The stage is set for six developing cricket nations to display their prowess in the International Cricket Council's Six Nations Challenge tournament. From today onwards, the two cricket grounds in Dubai and the one in Sharjah will buzz with excitement.

At stake for the winning nation is a slot in the prestigious Champions Trophy to be held in England during September.

All the six nations had their work out and has acclimatised for the next seven days of action.

"Three teams which took part in the World Cup 2003 are contesting against the three fast emerging nations. The event is sure to be exciting and keenly fought," remarked Tim Anderson, the events manager during an introductory meeting with the coaches and managers of the different nations.

Former Test star and renowned coach Bob Woolmer, who is also the ICC's High Performance Manager, expressing his delight at the improvement of standard of cricket outside the Test level, said: "The performance of some of the developing nations during the last World Cup was very encouraging. This tournament is another platform for them to show how much more they have progressed."

"This event will surely give them the knowledge on what they should do for the next step."
International umpire Darrel Hair is the tournament referee and will oversee the smooth conduct of the matches.

The event kicks off with hosts UAE meeting Canada at the Dubai Cricket Council ground No.2 while Scotland take on Holland in DCC ground No.1 At the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Namibia will meet debutantes USA.

"We are very honoured to play in such a tournament. Our performance will depend on the team's physical fitness. We hope to do well," remarked Hubert Miller, the manager of the USA team.

Canadians are here without their World Cup hero John Davison due to his domestic cricket commitments in Australia.

The experienced Joseph Harris will lead the team, which comprise of outstanding performers like Don Maxwell and Ishwar Maraj.

Incidentally, Maxwell is the holder of the highest innings score, on 280, in the Toronto and District Cricket league. Maraj holds the record for the slowest World Cup fifty, carrying his bat through, against South Africa. They also have an outstanding wicketkeeper in Ashish Bagai.

Holland, the winners of the ICC Trophy, are the favourites.

"We have seven players who played in the World Cup but we need to see how the new players shape up. We are expecting the tournament to be a tough one," said Hans Mulder, the manager of the Holland team. Scotland are here determined to show that they are among the best.

Most of the players have benefited from Scotland competing in the England's National League Division Two event.

The presence of former England Test stars Gavin Hamilton and Dougie Brown will be a great advantage. Namibia, the hosts of the inaugural edition of this event in 2002, have many experienced players.

"We are a bit short of match practice. In the past seasons we used to play in the provincial competitions in South Africa but last season we could not do it. However, Bangladesh toured us in January and so we managed some good matches. We had six matches against them and so it was a good preparation for us," remarked Francois Erasmus, the manager of the Namibia team.

"The biggest advantage we have is that all the player are Namibian born. We have Kevin Curren, the former Zimbabwe player as our coach.

UAE umpire Iftikar Ali will officiate in the tournament along with Kantilal Patel (Canada), Erik van der Vegt (Holland) John Thallon (Scotland), Hendrik Venter (Namibia) and Vernon Nesfield (USA).

The tournament will follow a 50-over round robin format.