The ICC Twenty20 Cricket World Cup

The ICC World Twenty20 is the international championship of Twenty20 cricket. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC). The tournament consists of 12 teams and is contested by all Test-playing nations plus qualifiers. The championship is expected to be held around every two years.

The inaugural event, the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, was staged in South Africa from 11-24 September 2007. The tournament was won by India, who become the first World T20 Champions after defeating Pakistan by 5 runs in the final at Johannesburg.

All Test-playing nations achieve automatic qualification to the tournament, with the remaining places filled by ICC associate member nations through a qualification tournament.

Qualification for the 2007 ICC World Twenty20 came from the results of the first cycle of the ICC World Cricket League - a 50-over format league for non-Test playing nations. The two finalists of the Division One tournament - Kenya and Scotland - qualified for the inaugural World Twenty20 tournament alongside the Test-playing nations. Qualification for subsequent tournaments, beginning with the 2009 event, is achieved through a special event using the twenty20 format.

Qualification
The 2009 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier was played between 2 August and 5 August 2008 in Stormont, Belfast in Northern Ireland. The six competing teams were: Bermuda, Canada, Ireland, Kenya, The Netherlands and Scotland, with the top three earning a place at the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 in England. The competition was won by Ireland and the Netherlands, who shared the trophy after rain forced the final to be abandoned without a ball bowled. Both teams qualified for the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 finals in England. Due to the withdrawal of Zimbabwe from the competition, the two finalists are joined by third-placed Scotland.

Tournament

The tournament format for the 2007 edition consisted of four stages:

Group Stage - Four groups of three teams (two seeds and one qualifier) with two games per team and the top two teams qualifying for the Super 8s.

"Super 8s" - Two four-team groups playing three games each. The make up of the groups was pre-decided based upon all seeds qualifying; if a seed failed to qualify the beneficiary took their allotted place in their respective group.

Semi-Finals - Group Winners playing the runner up of the other Super 8 Group.

Final

Participating teams in the 2009 edition of the Twenty20 World Cup are:

Australia
Bangladesh
England
India
Ireland
Netherlands
New Zealand
Pakistan
Scotland
Sri Lanka
South Africa
West Indies

Links to more info on the 2009 Twenty20 Cricket World Cup:

Twenty20 World Cup Coverage

Cricinfo's 2009 ICC World Twenty20 coverage

ICC World Twenty20 Website

*Acknowledgements to Wikipedia.org and owners of pictures and videos used.

In the International Spotlight...Norway Cricket

The Norwegian cricket team is the national cricket team of Norway. Although the team is by name Norwegian, the players all currently descend from the countries of the Indian subcontinent, i.e. Pakistan, India or Sri Lanka. 90% of players domestically are of Asian descent, although most are Norwegian citizens and nationals.

History:
Cricket was first organised in the 1960s by a few Asian immigrants and has grown to the current state of 24 clubs playing in three divisions.

Norway became a member of the International Cricket Council in 2000, and played their first international tournament that year, the European Representative Championships in Austria. They won the tournament without losing a game, but did not play again until 2003 when they took part in the ECC Trophy for the first time. They won this tournament too, again without losing a game. This qualified them for Division Two of the European Championship in 2004. They finished fourth in the six team tournament, gaining wins against Gibraltar and Israel.

In 2005 they won the European Affiliates Championship, the equivalent of the ECC Trophy. They once again won the tournament without losing a game, and again qualified for Division Two of the European Championship in 2006. They won the tournament, beating debutants Jersey in the final after losing to them in the group stage. This gave Norway a place in Division One for the first time in 2008 and earned them a place in Division Five of the World Cricket League.

In May 2008, Norway travelled to Jersey to take part in the Division Five tournament. Although Norway beat Vanuatu in Group A, it was their only group stage win and with four loses they failed to make the semi-finals. Norway finished ninth overall after defeating the Bahamas and then Japan in positional playoff matches. With only the top two from this tournament qualifying for Division Four in Tanzania later in the year, Norway missed out on the chance to take their 2011 World Cup dream any further.

In July 2008, Norway met the top nations of European cricket when they participated in the Division One of the European Championship. The Norwegians finish sixth overall in the six team tournament, losing four of their matches convincingly to; Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands and Scotland whilst their match against Italy was abandoned due to rain.

Links to more information on Norway cricket:

Norway Cricket Website

Oslo Aliens Cricket Club

Norway Cricket Timeline

Norway Cricket at Cricinfo's Beyond the Test World blog



*Acknowledgements to Wikipedia.org and owners of pictures and videos used.

In the International Spotlight...Tanzania Cricket

The Tanzania national cricket team is the team that represents the country of Tanzania in international cricket matches. Cricket has been played in what is now Tanzania since 1890, and the national side first played in 1951.

The Tanzania Cricket Association became an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2001, and the national side is currently in Division Four of the World Cricket League.

History:

Beginnings of cricket in Tanzania:
Cricket was first played in what is now Tanzania on the island of Zanzibar by the British Navy as recreation for the officers and crew. Cricket spread to Tanganyika after the British took over the League of Nations mandate in 1919.

Cricket began to be concentrated mostly on the coast and on Zanzibar, with particular development in Dar-es-Salaam. The Indian population quickly took up the game and by the 1930s formed the majority of the players, with a significant European minority.

National side:

Early matches:
Distance between Tanganyika and other countries in East Africa meant that the first international wasn't played until 1951, when Tanganyika lost by an innings to Kenya. Occasional matches against Kenya and Uganda continued throughout the 1950s and Zanzibar also played matches against Uganda, beginning in 1956.

Other opponents from further afield also toured, with Tanganyika playing the MCC in 1957 and 1963, a South African Non-Europeans side in 1958 (who also played Zanzibar and Pakistan International Airlines in 1964. The occasional matches against Kenya and Uganda eventually led to a formal triangular tournament being introduced in 1967, later to become a quadrangular tournament with the addition of Zambia.

Decline:
As many businesses were nationalised in the early 1970s, much of the Indian and British population began to left the country. Cricketers, including John Solanky, who went on to play for Glamorgan, were amongst those who left the country, and standards went into decline.

Since the 1970s, the Tanzania Cricket Association has concentrated on developing the game amongst the African communities, and the national side now contains between 20-25% African players. The national side returned to form in the mid-1990s, when they were runners-up in two Africa-wide tournaments in 1994 and 1995, though there was again a slight decline in the late 1990s.

ICC membership:
The Tanzania Cricket Association became an associate member of the ICC in 2001 (Tanzania had previously played international cricket as part of the combined East Africa and East and Central Africa teams) opening up new opportunities for Tanzanian cricket. The first matches for the national side as an ICC member were in the 2002 Africa Cup where they lost all four of their matches.

They showed improvement by the Africa Cricket Association Championship in 2004, where they still finished last, but did beat Zambia in the final match of the tournament, which was a qualifying event for the 2005 ICC Trophy. Even more improvement was shown in the equivalent tournament two years later, when they won Division Two of the World Cricket League Africa Region. This result qualified Tanzania for Division Three of the World Cricket League in Darwin in 2007. Tanzania finished sixth in that tournament after losing to Hong Kong in a play-off, which relegated them to Division Four.

Records:

Highest team total: 406/8 v Uganda, 7 September 1968

Highest individual score: 195 by Suresh Rawal v Kenya, 5 September 1970

Best innings bowling: 7/5 by Shashikant Patel for Tanganyika v Kenya, 23 July 1960

Players:
The following players represented Tanzania in their most recent match, against Hong Kong in 2007:

Rishen Patel

Abhik Patwa

Shaheed Dhanani

Athumani Kakonzi

Hamisi Abdallah (Captain)

Khalil Rehmtullah

Benson Mwita

Bhavesh Govind

Kassim Nassoro

Hasnain Damji

Issa Kikasi

Links to more information on Tanzania Cricket:

The Official Website of Tanzania Cricket Association

Tanzania Cricket at Cricinfo's Beyond the Test World blog

Tanzania Cricket @ Cricketarchive.com



*Acknowledgements to Wikipedia.org and owners of pictures and videos used.

In the International Spotlight...Uganda Cricket

The Uganda national cricket team is the team that represents the country of Uganda in international cricket matches. Having previously been part of the combined East African and East and Central African teams, they became an associate member of the International Cricket Council in their own right in 1998. They began to play international cricket in 1951/52 when they first took part in a triangular tournament against regional rivals Kenya and Tanzania (then Tanganyika).

They have competed in the ICC Trophy on two occasions, in 2001 and 2005. They won Division Three of the World Cricket League in Darwin, Australia in 2007, qualifying them for Division Two of the same tournament towards the end of 2007, which also qualified them for a spot on the ICC's High Performance Program.

History:
East Africa team:

Uganda combined with their regional rivals Kenya and Tanzania to form the East Africa team. The first known match for this team was against a South African "Non-Europeans" team captained by Basil D'Oliveira in September 1958 in Nairobi, with the visitors winning by seven wickets. East Africa became an associate member of the ICC in 1966 and India toured the following year, winning a match against Uganda by 6 wickets before a first-class match against East Africa in Kampala which India won by 8 wickets.

East Africa toured England in 1972 and the Marylebone Cricket Club played a first-class match against East Africa in January 1974, winning by 237 runs. The following year, East Africa played in the 1975 Cricket World Cup in England. After various warm-up games, including a 3 wicket win against Glamorgan, they played New Zealand, India and England in the World Cup itself, losing all three matches. The World Cup was followed by a first-class match against Sri Lanka at the County Cricket Ground, Taunton, which the Sri Lankans won by 115 runs. East Africa played in the ICC Trophies of 1979, 1982 and 1986, without qualifying for the World Cup from any of them.

Uganda continued playing their regular matches against Kenya and Tanzania, despite Kenya leaving the East Africa combination in and the triangular tournament became a quadrangular tournament in 1966 when Zambia joined in. From then until the tournament's end in 1980, Uganda won the tournament just once.

East and Central Africa cricket team:
The East Africa team left the ICC in 1989 and was replaced by the East and Central Africa team the same year. This new team was a combination of Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, and they took part in the ICC Trophy for the first time in 1990, also taking part in 1994, 1997 and 2001.

Setting out on their own:
Uganda left the East and Central Africa combination and became an associate member of the ICC in their own right in 1998. Their first international tournament was the 2001 ICC Trophy. After winning all five of their first round games, they lost a play-off match against the UAE for the right to enter the second stage of the tournament. The following year, they finished third in their group in the Africa Cup.

In 2004, Uganda played their first first-class matches in the ICC Intercontinental Cup against Kenya and Namibia, winning against Namibia. In August that year, they finished second to Namibia in the Africa Cricket Association Championships in Zambia. This qualified them for the following years ICC Trophy, in which they finished in twelfth and last place after losing to Papua New Guinea in their final play-off match. Earlier in the year, they again played against Namibia and Kenya in the 2005 ICC Intercontinental Cup, losing both games.

Present Day:
In January 2007, Uganda faced Bermuda and Canada as those two teams prepared for Division One of the World Cricket League in Nairobi. This also served as preparation for Uganda's visit to Darwin, Australia, for Division Three of the same tournament. They won their games against the Cayman Islands, Hong Kong and Tanzania before beating Papua New Guinea in the semi-final. They then beat Argentina in the final of the tournament.

Uganda's performance in the Division Three tournament means that they have gained a spot in the ICC's High Performance Program, and will now travel to Windhoek, Namibia towards the end of 2007 where they will face Argentina, Denmark, Oman and the UAE in addition to hosts Namibia. A top four finish in this tournament will qualify them for the 2009 ICC World Cup Qualifier, whilst a bottom two finish will mean that they play in Division Three again in 2009.

Uganda took part in a four-team Twenty20 tournament prior to the 2007 Twenty20 World Cup, playing games against Pakistan, Kenya, and Bangladesh in Nairobi. As expected, they lost against Pakistan and Bangladesh, losing but they stunned African rivals Kenya with a two-wicket win.

Their next matches were two one-day games against Bermuda, also in Nairobi, in October 2007. They surprised their more experienced rivals, going down by just seven runs after Nandikishore Patel and Danniel Ruyange scored half-centuries, before winning the second match by 43 runs with Joel Olwenyi scoring a half-century of his own.

Links to more information on Uganda Cricket:

Uganda Cricket @ Cricketarchive.com

Uganda Cricket Timeline

Uganda Cricket @ Cricinfo.com



*Acknowledgements to Wikipedia.org and owners of pictures and videos used.

In the International Spotlight...Italy Cricket

The Italy national cricket team is the team that represents the country of Italy in international cricket matches. They have been an associate member of the International Cricket Council since 1995, having previously been an affiliate member since 1984. The Italian national cricket team is administered by the Federazione Cricket Italiana‎ (Italian Cricket Federation).

They are currently ranked 27th in the world by the ICC, and are ranked fifth amongst European non-Test teams. They are in Division Four of the World Cricket League and Division One of the European Championship.

The earliest mention of cricket in Italy is of a match played by Admiral Nelson's sailors in Naples in 1793. Around the end of the 19th century, several combined cricket and football clubs formed, including the world famous A.C. Milan, which was originally the Milan Cricket and Football Club and the first Italian football team Genoa Cricket and Football Club, which was originally the Genoa Cricket & Athletic Club. But these clubs soon forgot about cricket and concentrated on football. Cricket started to be revived after the Second World War.

The "Federazione Cricket Italiana" (Italian Cricket Federation) was formed in 1980, and they became an affiliate member of the ICC in 1984, and were promoted to associate member in 1995.

In 1996, Italy took part in the first European Championship in Denmark, finishing seventh after beating Israel in a play-off. They took part in the ICC Trophy for the first time in the 1997 tournament and performed poorly, finishing joint last out of the 22 participants. They finished fifth in the following years European Championship.

In 1999, Italy took part in a quadrangular tournament in Gibraltar also featuring France and Israel. They won the tournament, beating the hosts in the final. They finished fifth in Division One of the European Championship the following year and were due to participate in the 2001 ICC Trophy, but pulled out at the last minute due to a dispute over the eligibility of four players.

The 2002 European Championship saw Italy finish sixth in Division One, relegating them to Division Two for 2004, which they promptly won. This qualified them for the repêchage tournament for the 2005 ICC Trophy in early 2005 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. They finished seventh in that tournament after beating Zambia in a play-off.

They took part in Division One of the European Championship in 2006, finishing fifth. In May/June 2007, they travelled to Darwin, Australia to take part in Division Three of the World Cricket League. They finished seventh after beating Fiji in a play-off, and will play in Division Four of the World Cricket League in 2008.

In addition to playing in Division Four of the World Cricket League in 2008 against Fiji, Hong Kong, Tanzania Italy will also participate in Division One of the European Championship in Dublin, playing against Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway and Scotland.


Current Italian Cricket Squad:
Joe Scuderi(captain), Luis Di Giglio, Din Alaud, Alessandro Bonora, Munasinghe Gayshan, Dylan Sarnelli, Hemantha Jayasena, Samantha Ketipe, Thushara Kurukulasuriya, Luca Poli, Andy Northcote, Nicholas Northcote, Kelum Perera and Peter Petricola.


Links to more information on Italian Cricket:

Federazione Cricket Italiana(In Italian and English)

Italian Cricket Records on Cricketarchive.com

Italy Cricket at Cricinfo's Beyond the Test World blog

Cricket gets noticed in soccer-mad Italy





*Acknowledgements to Wikipedia.org and owners of pictures and videos used.

In the International Spotlight...Singapore Cricket

The Singapore national cricket team is the team that represents the country of Singapore in international cricket matches. They have been an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) since 1974 and have played in every edition of the ICC World Cup Qualifier (formerly the ICC Trophy) to date with the exception of the 1986 and 2005 tournaments. They have also ruled themselves out of qualification for the 2009 ICC World Cup Qualifier after finishing fifth in Division Five of the World Cricket League in 2008.

They also have played in each edition of the ACC Trophy and its predecessor the South East Asian Tournament. They play annually against Malaysia in the Saudara Cup three-day match and the Stan Nagaiah Trophy one-day series and between 1991 and 2004 played Malaysia, Hong Kong and Thailand in the Tuanku Ja'afar Cup.

History:

Beginnings of cricket in Singapore:
The first recorded mention of cricket in Singapore was in 1837 when a "Mr Z" complained, in a letter to the Singapore Free Press, of cricket being played near a church on a Sunday in violation of the Sabbath. This resulted in cricket being banned on Sundays, a prohibition that remained in place until the 1930s.

Cricket was an important recreational activity, with matches often played against the officers of visiting ships. The Singapore Cricket Club was formed in 1852 and played its first match amongst themselves the same year. The quality of cricket in these early years was quite poor, and it wasn't until 1865 before a team total of more than 100 was scored. Louis Glass became the first person in Singapore to record a century two years later.

The Singapore Cricket Club eventually began to play against teams from other parts of British Malaya such as Penang, Perak and Kuala Lumpur and this eventually led to an invitation from Hong Kong to send a team there, which saw the beginning of the long running series of "Interport Matches".
Singapore team:
(First matches)
The Singapore team did play twice during the Straits Settlements team era, playing twice against WAS Oldfield's XI in 1927, losing both matches by an innings. They next played in 1957, drawing at home to Ceylon. Various teams visited Singapore in the 1960s, including Worcestershire.

The Interport Matches resumed in 1968 with Singapore drawing against Hong Kong. These matches were played occasionally until 1987. In 1970, the Saudara Cup match against Malaysia was played for the first time, this continues annually to the present day. Also that year, Singapore played an MCC side captain by Tony Lewis and featuring Geoff Boycott. The match was won by the MCC.

ICC membership:
Singapore became an associate member of the ICC in 1974 and three years later won the Saudara Cup for the first time. In 1978, Singapore played India at home, the match ending in a draw. Singapore took part in the first ICC Trophy in England in 1979 but could only finish fourth in their first round group after only beating Argentina. They finished fourth out of eight teams in their first round group in the 1982 tournament and withdrew from the 1986 tournament when several of their players couldn't get leave from work.

Singapore played in the South East Asian Tournament for the first time in 1984, playing in the event again in 1988 and 1992 (when they hosted), though they never reached the final as Bangladesh and Hong Kong finished first and second on each occasion. The final Interport Match took place in Singapore in 1987, with Hong Kong beating the home side. They returned to the ICC Trophy for the 1990 tournament in the Netherlands, beating Malaysia and Israel during the event, and failing to progress past the first round.

Singapore began playing in the Tuanku Ja'afar Cup in 1991, an annual tournament against Malaysia, Hong Kong and Thailand. They won the event just once, in 1994, a year in which they finished 19th out of 20 teams in the ICC Trophy. The Stan Nagaiah Trophy, an annual three match series of one-day matches against Malaysia, began the following year. Singapore played in the first ACC Trophy in 1996, beating the Maldives and Thailand but failing to go past the first round. They finished 14th in the 1997 ICC Trophy and could only beat Papua New Guinea in the 1998 ACC Trophy, again failing to go past the first round.

21st century:
The first two major tournaments of the 21st century for Singapore got them off to a bad start as they lost all their first round matches in both the 2000 ACC Trophy in the UAE and the 2001 ICC Trophy in Ontario, their final ICC Trophy to date. They hosted the ACC Trophy in 2002, beating the Maldives and Thailand (by 325 runs) but again failing to progress beyond the first round, a performance they repeated in 2004. The finished fourth in the ACC Fast Track Nations Tournament in 2004 and 2005.

Singapore began to show an improvement in their form in 2006. That year they finished third in the ACC Premier League and finally passed the first round stage in the ACC Trophy, finishing fifth to qualify for Division Five of the World Cricket League in 2008. They didn't progress beyond the first round of the 2007 ACC Twenty20 Cup, beating only Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia, but captain Chaminda Ruwan did make the highest score of the tournament. In the World Cricket League Division Five tournament in Jersey, Singapore finished fifth after beating Botswana in a play-off, though they did beat Afghanistan during the first round, who went on to win the tournament.

Records:

ICC Trophy:

Highest team total: 231/6 v Gibraltar, 25 February 1994 at Ruaraka Sports Club Ground, Nairobi

Highest individual score: 77 by Joshua Dearing v Canada, 28 June 2001 at Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club

Best innings bowling: 5/39 by M. Rajalingam v Fiji, 5 July 1982 at Solihull Cricket Club Ground

Overall:

Highest team total: 440/2 v Thailand, 16 July 2002 at Kallang Ground, Singapore

Highest individual score: 191 by K Mendis v Thailand, 16 July 2002 at Kallang Ground, Singapore

Best innings bowling: 8/8 by Mahesh Mehta v Malaysia, 14 September 1979 at The Padang, Malaysia

Links to more information on Singapore Cricket:

Singapore Cricket Association

Singapore Cricket Club

Cricinfo Blog on Singapore Cricket

Singapore Cricket Timeline





*Acknowledgements to Wikipedia.org and owners of pictures and videos used.

In the International Spotlight...Cayman Islands Cricket

The Cayman Islands national cricket team is the team that represents the British overseas territory of the Cayman Islands in international cricket matches. They have been an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) since 2002, having previously been an affiliate member since 1997.

They have played in international competition since the year 2000, and played in the 2005 ICC Intercontinental Cup. They are in Division Three of the World Cricket League and are ranked at 24th in the world by the ICC, the fourth ranked non-test team in the Americas region.

History:
The Cayman Islands became an affiliate member of the ICC in 1997 and played their first tournament three years later when they played in the ICC Americas Championship in Canada. They finished fourth in the tournament, their only win coming against Argentina. Later in the year, they played their first List A matches as part of the Red Stripe Bowl in the West Indies. They played against Bermuda, Guyana, the Leeward Islands and the Windward Islands in the first round, losing all their games.

The Cayman Islands gained associate membership of the ICC in 2002, a year in which they finished third in the Americas Championship in Buenos Aires, Argentina after recording wins against Argentina, the Bahamas and Bermuda. The 2004 Americas Championship served as a qualifying competition for the 2005 ICC Trophy, and a repeat of their third place finish from 2002 would have qualified them for that tournament. Wins against Argentina and the Bahamas meant they could only finish fourth however. This did qualify them for a place in a repêchage tournament in early 2005 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. They finished fifth in that tournament after beating Kuwait in a play-off match.

Later in 2005, the Cayman Islands took part in the ICC Intercontinental Cup, a tournament for ICC associate members with first-class status. They lost both their first round matches to Bermuda and Canada, thus not qualifying for the semi-finals. In 2006, they first played in the inaugural Stanford 20/20 tournament. They beat the Bahamas in the preliminary round, but lost to Trinidad & Tobago in the first round proper.

In August 2006, they finished third in Division One of the ICC Americas Championship after wins against Argentina and Canada. This qualified them for Division Three of the World Cricket League, which was played in May/June 2007 in Darwin, Australia. After beating Hong Kong and Tanzania in the first round, they lost to Argentina in the semi finals, and to Papua New Guinea in the third place play off, thus finishing fourth in the tournament.

Tournament History:
ICC Intercontinental Cup:

2004: Did not participate

2005: First round

2006: Did not participate

World Cricket League:

2007: 4th in Division Three

ICC Americas Championship:

2000: 4th place

2002: 3rd place

2004: 4th place

2006: 3rd place (Division One)

The future:
In 2009, they will again play in Division Three of the World Cricket League, where they will play against Papua New Guinea and four teams still to be decided. A top two finish in that tournament will qualify them for the 2009 ICC World Cup Qualifier in the United Arab Emirates, where they must finish in the top six to qualify for the 2011 World Cup.

Links Linking to Information on Cayman Islands Cricket:

Cayman Island Cricket Players

CricketArchive info on Cayman Islands Cricket

Cricinfo Profile on Cayman Islands Cricket





*Acknowledgements to Wikipedia.org, Cricinfo.com and owners of pictures and videos used.

In the International Spotlight...Afghanistan Cricket

The Afghan cricket team(Pashto:دافغانستان د کرکټ ملی لوبډله Dari: تیم ملی کریکت افغانستان) is a national cricket team representing Afghanistan. They have been an Affiliate Member of the ICC since 2001, and an Associate Member of the Asian Cricket Council since 2003.

Originally the Taliban regime in Afghanistan had banned cricket as they had banned most other sports, but in early 2000 there was a change of heart and the government wrote to the Pakistan Cricket Board asking for the PCB's support for an Afghan application to the ICC.

Cricket was previously little known in Afghanistan, until civil war drove many Afghans as refugees into Pakistan, where they found the game of cricket common as a leftover from the British Raj; those refugees returning brought it back to Afghanistan. In 2001, the Afghan side took part in a four-match tour of Pakistan, visiting Peshawar and Rawalpindi, and the team also visited in 2003 and 2004. In 2004 Afghanistan played in the ACC Trophy in Kuala Lumpur - the regional qualifying competition for the ICC Trophy - and performed respectably, with the highlight being a surprise win over hosts Malaysia. They finished sixth in that tournament, only just missing out on progression along the qualifying path for the 2007 World Cup by one place.

In 2006 Afghanistan hosted an MCC team led by former England captain Mike Gatting in a 40-over contest, and the Afghans won by 171 runs with Gatting being dismissed for a duck.

Later in 2006 the team competed in the ACC Trophy for the second time and finished in third place, thereby gaining entry to Division Five of the ICC World Cricket League which forms part of the qualification pathway to the 2011 World Cup. In May 2008, Afghanistan reached the final of the Division Five competition to qualify for Division Four. In the final, Afghanistan defeated Jersey, the host nation. Afghanistan defeated Hong Kong in the final of the tournament, which means they both reached WCL Division 3 too. Afghanistan kept its unbeaten record by beating Fiji, Tanzania, Jersey, Hong Kong (2 times) and Italy in the tournament. Now, they are setting for the WCL Division 3 tournament which be held in Argentina in January 2009.

2008 ICC World Cricket League Division Four Champions:
Afghanistan made a dramatic victory in Tanzania winning their all 6 played matches and at the end defeating Hong Kong in the Final by 57 runs. Afghanistan team who bat first put a target of 180 to Hong Kong, and by having the best bowlers diminished Hong Kong on just 122. Spin bowler Mohammad Nabi got 4 wickets in 9 overs with just 9 runs and bowled some of the Hong Kong's best batsmen like Butt Hussain, Najib Amar and Moneer Ahmad. Fast bowler Hamid Hassan actually broke the back-bone of Hong Kong Tabarak Dar, he was bowled. Afghanistan Cricket Team chose a new coach Kabir Khan in September 2008 prior to the tournament. Kabir Khan didn't have much time to train the team practically but he actually made the team to be ready for the games mentaly and pyschologically, because Afghanistan have played their previous games very emotionally with less patience. They played with a new tactic under Coach Kabir Khan and the results were outstanding. Afghanistan will play Division 3 in Argentina in January 2009.

2008 ACC Trophy Elite
The Afghanistan National Cricket team left the country on 23 July to participate in ACC Trophy Elite 2008. The ACC Trophy started on 25 July and ended on 03 August 2008. The ACC Trophy is the premier tournament in the Asia development region. The finalists of the ACC Trophy Elite qualify for the immediately succeeding Asia Cup where they take on Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in ODIs. Afghanistan finished 3rd in this tournament behind Hong Kong and UAE.

2008 ICC World Cricket League Division Five Champions:
Afghanistan overcame Jersey and win a dramatic ICC World Cricket League Division 5 (WCL Div. 5) final in Jersey on 31 May. In a low-scoring match at the Grainville Jersey, Afghanistan completed the target of 81 runs with two wickets to spare. Afghanistan and Jersey join Hong Kong, Fiji, Tanzania and Italy in the six-team ICC WCL Div. 4 set for the Tanzanian capital of Dar Es Salaam from 4 to 11 October. In turn, the top two teams from that tournament will progress to WCL Div. 3 in Argentina next January and hope to finish in the top two to qualify for the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2009 in the UAE, which incorporates Divisions 1 and 2. The top four Associate or Affiliate teams from the ICC World Cup Qualifier will book their places at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 to be staged in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Tour to USA: Compton Cricket Club vs Afghanistan national cricket team:
A match with the Afghanistan national cricket team had been organised for June 7th. 2008. Unfortunately the match has had to be postponed due to lack of funding for the National Cricket team from Afghanistan to fly from their home camp to Los Angeles for the historical match.

The 2 clubs are working towards another date fixture for this match.

This will be the first time that a cricket team from Afghanistan has toured to America. The match will help raise money for an orphanage rebuilt by US marines in Afghanistan and continue the CCC's vital work around the world promoting greater peace through 'cricket diplomacy.

Useful Links:
Link to Afghanistani Squad members
Asian Cricket Council page on Afghanistani Cricket





*Acknowledgements to Wikipedia.org and owners of pictures and videos used.