimited batting points in the first innings and a maximum of 4 points in the second innings.
The tournament was won by Ireland who defeated Kenya in the final.
2006-07: The tournament was cut from 12 to eight teams, with Hong Kong, the Cayman Islands and Uganda losing the right to participate, while Namibia knocked out Nepal in a play off for the eighth place. The match length was extended from three to four days, and each team was scheduled to play at least three matches. The teams were divided into two groups of four, with each team playing the other once and the top two teams qualifying for the final, and the points system has also been changed: 14 points are now awarded for a win, and six for a first-innings lead. Due to preparations for the 2007 World Cup and the longer tournament, the final was played in May 2007, where Ireland defeated Canada to defend their title.
2007–08: The 2007–08 tournament was played as a single round robin league of eight teams, so that each team played seven matches. The teams ranked first and second at the end of the pool stage contested the final.
Namibia finished on top at the pool stage, but lost the final against second placed Ireland in late October in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Ireland thus completed a hat-trick of Intercontinental Cup victories, having been undefeated in the competition, and having won three consecutive make-or-break away fixtures in Africa (against Namibia, Kenya and Namibia again) to clinch the title.
Countries that are or have participated in the ICC Intercontinental Cup:
Links to more information on the ICC Intercontinental Cup:
*Acknowledgements to Wikipedia.org and owners of pictures and videos used.
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