ICC Trophy - Division 2 preview and prospects

Division 2

Seedings

Namibia look to have potentially an easy road to the play-off round, as the participation of both Italy and Nepal are in the balance right now for various reasons. They are top seeded in the group anyway, and have a strong squad. Top seeds Scotland visited Namibia in April, and were only able to split a two match series. A disappointing ICC Trophy in 1997 places them in the second division (they lost to both Fiji and Papua New Guinea before beating Malaysia for 15th place). An MCC team were also recently beaten in a three match series. Their squad has a strong emphasis on youth; their under-19 squad competed at the under 19 World Cup in 1999 and won the African qualifying event for the 2002 event. 19 year-old Stefan Swanepoel is a very promising all-rounder, and Burton Van Rooi (who will turn 19 during the Toronto event) was top-wicket-taker for Namibia at the under-19 world cup with his medium pace. Gavin Murgatroyd will lead the batting - he made a fine 83 against Scotland earlier in the year, and has made centuries in the UCB Bowl competition.

The West Africa team is made up of players from Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Ghana, and Gambia. Sierra Leone provide six of the party, Nigeria five, Ghana two and Jamiyu Falana is the sole representative from Gambia. Sierra Leone had a strong performance in the West African Cricket quadrangular tournament, winning easily and will provide the heart of the West African team.

Wale Adeoye is an opening bat, Oladotun Olatunji will bat in the middle order, and Francis Bakiweyem, a middle order bat from Ghana gained international experience at the African Under-19 championships last year. The team is inexperienced with only Albert Kpundeh, Sahr Kpundeh and Okon Ukpong returning from the 1997 squad. Ukpong was the top run-scorer for West Africa in 1997, with a top-score of 78* against Israel.

West Africa finished 18th at the ICC Trophy in 1997, beating Argentina and Israel, and pushing Malaysia hard. Their batting proved fallible against good bowling, and is likely to be their weakness again.

Gibraltar have seven players returning from the squad that finished 19th in Malaysia in 1997, where they recorded two victories against Israel and Argentina. They come to the ICC Trophy after an excellent showing at the 2000 European Championships, where they topped the second division unbeaten, defeating Israel, Portugal, Greece, Germany and France. Captain Christian Rocca will open the batting, and will receive strong support from the Buzalgo brothers; Richard was in fine form in the European championships and also can keep wicket, whilst Tim was Gibraltar's top scorer in the 1997 ICC Trophy. Danny Johnson is an all rounder and will be expected to contribute with bat and ball. Phillip Hudson will bat in the middle order and is a threat opening the bowling, and 40+ bowler Gary De'Ath will be looked upon to take wickets. Gibraltar look to be one of the stronger teams in the second division but still will look for Namibia to falter before being able to gain a play-off spot.

Nepal's participation in the ICC Trophy was in doubt at the time of writing due to via problems affecting four of the named squad. It appears that captain Raju Khadka will not be going to Toronto, depriving Nepal of an experienced all-rounder, a hard hitting bat and useful seamer. It seems likely that the replacement players will include Pawan Agrawal who captained Nepal at the ACC Championships last year, but the captaincy will fall upon Ganesh Thakuri, the wicketkeeper. Dipendra Choudhary is a promising youngster graduating from the under-19 squad. Likely to bat at 3, he's an enterprising stroke player who also is a useful bowler. Paresh Lohani had a poor ACC Trophy, but has scored runs consistently opening the batting for Kathmandu, and will look to mark a mark in Toronto. Left-armer Pawan Luniya bowls accurate albeit unpenetrating spin, and Binod Das will provide important support.

Nepal made the semi-finals at the ACC Championships, pushing UAE very hard in the round-robin matches, losing with just three balls remaining, and needing just one wicket. They lost badly to Hong Kong in the semi-final. They clearly have the potential to do well, but whether they can overcome the chaotic last weeks of preparation and adjust to Toronto conditions remains to be seen.

This is the first truly international tournament in Germany has taken part in and they expect the ICC Trophy to give valuable experience on which they will build in the future. In the European Cricket Championships they did well, finishing above Israel and France, and just below Gibraltar in the 2nd division. They gave Gibraltar a real scare, with a splendid century by vice-captain Gerrit Mueller leading them to over 250, and Gibraltar losing 7 wickets before passing the total with only three balls to spare. Captain Hamid Bhatti has played for Germany since 1992, and will open the bowling, and bat in the middle order. Zaheer Ahmed is a useful all-rounder batting number three and opening the bowling. Abdul Bhatti has been representing Germany for 11 years and will bat in the middle order. Jakob Bumke, the youngest member of the squad is a leg spinner.

Seedings:-

Favourites to top Group B of the 2nd division, and with an excellent chance of upsetting a 4th place division 1 team on a play-off, Malaysia field an experienced and strong team. They come into the tournament after beating Division 1 team Singapore in a three match series in March, and earning a semi-final spot in the ACC Trophy in October (losing to winners UAE).

Their captain, all-rounder Rohan Selvaratnam took over the captaincy after Suresh Navaratnam stepped down earlier this year, wishing to concentrate on his batting (an all-rounder he was Malaysia's top wicket-taker in the 1997 ICC Trophy). Both will need to get runs in a team whose strength lies in its bowling, particularly the spin of Vishnu and Arul Suppiah. Navaratnam and wicket-keeper/batsman, Shankar Retinam, played in Australia last winter and gained much valuable experience. Suresh Singh will open the batting, and will inject some stability into a fragile upper order. They will hope to show improvement from a somewhat disappointing 1997 tournament, where as hosts they finished 16th.

This is the last tournament that will see East and Central Africa compete as a team in the current set-up. Back in 1975, an East Africa team composed of players from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania qualified for the World Cup, but since then Kenya have made their own way, Uganda will compete independently at Toronto for the first time, and now Tanzania have been awarded full associate status. Tanzania, Malawi and Zambia combine for the last time in this ICC Trophy. In 1997 the squad won just one match, beating West Africa in their final game. Chad Gomm, fast bowler and top wicket-taker in 1997 (with experience in minor counties cricket in the UK) returns along with bat Arif Ebrahim, all rounder Yakesh Patel and bowler Arif Paliwalla. The team had a set-back when coach Sibtain Kassamali quit a month before the competition.

The coach Grant Dugmore describes the squad as follows:-comments:-

"The squad is an interesting blend of experience and youth, with seven players under 25 and seven older. The squad also seems well balanced in all departments, with six all-rounders, three off-spinners and a leg-spinner, seven seamers, three opening batsmen and three wicket-keepers."

Captain Guillermo Kirschbaum will be playing in his fourth ICC Trophy (as will Hernan Pereyra and Donald Forrester). Matias Paterlini is a right handed top-order batsman who topped Argentine run-scorers in the 1997 ICC Trophy (including a fine unbeaten 77 against UAE). Diego Lord will likely open the bowling with Christian Tunon, and Pervez Rivero will be looked upon to take wickets with his medium pace. Lucas Paterlini was part of the Americas squad at the under-19 World Cup, and his right-arm fast medium bowling will be useful.

Argentina gained experience of Toronto conditions at the Americas Cup last year, where they found competition stiff and lost all their matches. They were overwhelmed by Bermuda, but were competitive against Division 1 teams USA and Canada. They have prepared hard over the following year, including a very successful 3-week coaching visit from Alvin Kallicharran, and a visit from an MCC team.

Their performance in 1997 was disappointing, winning just their last match. Their bowling generally gave them a chance but the batting was fragile. With greater experience they may well push higher ranked teams.

Israel has participated in all ICC Trophy tournaments to date after being admitted as an Associate Member of the International Cricket Conference in 1974. Eight of the squad that played in 1997 in Malaysia return for the Toronto tournament, including both 44 year-old Australian born David Silver, Israel's top run scorer in 1997, and Ray Ashton, top-wicket taker. Isa Massil is a useful all-rounder, likely to bat at three and open the bowling. Ray Ashton will bat in the middle order, and Indian born Yefeth Nagavkar will open the batting.

Israel finished joint last in Malaysia, amid demonstrations at their matches, and will struggle to improve that position, based on their performance at the European Championships where they finished below Germany, France and Portugal (a loss to affiliate Portugal outweighing a win over France).

France has nominated a strong squad for the ICC Trophy in Canada and two of the more interesting inclusions have only 30 years between them. Arun Ayyavooraju who had his 15th birthday three days after his selection is a very good young cricketer and alongside him is another allrounder, Sulanga Richmond who was 16 when the selectors added him to a group of experienced players. Ayyavooraju, borin in Pondicherry, is an all-rounder, and showed ability beyond his years in warm-up matches against Switzerland. Sujeewa Mahavidanage is a useful off-spinner, and Simon Hewitt the skipper an exciting attacking bat. The Brumants both bowl, Val as an opening bowler and all-rounder Guy off-spin.

Newcomers to the ICC Trophy, it is hard to evaluate how they will perform. At the 2000 European Championships they finished a very respectable third in the 2nd division, losing to fellow associates Gibraltar, Germany and Israel, but were competitive in every match.

Uganda are competing at the ICC Trophy for the first time, and are seeded 23rd out of 24. Their squad however has considerable potential, and this tournament may see them leap up the international rankings. It is particularly strong in bowling, with opening bowling attack of medium fast Kenneth Kamyoka and medium pacer, Steve Nsubuga forming an economical partnership. It is a young team, incorporating several players who helped their under-19 team to the East and Central African Championships. The team finished a strong 4th at the Africa Cup last year. Their batting will be led by Kwebiha and Lwanga.