Cricket-Match-Special ... A forum for discussion

Scotland lose to Singapore. That feels like it doesn't happen often.

Close finish.

Only T20 though.

Well done to Papua New Guinea, qualifying for the WCT20.

Ireland are also going.

Netherlands join them.

As are scotland

So, fairly traditional apart from PNG.

Arthur Crabtree wrote:So, fairly traditional apart from PNG.

And Namibia.

And Oman, it seems. I've just looked up how it works. Six teams play a qualifying tournament with BD and SL before the WCT20.

So they aren't really in the world cup yet. Just in the next qualifying stage. Very ICC, that. About as inclusive as a UKIP retreat.

GGAS wrote:So they aren't really in the world cup yet. Just in the next qualifying stage. Very ICC, that. About as inclusive as a UKIP retreat.

with the analogy

Though from a competition point of view, I think the ICC have achieved a balance. If the Associate Nations directly qualified for the Super Stages, they are just going to get drubbed. At least a Group Stage allows Associates to experience winning before playing the test nations. An improvement on the 2012 Edition where qualified teams got two games against the test nations and their tournament ended prematurely.

It surprises me associates are awarded T20i status but seldom play against test nations. Surely when teams visit the Middle East to play Pakistan they should play Oman and UAE for a one-off fixture.

I like the idea of having a qualifying competition that segues into the main WC. In fact I think they nicked the idea off me. It does at least keep the associates in the main WC.

Amazing how the wheel of Associate cricket turns.

A few years ago, Hong Kong were quite a force but they are in the process of being turned over by Malaysia.

They are 3 matches in to a 5 match T20 series and have lost three from three.

A lot of Malaysia's success has relied on good batting as Hong Kong had the best of the bowling today; was especially impressed with Haroon Arshad who got 4-12 from just two overs.

I stumbled across this piece earlier about the rise of cricket in Germany. The refugee crisis has seen an influx in players desperate to play cricket, especially in the first six months after arrival, since they are not legally allowed to work during that period. It seems that zee Germans have high hopes for future world domination, but I think that a top 20 ranking is the best they could hope for in the next 10-20 years.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/cricket/52553359

What's the best associate nation that the Australian women's cricket team could beat?

In the only game in the world that was completed today Luxembourg defeated the Czech Republic by 63 runs.

Marcus Cope's 3 for 16 bounced the Czechs out for just 89-9 in pursuit of 164 in a DLS adjusted total.

The Professor wrote:In the only game in the world that was completed today Luxembourg defeated the Czech Republic by 63 runs.

Marcus Cope's 3 for 16 bounced the Czechs out for just 89-9 in pursuit of 164 in a DLS adjusted total.

Wasn't aware but this is a tri-series tournament that also includes Belgium.

Quite refreshingly it seems rather open. Too often in Associate cricket you have one team repeatedly steam-rolling the other. After Luxembourg beat the Czech Republic yesterday, they returned the favour. Was genuinely impressed with figures of 3-20 from Kushalkumar Mendon as the Czech's outstripped their rivals total of 111 in 18.5 overs.

It is Belgium who are in the driving seat, however, as they beat both Luxembourg and the Czechs in games in the afternoon. Those last two fixtures will repeat themselves tomorrow.