The road to the 2011 World Cup
Will Luke
May 22, 2008
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The Taliban banned cricket in Afghanistan, with many of their cricketers learning their trade when exiled in Pakistan
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It may be three long years years away, but the road to the 2011 World
Cup begins this week in the unlikely setting of Jersey. More famed for
its cattle and potatoes than a venue for cricket tournaments, Jersey
plays host to 12 of the world's lesser-known teams in Division 5 of the
World Cricket League (WCL), as they battle to climb the ladder to the
fourth division and dream of a World Cup place in Asia.
The road is long, winding and complicated.
The two finalists from Division 5 progress to the fourth division -
joining Hong Kong, Fiji, Tanzania and Italy - whose tournament takes
place in Dar es Salaam in October. The top two sides then advance to
World Cricket League's third division in Argentina next January, which
is followed by the World Cup qualifiers. And, finally, the top four
Associate or Affiliate teams from that competition book their place in
the World Cup. So far, so confusing.
There are some unlikely countries
participating, too: Mozambique, Vanuatu and Germany; Bahamas, Singapore
and, of course, Jersey. But among the 12 sides, who are split into two
groups, are three teams with realistic ambition of hot-footing it into
the higher leagues. Nepal's infrastructure, while relatively modest in
world terms, continues to expand. USA's interest in the game is
burgeoning, and they return from international suspension. Perhaps most
intriguingly of all, Afghanistan: ravaged by war, but no stranger to
the peaceful clunk of ball on bat. As Taj Malik, the coach of
Afghanistan, told Cricinfo, his side are in excellent form too.
"The preparations have been very good. We've
been training for four months and played 14 matches in Pakistan and won
all the games, so we arrive in supreme form," he said prior to arriving
in Jersey. "I'm sure we will give a good [account of ourselves and we
simply must go for the win. All the Afghan people expect us to win.
Yes, cricket is a game of chance, but we want to win 100% so that we
can reach the next division."
The irony of Afghanistan doing so well isn't
lost on Malik. After all, the Taliban regime banned the game, and it is
through exile in Pakistan that the Afghan people have rediscovered the
game or learnt from scratch. "We have financial problems of course, and
our cricket infrastructure is still poor," Malik said. "For example we
have only just completed our national cricket ground and academy. But
the team spirit is very high for the last three or four years because
we have travelled to India, Pakistan, Nepal, Malaysia, UAE - and the UK
in 2006.
"The team is mature and experienced and ready
for an international tour. We even had some of our guys in India,
facing Mitchell Johnson, Irfan Pathan, Munaf Patel during a cricket
academy in India, and they did very well."
Malik remains bullish of Afghanistan's chances and - no surprise here -
is exceedingly keen, as his countrymen back home might also be, to beat
USA. "To play America in the semi-final or final would be wonderful,"
he said, "and we would put our all into that game. But sport is about
making friendships. It can bring two nations together. We don't see it
as a political game - we just want to play seriously and win because
they're a very good team full of different nationalities: Indians,
Pakistanis, maybe even some Afghanistanis!"
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The USA are back in international cricket, but will their year-long absence affect their performance this week?
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They will be wary of the Americans. Their
banishment from international cricket was not a surprise - repeated
refusal to carry out the most basic of requests (such as engage a new
constitution and hold elections) forced the ICC's hand - but they
contain a number of dangerous players, not least their captain, Steve
Massiah, who has been left kicking his heels for 12 months.
Little can be expected of the minnows'
minnows - Norway, Mozambique, Germany, Singapore, Vanuatu - but the
World Cricket League offers these smaller nations the incentive of
boosting the sport's profile. Few Japanese people will even be aware
their country has a national cricket side, let alone a gifted
wicketkeeper in Tatsuro Chino, for example.
"The biggest problem cricket faces in Japan is lack of exposure. The
average person just doesn't know what cricket is," Jarrad Shearer,
Japan's manager, said. "That's why tournaments like this are so
important. By being successful in Jersey, hopefully we'll get more
exposure domestically. Our goal for this tournament is, first and
foremost, to win it and progress to Division 4 - we're not here just to
make up the numbers. At the very least we aim to finish in the top six
at this tournament to stay in Division 5."
Shearer's sentiments will be shared by his
opponents; big league cricket this is not, yet the competition will be
hard-fought and the incentives are great. And in three years, one or
two of these 12 will be looking back to where it all began in Jersey
this week.
Squads
Group A
Germany: Graham Sommer (capt), Abdul Bhatti, Ayoub Pasha, Anees
Butt, Farooq Ahmed, Javed Iqbal, Rajeev Vohra, Asif Khan, Milan
Fernando, Surya Narayanan, Eksan Latif, James Eggleston, Srinivas
Satyanarayana, Barkatullah Masaud. Keith Thompson (coach) and
Dhushyanta Ekanayake (manager)
Mozambique: Muhammad Shoaib Younus (capt), Jayesh Mohanlal
Khorova, Bineesh Vadavathi, Imtiyaz Shafikbhai Lili, Mohmed Aasif Aiyub
Koliya, Imran Ismail, Muhammad Ikheriya, Zainulbidin Gulam Patel,
Giovanni Florentino, Chandra Shekhar, C Puspussen, Nadir Gafar Karim,
Mohammed Zulficar Sidat, Muhammad Kamran Qadir, Syed Kaleem Raza Shah,
Wayne P Smith. Ismail Hassan (coach) and Carlos Jaime Mandlate
(manager)
Nepal: Binod Kumar Das (capt), Paras Khadka, Paresh Prasad
Lohani, Shakti Prasad Gauchan, Mahaboob Alam, Sanjam Regmi, Sharad
Vesawkar, Dipendra Chaudhary, Gyanendra Malla, Mahesh Kumar Chhetri,
Raj Kumar Pradhan, Amrit Bhattarai, Basant Regmi, Dhirendra Bahadur.
Roy Dias (coach) and Tanka Prasad Paneru (manager)
Last edited: 23-May-08 03:28 AM
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Germany
Afghanistan
Mozambique
Bahamas
Nepal
Botswana
Norway
Japan
USA
Jersey
Vanuatu
Singapore