The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Final ICC Trophy place up for grabs

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 17, 2005

Sport

Sport - Cricket

Final ICC Trophy place up for grabs

LONDON, FEB. 16 . Eight emerging cricket nations will chase the final qualifying place for the ICC Trophy 2005 in the ICC World Cup qualifying series division 2 tournament in Malaysia starting on February 21.

The Cayman Islands, Fiji, Italy, Kuwait, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Qatar and Zambia will gather in Malaysia for the seven-day tourney with the winner travelling to Ireland five months later for the ICC Trophy.

With the five highest-ranked teams from the ICC Trophy gaining automatic qualification for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 in the West Indies, the stakes are high for the eight hopefuls contesting the WCQS Division 2 tournament.

Matthew Kennedy, the ICC's global development manager, said that the ICC WCQS division 2 tournament was part of a clear qualifying pathway to the ICC cricket World Cup.

"The WCQS has really opened up participation opportunities for associate and affiliate nations," said Mr. Kennedy.

"The structure not only provides more competition for these nations, but gives them a clear path to follow and a realistic chance to qualify for cricket's pinnacle ODI tournament."

Teams competing in the ICC WCQS division 2 tournament in Malaysia qualified either by winning their own regional qualifying series, or by narrowly missing out on direct qualification for the ICC Trophy.

Twelve teams will contest the ICC Trophy in Ireland (1-13 July 2005), while a record 16 teams will compete in the ICC CWC 2007 in the West Indies . — UNI

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