Dubai: The UAE cricket team, who gave a creditable performance in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, are looking to carry on the good work. They are working hard at a coaching camp at the ICC Cricket Academy before their next international tour commences on May 20.
“UAE are getting ready for the four-day ICC Intercontinental Cup against Ireland to be held from June 2 to June 5. Our camp for this tournament has commenced. This will be UAE’s first tour after their participation in the World Cup and the team will fly out on May 20 to Southampton in UK. Before we take on Ireland in the Intercontinental Cup, UAE will play a three-day match against Scotland at the picturesque Rosebowl cricket stadium in Southampton,” remarked Mazhar Khan, the Administrator of the Emirates Cricket Board to Gulf News.
The final 14 for the tour to Ireland and UK will be announced on May 5.
The UAE will also be aiming to take part in another ICC World Cup event in order to qualify for the ICC Twenty20 World Cup to be held in India next year. “The ICC World Twenty20 Qualifiers will be held in July and we will try and pick the best players here for this competition. We will fly out to UK again on June 24 and play two One Day International World Cricket League (WCL) matches in Southampton against Kenya and then proceed for the ICC World Cup qualifiers to be held in Ireland,” added Khan, who was the manager of the UAE team during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015.
The 2015 ICC World Twenty20 qualifiers will be contested by 14 teams from July 6. The top six qualifiers will progress to the first qualifying round of the 2016 ICC World Twenty20 in India, where they will meet the ninth and 10th ranked Full Members (Bangladesh and Zimbabwe) in the ICC Twenty20 International Championship table as on April 30, 2014.
The UAE are playing Kenya as part of the 2015-17 ICC World Cricket League Championship hoping to qualify again for the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup (50 over).
Ireland and Afghanistan will not compete in the tournament as both of them have been made elligible to qualify for the 2019 World Cup directly through rankings. Instead, Kenya and Nepal have been included in the tournament. The top eight-ranked sides on the Reliance ICC ODI Team Rankings as of September 30, 2017 will qualify automatically to the 2019 event while the bottom four will play in the 10-team ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018 that will determine the final two teams in the line-up.
