Sport | Cricket
UAE gears up for biggest cricket tournament
Sixteen nations to play 72 matches in a span of 12 days
- By K.R. Nayar, Chief Cricket Writer
- Published: 12:25 February 21, 2012
Dubai: The UAE will stage its biggest tournament next month.
Two weeks after the conclusion of the ongoing Pakistan-England series, the country will stage the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Twenty20 qualifiers.
All the cricket stadiums in the UAE will buzz with action, producing the best of Twenty20 cricket.
Speaking to Gulf News, Mazhar Khan, the chief administrator of the Emirates Cricket Board said: "Never before has the Emirates Cricket Board staged such a huge tournament. Sixteen nations will be here by the start of the month. They will play 72 matches from March 13 to 24. The Abu Dhabi Zayed Cricket Stadium, Dubai International Cricket Stadium, International Cricket Council Global Cricket Academy Oval ground and the Sharjah Cricket Stadium will be the venues for the matches."
The nations participating in the qualifiers are Afghanistan, Bermuda, Canada, Hong Kong, Ireland, Denmark, Italy, Kenya, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, Oman, Papua New Guinea, Scotland, Uganda and United States of America.
Even the Al Dhaid Cricket Village will be busy during this period. "Some of the practice matches are even being planned to be held at Al Dhaid village as we have turf ground there. Oman will be the first country to arrive ten days prior to the event. They will play three practice games against three top local clubs. This is also a good opportunity for local clubs to gain exposure against national teams," added Khan.
"Afghanistan, who had qualified for the last Twenty20 World Cup, which uses Sharjah as its base will commence their training soon while USA team is expected to arrive by March 8. This will be a preparatory tournament for us before we stage the Under-19 World Cup in 2014. With the excellent facilities available in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah, the Emirates Cricket Board is looking forward to the challenge of hosting big tournaments and we are confident of delivering successfully," he said.
The best cricketers from Associate and Affiliate member countries will entertain the fans here. It is also an opportunity for the large number of expatriates from these 16 countries to turn up and support their teams.
One of the biggest honour in world cricket awaits the finalist of this tournament. They can qualify for the ICC World Twenty20 World Cup to be held in Sri Lanka at Colombo, Hambantota and Pallekele from September 18 September to October 7.
"Seventy two matches to be staged in a span of 12 days is indeed a great challenge. The first qualifier will emerge after the 61st match while the second qualifier will be known only after the 71st match. The winner of the 72nd and final match of the tournament will complete Group B of world cup by joining Australia and West Indies while the runner-up will team up with defending champion England and former winner India in Group A," revealed Khan.
Afghanistan who played Pakistan in a One-day match this month at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium is the defending champions of the qualifiers. With a new coach in Kabir Khan, they will challenge nations like Ireland, which had also qualified for the ICC World Twenty20 in 2010 held West Indies.
Afghanistan retained eight players who were members of the side that won the qualifiers two years ago in UAE. Captain Nawroz Mangal, Merwais Ashraf, Mohammad Nabi, Hamid Hassan, Mohammad Shahzad, Karim Khan Sadeq, Samiulah Shinwari and Shahpoor Zadran will lead the challenge.
Ireland has retained ten players from their 2010 campaign. The team will be led by William Porterfield, who captained the ICC Combined Associate and Affiliate team against England recently. Peter Borren will lead Netherlands which played in the 2007 event and stuned England in the tournament opener at Lord's. The Dutch team is being captained by Ryan ten Doeschate, who is the ICC's Associate ODI Player of the Year in 2008, 2010 and 2011
The world's best umpires led by Simon Taufel will officiate the matches.
Squads
Afghanistan
Nawroz Mangal (captain), Javed Ahmadi, Merwais Ashraf, Mohammad Nabi, Hamid Hassan, Mohammad Zamir Khan, Mohammad Shahzad, Gulbadin Naib, Shabir Ahmed Noori, Karim Khan Sadeq, Samiullah Shinwari, Dollat Zadran, Noor Ali Zadran, Shapoor ZadranBermuda - David Hemp (captain), Jason Anderson, Lional Cann, Fiqre Crockwell, Terryne Fray, Joshua Gilbert, Stefan Kelly, Kamau Leverock, Stephen Outerbridge, Josclyn Pitcher, Samuel Robinson, Curt Stovell, Rodney Trott, Janeiro Tucker
Canada
Jimmy Hansra (captain),Manninder Aulakh, Harvir Baidwan, Rustam Bhatti, Rizwan Cheema, Khurram Chohan, Tyson Gordon, Ruvindu Gunasekera, Zahid Hussain, Nitish Kumar, Henry Osinde, Hiral Patel, Raza Rehman, Junaid Siddiqi
Denmark
Michael Pedersen (captain), Aftab Ahmed, Shehzad Ahmed, Sair Anjum, Bobby Chawla, Basit Javed, Frederik Klokker, Jacob Larsen, Kamran Mahmood, Rizwan Mahmood, James Moniz, Martin Pedersen, Bashir Shah, Hamid Shah
Hong Kong
James Atkinson (captain), Irfan Ahmed, Muhammad Moner Ahmed, Nadeen Ahmed, Waqas Barkat, Babar Hayat, Asif Khan, Mohammad Aizaz Khan, Mohammad Nizakat Khan, Courtney Kruger, Roy Lamsam, Kinchit Shah, Daljeet Singh, Maxwell Tucker
Ireland
William Porterfield (captain), Alex Cusack, George Dockrell, Trent Johnston, Nigel Jones, Ed Joyce, Rory McCann, John Mooney, Kevin O'Brien, Boyd Rankin, Max Sorensen, Paul Stirling, Andrew White, Gary Wilson
Italy
Alessandro Bonora (captain), Gareth Berg, Damian Crowley, Gayashan Munasinghe, Luis Di Giglio, Michael Di Venuto, Dilan S. Fernando, Damian C. K. Fernando, Andrew Northcote, Hayden Patrizi, Dell'agnello, Vincenzo Pennazza, Peter Petricola, Stanly H. J. Samaraweera, Carl Sandri
Kenya
Collins Obuya (captain), Ragheb Aga, Duncan Allan, Tanmay Mishra, James Ngoche, Shem Ngoche, Alex Obanda, David Obuya, Nehemiah Odhiambo, Nelson Odhiambo, Elijah Otieno, Morris Ouma, Rakep Patel, Hiren Varaiya
Namibia
Craig Williams (captain), Sarel Burger, Merwe Erasmus, Hendrick Geldenhuys, Zhivago Groenwald, Louis Klazinga, Christiaan Opperman, Bernard Scholtz, Nicolaas Scholtz, Gerrie Snyman, Ewald Steenkamp, Louis Van Der Westhuizen, Raymond Van Schoor, Christoffel Viljoen
Nepal
Paras Khadka (captain), Pradeep Airee, Mahaboob Alam, Prithu Baskota, Amrit Bhattarai, Shakti Gauchan, Krishna Karki, Paresh Prasad Lohani, Gyanendra Malla, Anil Kumar Mandal, Basant Regmi, Sanjam Regmi, Chandra Sawad, Sharad Vesawkar
Netherlands
Peter Borren (captain), Wesley Barresi, Mudassar Bukhari, Atse Buurman, Tom Cooper, Tom De Grooth, Tim Gruijters, Timm Van Der Gugten, Tom Heggelman, Alexei Kervezee, Ahsan Malik, Stephan Myburgh, Pieter Seelaar, Michael Swart
Oman
Hemal Mehta (captain), Sultan Ahmed, Qais Bin Khalid Al Said, Syed Amir Ali, Adnan Ilyas,Syed Aamir Kaleem, Awal Khan, Farhan Afzal Khan, Ajay Lalcheta, Sufyan Mehmood, Rajeshkumar Ranpura, Zeeshan Ahmed Siddiqi, Jatinder Singh, Vaibhav Wategaonkar
Papua New Guinea
Rarua Dikana (captain), Geraint Jones, Jack Vare-Kevere, Jason Kila, Willie Gavera, Chris Amini, John Boge Reva, Tony Ura, Assadollah Vala, Chris Kent, Mahuru Dai, Vani Vagi Morea, Joel Tom, Hitolo Areni
Scotland
Gordon Drummond (captain), Richard Berrington, Kyle Coetzer, Joshua Davey, Ryan Flannigan, Gordon Goudie, Majid Haq, Calum Macleod, Preston Mommsen, Matthew Parker, Safayaan Sharif, Jan Stander, Craig Wallace, David Watts
Uganda
Davis Arinaitwe (captain), Arthur Kyobe, Brian Masaba, Deusdedit Muhumuza, Roger Mukasa, Benjamin Musoke, Frank Nsubuga, Jonathan Sebanja, Asadu Seiga, Ronald Semanda, Laurence Sematimba, Henry Ssenyondo, Charles Waiswa, Arthur Ziraba
United States of America
Sushil Nadkarni (captain), Orlando Baker, Adil Bhatti, Ryan Corns, Muhammad Ghous, Elmore Hutchinson, Asif Mehmood Khan, Aditya Mishra, Azrudeen Mohammed, Nauman Mustafa, Abhimanyu Rajp, Gowkaran Roopnarine, Usman Shuja, Steven Taylor
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