Tony Munro

Coming into the 2009-10 CSA Provincial Three-Day Challenge, Namibia coach Johan Rudolph's main priority was that the batsmen score hundreds and spend time at the crease. And after just three games, they have exceeded Rudolph's expectations.

"Last season we scored only two hundreds in the competition," said Rudolph. "This season, the players have bettered the statistic in the first three matches, scoring three hundreds (Raymond van Schoor 141, Sarel Burger 125 not out and Craig Williams 123) and one player scoring three nineties (Gerhard Rudolph's 98, 96 & 92)."

There was further excitement for Rudolph as three hundreds were scored in the opening round of the Namibian domestic MTC 50-over Premier League. "Youngsters scored three hundreds last weekend and if we can get this culture going and do away with high risk cricket in our club setup, I believe we will be on the right track," Rudolph said.

Namibia's next game will be against Boland, starting on Thursday at home in Windhoek, and Rudolph believes it will be a tough test. "Boland will have a very strong team with most of their players playing for University of Stellenboch," Rudolph said. "Uwe Birchenstock and Henno Jordaan are two very good batsman."

Namibia will also play a one-day game against Boland on Sunday, and Rudolph said he was keen that the team perfected the key ingredient in the short format. "They just need to apply the basics in batting, bowling and fielding in pressure situations. Players need to know what is their role in the team and then also to play according to the set gameplan. We don't have superstars in the current squad so its vital for the team to perform as a unit."

Tony Munro

The next North West African Championships have been delayed to April 2010 due to the global financial crisis.

The economic downturn may also see the tournament restricted to its traditional participants, Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, said the president of the Nigeria Cricket Federation, Kwesi Sagoe.

"It is likely that a review of participants would be undertaken given the cost of the event and the relative development standard of each of the North-West African countries. No decision has however been made on this yet," Sagoe told Cricinfo.

In recent years, Morocco and Mali have taken part with Mali experiencing some heavy defeats. At one stage, following the change of the tournament's name to the "North West African Championships", Egypt and Libya had been mentioned as possible future participants.

Jeroen Smits, Netherlands' 37-year-old captain, has announced his retirement from international cricket.

An old-style wicketkeeper who could bat a little, he was one of the most dependable members of the 2003 and 2007 World Cup side. In a career which started in 1992, he made 140 appearances for his national side, including 38 full ODIs.

"Of course it's tempting to stay on a little longer," he said, but admitted that with 18 months before the next World Cup, he wanted to give his replacement a chance to find his feet. "It's better that I make room for a new captain and a new keeper, and that the team gets a chance to adjust as it prepares for that challenge."

"He's been a terrific servant of Dutch cricket and an incredible support to me since I came into this role," coach Peter Drinnen told Cricket Europe. "That he's stepping down now is typically unselfish, evidence of the way in which he considers the bigger picture, and a mark of the quality of the guy."

Defending champions Kanbis A, who have dominated the NPCA Super League of late, maintained their challenge for a sixth straight title with a one-run victory over rivals Stray Lions A, a result which all but ends Lions own ambitions.

Swamibapa A, who have a 14-point lead over Kanbis A, crushed fourth-placed Telca by ten wickets, and with two rounds of matches remaining are favourites to win the league.

Tony Munro

Cuba, the Falkland Islands and the hosts, Mexico, are among the four countries set to make their official debuts at the World Cricket League Americas Division Four next year.

The other participant will be fellow debutante, Costa Rica in the event tentatively scheduled between May and September.

Cuba were to make an international debut of sorts in the 2008 Stanford 20/20 tournament before an embargo by the US Government blocked their involvement.

For the Falkland Islands, it will be one of two tournaments they will play next year. The other is a triangular involving three locations named after Viscount Falkland, the commander of part of the Royalist forces at the Battle of Newbury in 1643 in the English Civil War between King Charles I and Oliver Cromwell. The triangular, to be played at Falkland in Fife from July 19-24 will feature Falkland (Fife), Falkland (Newbury, Berkshire) and the Falkland Islands. The tournament is part of Falkland Fife CC's 150th anniversary celebrations. Incidentally, the islands were named for Viscount Falkland as his son was the Secretary of State for the Admiralty when Captain John Davies sighted the Falkland Islands in 1682.

Meanwhile, in the coming 2009-10 season separate Twenty20 tournaments are to be played at the Islands' capital, Stanley, and military base at Mount Pleasant, with the winners of both meeting in a final. The traditional highlight of the season, the South Atlantic Ashes, between the Governor's XI (representing the civilans) and the Commander of the British Forces XI (representing the military) will be played as a three-match series in January, February and March.

A strong MCC side completed their tour of Japan with wins in all four matches. They beat Sano CC, a Japanese Development XI and the national side in Twenty20 games, and rounded things off with a tight two-wicket defeat of Japan in a 50-over match.

Japan had every chance to win the limited-overs game after reducing MCC to 60 for 6 chasing 137 but a seventh-wicket stand between Gary Brown (46*) and Guy Bulpitt (26) enabled the tourists to sneak home.

The MCC squad completes the trip with games in Indonesia.

USA's senior and Under-19 teams are scheduled to compete in several major tournaments over the next five months. However, USACA is currently struggling to figure out the best way to prepare them.

USACA is planning on having its National Championship in Fort Lauderdale, Florida from November 13 to 15. The tournament was originally scheduled to take place from October 9 to 11 in Houston, Texas, but officials wanted to move the event to Florida to give players competing for spots on the national teams the opportunity to play on turf pitches, as opposed to the matting wickets used in Houston and around most of the country.

Florida's venues would provide them necessary preparation for when the United States travels to Dubai for the 2010 World Twenty20 Qualifier from February 9 to 13 as well as to Nepal for the World Cricket League Division 5 from February 20 to 27.

The National Championship will pit four regional teams, which qualified through USACA's Eastern and Western Conference tournaments, against each other in 50-over matches on November 13 and 14 to determine the national champion.

November 15 was intended to be used as an opportunity for players from these squads to be selected to face teams from Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago in Twenty20 matches, but those plans are now on hold because a financial agreement hasn't been reached to lure the teams from the Caribbean to play on US soil.

"We would have picked the best team we have and played Jamaica and Trinidad," said Krish Prasad, chairman of USACA's cricket committee. "Seeing that that is not likely to happen, we will have to come up with a different structure, because we're going to Nepal and Dubai to play Twenty20 and Nepal to play 50 overs. We've got to come up with a plan to facilitate both teams' preparations."

Another problem in selecting the senior team is trying to get the entire short list of 40 probables an opportunity to play and be evaluated when some of them belong to regional squads that were eliminated in the tournaments leading up to the nationals.

"Hopefully we have, I think 90% of the players in the four regional teams," said Prasad. "We've already selected 40 players to get there. We're going to have to somehow get all those 40 players there. The ones that are not from the regions that's going to be contesting in the national tournament will also be invited there to participate maybe in the Sunday tournament or something like that.

"But we have to come up with a way of getting these guys there. The original plan we had was going to work well, but unfortunately that's not going to work. So we're going to have to get everybody there because we can't select 40 guys and then don't take them to a trial to see who's the best team that we can send to Dubai and Nepal."

Other financial issues are also a consideration in the planning process of the weekend. The matches for the USACA National Championship will most likely be played at Brian Piccolo Park rather than Central Broward Regional Park because USACA is reluctant to pay for the Broward stadium's rental fees for a non-revenue generating event.

"If the stadium was available, we could have used the lights in there and played two night games also," said Prasad. "That was the plan if the Jamaican team was going to come, because that would be a revenue generating opportunity." According to Prasad, it would cost $2,500 per match to rent the facility.

USACA's financial constraints are also having an effect on the Under-19 squad, which is set to compete in the 2010 ICC Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand from January 16 to 30. A training camp had been planned to take place concurrently with the senior tournament in Florida, but those plans have been shelved for the time being.

"The junior team, we were hoping to get them there at the same time," said Prasad, "but because of the funding situation, we are just going to sort of keep them on hold for now and hopefully get them into some sort of practice sessions, playing a couple of games and fitness because I think our major problem with the Under-19 has been their fitness.

"Living in the United States, they don't play cricket every day in the summer and when they went to that tournament [Under-19 World Cup Qualifier in Toronto], it showed that nine games in 13 days was a little bit too much for our boys. We learned that we need to get them physically fit for this tournament that's going to be starting in New Zealand in January."

There is hope that the situation will change in the near future though as USACA is currently trying to lock in a commercial partnership to generate significant funding to be used for improvements both on and off the field.

"We are looking at these commercial programs, which the CEO [Don Lockerbie] is pursuing as we speak," said Prasad. "So if that comes through in a couple of weeks, we could be in a very good position financially to start some very good programs. But like everything else, we have always been hampered by financial problems and once again we are encountering the same thing."

The inclusion of fast bowler Boyd Rankin in the ECB's enhanced England Performance Programme has left Warren Deutrom, Ireland's chief executive, worried about a further depletion or resources. Ireland have lost batsmen Ed Joyce and Eoin Morgan to England in recent years, and Deutrom has warned that Rankin's following course would be a major loss to their cricket.

Rankin, who switched from Derbyshire to Warwickshire, was named in a pool of 41 players who will train in Florida, Loughborough and Chennai over the next few months. "In terms of Boyd's personal development, it is obviously terrific for him to have access to the sort of programmes that the ECB can provide," Deutrom told the Daily Express. "But for us it is a worrying development that he has obviously figured on the England radar. It is, of course, a source of pride that we continue to produce cricketers that England are interested in but, if we were to lose another player to follow Ed and Eoin, it would be a severe blow to Irish cricket."

Ireland stand to lose Rankin for their Intercontinental Cup match and one-dayers against Afghanistan in early 2010, because he is slated to fly to the MRF Pace Academy in Chennai in January to train under Dennis Lillee for ten days at the same time. "I am still keen to play for Ireland as much as I can but I can't play Test cricket for Ireland and I have to do what I can to get that opening," Rankin told the Belfast Telegraph. "The idea of this camp, I understand, is to build up strength, to be fitter and stronger. I have done a lot of fitness work in the last 12 months and apart from a minor groin strain played the whole season."

David Parsons, the ECB's performance director, said the management was on the look-out for a tall fast bowler capable of hitting the deck hard, such as Rankin, who impressed during the 2007 World Cup for Ireland. "We know from the research and from looking at cricket at the prevalence of injuries that there is quite a steady turnover of fast bowlers in the modern game," he said. "We need to make sure that England has a deep pool of fast bowlers ready to go out and perform at high levels.

"But there is also no mistaking that fast bowlers are match winners. Boyd would be the standout quick in terms of his physical stature and the feedback we've had is that he has got a lot of potential. Bowlers who hit the deck hard at a high end pace are really proven to be match winners. If we can identify people like that we are on the right track."

	The Brazilian team celebrate winning the WCL Americas Division 3 tournament © Cricinfo Ltd

Tony Munro

Brazil and Belize won their matches on the final day of the World Cricket League Americas Division 3 tournament in Santiago on Monday, to seal the first and second places respectively. Brazil beat Peru by 18 runs in what was possibly the latter's best performance of the tournament, while the Belize beat hosts Chile by two wickets.

Captain Matthew Featherstone led the charge for Brazil, top scoring with 77 in his team's total of 251 for 6 in 50 overs, while Greigor Caisley (48) and Rubabul Islam (39) provided good back-up. Tony Sanford was the main wicket-taker for Peru, taking 2 for 51 from his 10 overs.

Peru ended the tournament in spirited fashion, managing 233 for 9 in reply. Michael Soulsby was their main contributor with 57, while Ahmed Ansari Nadeem chipped in with 29. Vince Bastick took 4 for 59 from 8.4 overs for Brazil.

Chile captain Simon Shalders won the toss and elected to bat in their battle for second place against Belize. Shalders led the way, top scoring with 59, as Tristan Bradbrook (48) and Guy Hooper (40) lent good support. Belize captain Dirk Sutherland bowled well to take 5 for 32 from nine overs, to keep Chile to 223 for 9 from its 50 overs.

Sutherland performed with the bat as well, staying undefeated on 39, while Robert Casasola (60) provided the backbone to the reply and saw them through with 21 balls to spare. Pablo Meijas was the pick of the Chilean bowlers with 2 for 37.

Scores:

Belize 224 for 8 (Casasola 60, Sutherlund 39*, Mejias 2-37) beat Chile 223 for 9 (Shalders 59, Bradbrook 48, Hooper 40, Sutherland 5-32) by two wickets

Brazil 251 for 6 (Featherstone 77, Caisley 48, Islam 39, Sanford 2-51) beat Peru 233 for 9 (Michael Soulsby 57, Ahmed Ansari Nadeem 29, Bastick 4-59) by 18 runs

Brazil overpowered hosts Chile by 85 runs to win the ICC Americas Division 3 Championship in Santiago, Chile on Sunday and earn promotion to next year's Americas Division 2 tournament.

The victory was set up by a second-wicket partnership of 117 between Man of the Match Greigor Caisley and captain Matt Featherstone, with assistance from nine dropped catches from Chilean fielders.

Aftter electing to bat in a match reduced to 40 overs a side due to a delayed start, Brazil posted an impressive 213 for 6, with Featherstone firing an aggressive 95 in 86 balls, including four fours and six sixes. Meanwhile, Caisley made a polished 81 off 96 balls, with 11 fours and two sixes.

The pair were separated with the score at 164 in the 35th over, having set a fine platform for a challenging target for Chile to chase. John Fecci took 3 for 37. The pick of the Chilean bowlers, though was probably left-arm seamer, Tristan Bradbrook who took 1 for 18 from his eight overs.

Chile got off to the worst possible start, losing opener Ian Walker, second ball. Things only got worse when batting star Simon Shalders was run out in the 10th over sending Chile to a disastrous 24 for 3. Brazil tightened things even further in the field and by the 22nd over the match was effectively decided as Chile were on their knees at 55 for 7.

There was a late scurry from Jim Scarbrough who made 39 in 41 balls with four fours and a six, sharing an eighth-wicket partnership of 54 with Kamran Zeb. It was all too late as Chile were eventually all out for 128 in the 35th over.

The pick for the Brazilian bowlers was medium-pacer Rudyard Hartmann, who nabbed 4 for 25 in 5.4 overs with a fine display of swing bowling, while Ravi Chanchlani was miserly and effective, taking 2 for 18 in eight overs.

Featherstone was delighted at the win and the Division 3 title. "This is a great result for us, something we have been working very hard towards in Brazil for a long time now.

"The Chileans were a bit unlucky in the field, but Greigor batted beautifully, Rudy did the job to grab two early wickets, and obviously Simon's run-out was a big wicket. Getting up to Division 2 is a massive step for Brazilian cricket, and hopefully it will have a positive impact on the growth of cricket back in Brazil."

Shalders, the Chilean captain, was naturally disappointed, but was not in any doubt as to what let his team down on the day. "You can't expect to win important cricket matches when you drop nine catches.

"We let ourselves down today, we're a better team than the performance we put up, but all credit to Brazil who were simply the better team on the pitch on the day and deserved to win."

With a full round of matches still to be played, Brazil can enjoy the final day of the event as champions thanks to their head-to-head wins over Belize and Chile. The best Chile or Belize, who meet on Monday, can hope to do is finish on equal points with Brazil (assuming Brazil lose to Peru) but a head-to-head win is enough to separate any teams on equal points.

Medium-pacer Kenroy Roca was the star of Belize's win over Peru, taking 7 for 38 in 9.5 overs, to lead his team to a resounding 86 run victory over the gritty Peruvians.

Earlier in the day, Peru had bowled and fielding tigerishly to dismiss Belize for 159 in 40.5 overs, despite conceding 41 extras. Veteran offspinner Tony Sanford took 4 for 38, with good support coming from Dinesh Ekanayake (2 for 33) and Nadeem Ahmed Ansari (2 for 41).

It was an eventful day for Roca. When batting in the Belize innings, he was forced to retire hurt after being hit on the head by a return from the outfield. He later returned to hit his team's top score, 27 from 47 balls, with two fours and a six. When he bowled, he took the final seven Peru wickets to send them crashing to 73 all out in the 31st over.

On Monday, Brazil and Peru meet with their final placings of first and fourth respectively confirmed, so the main interest will be on Chile versus Belize in the battle for second place.

Beyond this tournament, Brazil will now be looking forward to playing against Suriname, Bahamas, Panama and Turks & Caicos in Americas Division 2 in early 2010.

Scores:

Brazil 213 for 6 (40 overs) (Matt Featherstone 95, Greigor Caisley 81; John Fecci 3-37)

Chile 128 (34.4 overs) (Jim Scarbrough 39; Rudyard Hartmann 4-25, Ravindra Chanchlani 2-18). Brazil won by 85 runs.

Belize 159 (40.5 overs) (Kenroy Roca 27, Howard Gillett 20; Tony Sanford 4-38, Dinesh Ekanayake 2-33, Nadeem Ahmed Ansari 2-41)

Peru 73 (30.5 overs) (Kenroy Roca 7-38) Belize won by 86 runs

Tony Munro

Israel easily won their Europe Division 2 play-off game against Croatia by six wickets in Zagreb on Sunday. The win means Israel will play in the Division 2 tournament in 2011, after winning this year's Division 3 tournament in Spain.

The visitors won the toss and a two-hour rain delay saw the match reduced to 36 overs per side. Israel elected to field and their opening bowlers, Eliezer Samson and David Massil restricted Croatia to 19 for 1 after 15 overs. Offspinner Steven Shein capitalised on Croatian attempts to accelerate, routing the middle order by taking 5 for 27 in eight overs. Eventually Croatia stuttered to 96 for 7 in their allotted 36 overs.

Israel started their run-chase positively, taking nine off the first over, but lost two wickets for 30. Herschel Gutman came in and scored 47 not out off 35 balls as Israel sealed the win by six wickets with 16 overs remaining.

Scores:

Croatia 96 for 7 (36 overs) (Steven Shein 5-27)

Israel 97 for 4 (19.3 overs) (Herschel Gutman 47*)

	Simon Shalders after making 195 not out against Peru © ICC

Matches on day two of the ICC Americas Division 3 tournament in Santiago were abandoned around 3.00 pm due to persistent showers. Both games started as scheduled but there were insufficient breaks in the rain for them to be completed.

The match between first-round winners, Chile, and Brazil had enough play for Chile to make 31 for 0 from 9.2 overs. The other game involving Peru and Belize had only five overs and Belize made 13 for 1. Both matches will now start afresh on Monday, previously the scheduled reserve day.

Meanwhile, Chile captain Simon Shalders' unbeaten 195 on Saturday against Peru is now (unofficially at least) third on the list of highest individual scores in official ICC cricket at the Associate and Affiliate level. Arshad Ali (United Arab Emirates) made 213 against Brunei in the 2006 ACC Trophy, while Gerrie Snyman (Namibia) hit 196 against the UAE in the 2007 World Cricket League Division 2 tournament. Thanks - Grant Dugmore and Andrew Nixon.

Tony Munro

An unbeaten 195 from captain Simon Shalders launched Chile to a 163-run win over Peru in Santiago in their first game of the World Cricket League Americas Division Three campaign on Friday.

Shalders smashed seven sixes and 24 fours to boost Chile to 323-5 from their 50 overs; Peru only managed 160 in reply. Such was Shalders' dominance that the next best scorer for Chile was Guy Hooper (32), while Tristan Bradbrook (21) also chipped in. Nadeem Ahmed Ansad was the only Peru bowler to hold out against the rampage, taking 1 for 29 from his ten overs.

Peru captain Miles Buesst (32) and Chris Abbott (20) were the main contributors against the Chilean attack led by Kamran Zeb (4-24) and John Fecci (3-23).

Meanwhile, Brazil caused something of an upset when they sneaked home by one wicket with three balls to spare against Belize. Belize batted first to reach 182 from their 50 overs; they recovered from a precarious position at 102 for 8 in 27 overs. Jermaine Pook stayed with the tail score an unbeaten 34 from 80 balls. Deodat Randolph (3-34) was the pick of the Brazil bowlers.

In reply, Brazil slipped to 59 for 4, before a pivotal fifth-wicket partnership of 90 between Randolph (48) and Rubabul Islam (76) lifted them to 149 for 5. Belize counter-attacked to take four wickets, and left Brazil nine wickets down with two runs still needed for victory.

For Belize, Mykelt Anthony (3-31) and Howell Gillett (3-26) were the main wicket-takers.

The winners of Saturday's matches, Chile and Brazil meet on Sunday, as will the losers, Belize and Peru.

Scores:

Chile 323-5 (50 overs) (Simon Shalders 195n.o., Guy Hooper 32, Tristan Bradbrook 21; Nadeem Ahmed Ansad 1-29)

Peru 160 (38.2 overs) (Miles Buesst 32, Chris Abbott 20; Kamran Zeb 3-32, John Fecci 4-24)

Belize 183 (42.5 overs) (Jermaine Pook 34n.o.; Deodat Randolph 3-43)

Brazil 187-9 (49.3 overs) (Rubabul Islam 76, Deodat Randolph 48; Howell Gillett 3-26, Mykelt Anthony 3-31)

Tony Munro

The latest regional qualifying tournament for the World Cricket League kicks off on Friday when Americas Division Three involving hosts, Chile, Belize, Brazil and Peru commences in Santiago.

There'll be a touch of deja vu for three of the four teams - Chile, Brazil and Peru. This will be the third tournament where they have met in 12 months. Last October, all four teams met when Americas Division Three was staged, while the South American Championships brought three of the teams together earlier this year.

Chile go into the tournament arguably as favourites due to a combination of home advantage and recent results against the same opposition - they finished above these three teams in the corresponding tournament last year, and ahead of Brazil and Peru at the South American Championships.

Three of the four teams have locally born players in their squad - Belize, adjacent to the Caribbean, is totally home grown; Brazil has five and Chile four.

Chile are led by last year’s Player-of-the-Tournament, Simon Chalders, in a squad which contains five all-rounders - Ian Walker, Jim Scarbrough and Michael Meade, Thomas Dawes and Christian Eyzaguirre. Spinner Pablo Mejias and opening bowler Tristan Bradbrook are the other two locally born players in the squad.

Peru are hopeful of at least equalling their one win in last year's Americas Division Three tournament, thanks to a training schedule which is aimed at increasing their players’ agility in areas such as running between wickets.

There is further information about the Belize and Brazil squads here.

Draw:

Friday, October 9 - Chile v Peru, Belize v Brazil

Saturday, October 10 - Chile v Brazil, Belize v Peru

Monday, October 12 - Chile v Belize, Peru v Brazil


Chile: Simon Chalders (Capt.), Guy Hooper, Michael Meade, Ian Walker, James Scarborough, Stephen Foot, Kamran Zeb, Joseph Williams, Tristan Bradbrook, John Fecci, Pablo Meijias, Christian Hesketh, Christian Eyzaguirre, Thomas Dawes

Peru: Miles Buesst (Capt.), Harry Hildebrand, Chris Abbott, Julian Walter, Anthony Sanford, Simon Walter, John Bell, Manoj Rana, Nadeem Ansari, Dinesh Ekanayake, Hans de Wit, Chris Hodgson, Michael Soulsby.

	A cricketer during a game on a pitch in front of Moscow's State University © Getty Images

It may be a triumph of publicity over substance, but stories have been doing the rounds over the last week about the setting up of a major cricket league in Russia, with some perhaps over-enthusiastic media outlets suggesting the country was poised to become a cricketing superpower.

While the Russia's United Cricket League (RUCL) should be encouraged, scratch below the surface and it’s soon clear the vision belongs pretty much to one passionate man - Ashvani Chopra.

“I love cricket and I want to make it popular and widely available here,” Chopra told AFP. “We started playing here in 1995 just for fun. In 2001 we conducted a small tournament, in which three teams - Australia, India and the selection of the rest of the world - were playing. The tournament was a success and it became the reference point of our league.”

The league has seven clubs, made up from largely from expats, but Chopra recognises the need for that to change. “We decided that every club should have at least one local player in their line-up,” he said. “From now on it's an indispensable condition for every one of the league's clubs.”

Chopra, however, faces the same problems anyone trying to play the game away from its traditional homes faces. “It's impossible to find cricket bats or the correct balls here in Moscow,” he admitted. “We have to bring all this stuff from home to play here. But we're ready to overcome any difficulties in the name of the game. Nothing can stop us.”

Sierra Leone earned promotion to World Cricket League (WCL) Africa Division 2 following their narrow two-wicket win over Rwanda on Wednesday.

It will be a case of the new and the old as the young Sierra Leoneans join the mature and primarily expatriate Malawians for the tournament to be held in Benoni in April.

Sierra Leone won promotion as runners-up in the WCL Division 3 tournament, following their victory over Rwanda. Gambia won the battle to avoid the wooden spoon, beating a young Lesotho team by two wickets.

The ICC has confirmed the groups for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. Canada and Kenya will play in Group A where they will face Australia, Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, while Ireland and Netherlands are drawn alongside India, South Africa, England, West Indies and Bangladesh in what on current rankings has to be the easier group.

Tony Munro

Brazil warmed up for the World Cricket League Americas Division Three tournament starting in Santiago on Friday with a 3-0 one-day series win over Mexico in São Paulo last weekend. Brazil won the first two matches fairly easily, but the dead rubber was more even, Mexico falling just 16 runs short.

In the first match, Brazil captain Matt Featherstone showed good form ahead of the Americas Division Three tournament in Santiago, Chile, hitting an unbeaten 100. The former Kent Cricket Board player received solid support from Greigor Caisley (56) and Rubab Ulisam (52 not out). Spinners Travis McNaught (4-3 in the second game) and Viren Nirula (six wickets in the third match) also bowled well in the series for Brazil.

There are six Brazilian nationals in the squad to play in Santiago, among them Henrique Dolabella, an allrounder who became interested in cricket while living in England for several years and played a few seasons of club cricket.

Leading the Brazilian attack will be Ravi Chanchlani, the leading wicket-taker in the 2008 event, while the Miziara brothers, Alexandre and Daniel, can both wield a heavy bat and send down some useful off-spin.

Brazil: Matt Featherstone (Captain), Norman Baldwin, Vincent Bastick, Greigor Caisley, Henrique Dolabella, Rudyard Hartmann, Rubabul Islam, Chaudhari Vishnubhai Kantilal, Guilherme Lefevre, Alexandre Miziara, Daniel Miziara, Chanchlani Ravindrakumar Pahilajrai, Deodat Randolph, Fasih Uddin

Meanwhile, Belize has retained the bulk of the side which finished third in last year's WCL Americas Division 3 tournament. Dirk Sutherland remains at the helm of a squad which includes 11 players who also appeared in the 2008 tournament.

Belize's only tournament experience since then was at the Central American Championships in April where they finished third after losing to Panama and Mexico. The tournament does not have official ICC status and it is not known whether the Belize squad was near full-strength.

Belize: Dirk Sutherland (Capt.), Kenroy Roca, Percy Flowers, Warren Anthony, Conway Young, Dorian Gabb, Kene Broaster, Howell Gillett, Winston Flowers, Mykett Anthony, Robert Casasola, Lloyd Casasola, Jermaine Pook, Joseph Gillett.

Tony Munro

Malawi remained unbeaten to ensure their promotion to Africa Division Two following their four-wicket win against Sierra Leone in Blantyre, Malawi on Tuesday. Sierra Leone must beat Rwanda on Wednesday to ensure they join Malawi in Benoni next March.

Sierra Leone won the toss and batted. However, the top order failed to fire and the innings was precariously poised at 142 for 5 in the 29th over. Allrounder Lasana Lamin smashed 78 off 86 balls, helping his side set a target of 176 for victory.

In response, the Malawi top-order managed meaningful partnerships in the run chase and reached 79-3 after 24 overs at one stage. Shailandra Jeena smashed an unbeaten 35 to help his team to achieve the target in 42 overs with four wickets to spare

Rwanda beat Lesotho in the second match by 218 runs.


Scores:

Sierra Leone 176 (41.4 overs) (Lansana Lamin 78, Ibrahim Kamara 45; Zaffar Sukhera 3-28, Arjun Kalaria 3-46, Shailendra Jeena 2-22) Malawi 177 for 6 (41.4 overs) (Shailendra Jeena 35 not out, Danish Jakhura 31, Mushahid Quraishy 22, Naeem Chaudry 21, Ishtiyaz Khan 20; Ibrahim Kabia 2-23, Lamin 2-39)

Rwanda def. Lesotho No scorecard available at this stage

Tony Munro

It has been confirmed that the Moroccan team en route to Malawi was prevented from boarding their transit flight to Blantyre to play in the World Cricket League Africa Division 3 as they were carrying only a fax, rather than visas.

"The Qatari authorities did not let them board since they did not have a formal visa but only a fax stating that visas will be awarded on arrival," a source within Moroccan cricket told Cricinfo.

As a result, Morocco were forced to withdraw from the tournament and teams due to play them received a bye. Morocco's next tournament is likely to be the North West Championships, which has been cancelled for this year and now will be played in April 2010.

An unbeaten 153 off just 116 balls from Malawian batsman Sheilendra Jeena was the highlight on day three of the World Cricket League Division 3 tournament. Jeena hit 19 fours and two sixes and propelled Malawi to 237 for 9 from 50 overs, before they bowled out Gambia for 121. Prince Johnson was Gambia's best bowler, taking 5 for 43 from his 10 overs, while Moses Bahoum (57) top-scored for Gambia. Zaffar Sukhera led the attack for the hosts, taking 3 for 19.

Sierra Leone had an easy day in their match against a youthful Lesotho, winning by six wickets with 35.3 overs to spare. Having been put in, Lesotho slipped from 21 for 1 to 51 for 6, and were eventually shot out for 82 in 32.2 overs. The main resistance came from Masui Tolofi (19). Allrounder Lansana Lamin ensured the Lesotho innings never got going with 3 for 12 from 9.2 overs. Sierra Leone finished the game in a hurry, ending on 85 for 4 from 14.4 overs. Lamin was named the Man of the Match, after hitting two sixes and a four in his brief unbeaten cameo of 19.

Scores:
Malawi 237 for 9 (Jeena 153*, Ishtiyak Khan 27, Johnson 5-43) beat Gambia 121 (Bahoum 57, Sukhera 3-19)

Sierra Leone 85 for 4 (Lamin 19*, Coker 16*, Khubetsoana 2-20) beat Lesotho 82 (Tolofi 19, Lamin 3-12, Kabia 2-26, Marah 2-32)

Uganda will travel to Dubai in February to play the United Arab Emirates and later host Namibia in August in their ICC Intercontinental Shield campaign. Uganda started well with a win in Bermuda, and are early favourites to reach the final.

And Uganda have hired a South African coach, Fayyaaz Mohiudeen, as a temporary replacement for Ebrahim Mohammed who is back home attending a course.

The ICC has been coming in for a fair amount of sniping of late as a result of teams being unable to take part in its events because of issues with visas. This is not about the game’s big boys, but Associates and Affiliates competing in lower-level tournaments.

Last month Sierra Leone were unable to take part in the ICC Under-19 World Cup Qualifiers because they could not obtain visas from the Canadian consulate in time; last week Morocco failed to make it to Malawi for a World Cricket League commitment after falling foul of officialdom in Qatar.

There have been those who have heaped the blame on the ICC. It should, so their argument goes, ensure this does not happen and put pressure on the various countries hosting events to, in some way, bypass the usual rules and regulations. It’s almost as if cricket is a special case.

The same people who were lambasting the ICC for not ensuring Sierra Leone were able to play in Canada have been quiet over the fact that almost a dozen players from Afghanistan and Uganda took the opportunity of playing in Toronto to abscond and seek political asylum. All those individuals have done is ensure it will be even harder for players for some countries to take part in future events.

In fairness, the ICC has not helped itself in the past with its posturing when the British government barred Zimbabwe officials. But that was a bigger fish in a bigger pond.

The reality here is it is down to each country to ensure its own arrangements are in place. It cannot be the responsibility of the ICC to chase up every visa application and transit visa to make sure they are all in order. It is not - and should not be - the job of the ICC, or any sporting body, to tell countries who they should let in or not.

The boards get good money from the ICC and it is not unreasonable to expect those boards to show a higher degree of professionalism in the way they handle things. Too often, sides are selected at the last minute, paperwork is left until far too late in the day, and officials are happy to heap the blame on embassies and consulates.

I chased up one such instance not too long ago where a board was making a great song and dance about visa delays meaning it was shut out of an event. It turned out that it had spoken to the embassy months before the event and been given clear guidelines, including the key one that it needed 14 working days for visas to be processed. In the event, the applications - more than half of which were wrongly completed - were submitted five days before they were needed. There are two sides to every story.

In short, some boards need to be more professional and to take responsibility for their own affairs. Most manage it quietly and efficiently. It is not for the ICC to mollycoddle the few who can’t get their acts together. Martin Williamson

Sierra Leone sent a warning to the other teams with an impressive first-up performance, while hosts, Malawi, scored their second successive win on day two of the World Cricket League Africa Division 3 tournament in Blantyre.

The home-grown Sierra Leone vindicated their decision to bat first by scoring 255 for 7 in its 50 overs. It then bowled out Gambia for 74 from 27.2 overs to win by 181 runs. Meanwhile the young Rwandan team bowled out the experienced Malawians for 172 in 44.2 overs, but could not recover from a slow early start to reach just 126 in 42.1 overs. Malawi won by 46 runs.

The World Cricket League (WCL) Africa Division Three tournament in Malawi has been reduced to five teams following the late withdrawal of Morocco.

According to the ICC website, the Moroccan team was enroute to Blantyre, Malawi, when Qatari officials ordered them from the plane.

The tournament organising committee decided to allocate teams drawn to play Morocco with a bye. Two matches went ahead as scheduled with the hosts, Malawi, defeating Lesotho by 64 runs, and Rwanda beating Gambia by seven wickets with 23 overs to spare.

Tony Munro

Apartheid decreed Hoosain Ayob, the first ICC Africa development officer, cape coloured and reputedly a bowler of some talent in his day, would never play for his native South Africa at international level because of the colour of his skin.

In a tournament in Blantyre, Malawi, starting on Saturday, four of the five teams playing will be fielding mainly African XIs, thanks chiefly to the work of Ayob, who retired from his role about three years ago.

Lesotho and Sierra Leone (both fully indigenous), Gambia (12 locals), Rwanda (8 born there) will be joined by hosts Malawi (mainly Asian) in the World Cricket League Division Three tournament.

Perhaps none of these countries will make a proper World Cup (Sierra Leone did qualify for the recent Under 19 qualifying tournament before Canadian immigration officials turned them back). It shows, though, how far these countries have come in their development.

No longer are African teams (Malawi aside) stacked with 'mature' players from the subcontinent. Sierra Leone features allrounder Lasmin Lansana, who has done well in previous African tournaments, 11 players under 25 and just two over 30.

Seven of the Gambian team are under 25 and only two over 30 while Rwanda have eight players who are not yet 25. Morocco would have been the sixth team in the tournament but were reportedly stopped from proceeding further en route by Qatar immigration officials due to visa issues, necessitating a bye. Again, their team had only Arabs.

The top two teams will be promoted to Division Two.

The draw:

Saturday, October 3 - Rwanda v Gambia, Malawi v Lesotho, Sierra Leone bye

Sunday, October 4 - Sierra Leone v Gambia, Rwanda v Malawi, Lesotho bye

Monday, October 5 - Sierra Leone v Lesotho, Gambia v Malawi, Rwanda bye

Tuesday, October 6 - Sierra Leone v Malawi, Lesotho v Rwanda, Gambia bye

Wednesday, October 7 - Sierra Leone v Rwanda, Lesotho v Gambia, Malawi bye

Tony Munro

Rwanda captain Denis Mukama reckons a second-placed finish in the World Cricket League Division 3 tournament, starting tomorrow in Malawi, just won't do if the team is to realise its potential. "The truth of matter is coming second isn't an option for us," said the Ugandan-born 30-year-old. "Yes we would like to win this event because it is our gateway to the next level, and with the hardwork the boys have put in and the morale in the camp, the trophy is destined for Rwanda."

Eight members of the Rwandan squad for the tournament were born in the country, a fact which Mukama sees as an indication of what lies in store for a country, where the game is so new. "With the youngsters coming up through the development program, Rwanda will be a force to reckon with in future," Mukama said.

There are six teenagers in the squad, with three - Audifax Byiringiro, Bob Bashir Songa and Derrick Bayingana - just 13 years old. And there's likely to be more coming through if the popularity of the sport at the youth level in Rwanda is any indication.

"Cricket is gaining popularity among the youth in our country, particularly in schools," Mukama said. "There is a significant increase in participation of young kids in cricket tournaments like the schools cricket week and other under-age group tournaments."

One schools tournament, important to the game's development, is the Coca-Cola tournament in Uganda, for which Rwanda send a combined team. It's another sign of the close cricket links Uganda, the birthplace of Rwandan coach William Kamanyi, Mukama and Emmanuel Byiringiro, has with its small western neighbour.

They add some experience to the squad along with several Indian-born players, including former national captain, Srinath Vardhineni.

A problem though, in the growth in popularity of schools cricket in Rwanda, is the lack of sufficient facilities and equipment. There is only one ground in Rwanda, which Mukama cited as an obvious impediment to meeting the surge in demand.

"Currently we have one ground with Flickx matting which is used for league games meaning that we can only operate a limited number of games at a time," he said.

The other countries taking part in the tournament are Gambia, Lesotho, Morocco, Sierra Leone and the hosts Malawi.

Tony Munro

A car proceeds along the road adjacent to the huge rectangular expanse of green that is the Esplanada, a seemingly a giant traffic island in the middle of Brasilia, the capital of South America's largest country.

The driver has a wary eye out for those red balls which he has occasionally seen thwack into the side of other cars whose drivers are oblivious to the possible danger.

So who are these people all clad in white apparel? Dentists? Possibly. Cyclists who scoot across from time-to-time, and a fellow with a sharp stick from the local council, who skewers any litter, all add to the mystery, along with a group of these 'dentists' who are all female.

There's a 13-year old, who starts running in with one of the red balls and lets fly. Decent 'throw', and one of his 'dentist' mates asks him in Portuguese, who taught him to do that.

"Oh Dennis Lillee."

It was all part of the action from the recent Brazil 20/20 Championships involving teams from Brazilian cricket's three main centres, São Paulo, Curitiba and the host, Brasilia and, for the first time, the national women's team.

The women have only been at it for a couple of years, having played their Argentine counterparts in a couple of series, and reportedly made quite an impression at their debut this year at the Americas women's titles in Florida.

The best batsman in Brasilia among the women’s teams was Juliano Brito, who scored 73 runs in three innings. And, apparently, she can send down the occasional quick one. Also, bowling against the blokes was Narayana Reinehr, who took the most wickets (six in three matches) with her accurate medium pace.

The ladies' two wins and third place were impressive enough for the women's team to score an invite to next year's edition. They finished ahead of Brasilia, the newest of Brazil's three cricket centres. Observers felt the fact every run they scored earned them two in no way diminished their achievements.

So São Paulo and Curitiba met in the final, São Paulo notching up 206 before dismissing Curitiba for 127. Man of the Tournament and national captain, Matt Featherstone, a former Kent Cricket Board player, led the charge for São Paulo with 72, supported by Warwick Heaney (39).

That 13-year-old was Thassilo Weber, who while living next door to one DK Lillee in Perth, apparently learnt a thing or two about fast bowling. Hopefully he'll pass that on to the 20 or so born in Brazil involved in the bash on the Esplanada, among the curious on-lookers, ice-cream sellers and American Football players.

The ongoing failure of the Netherlands board (KNBC) to appoint a chief executive rumbles on, with the issue spilling over into the public domain following the decision not to offer the post to Jan Zwart who has been fulfilling the post on an interim basis.

Andre van Troost was appointed to the role in September last year but quit five months later. Zwart stepped in pending another permanent choice being made, but according to a report on Cricket Europe the whole affair has opened a rift inside the board.

The latest conflict stemmed from suggestions that a CEO would be brought in from abroad, possibly England, with Zwart implying that was as a result of pressure being put on the KNBC by the ICC.

Those suggestions brought an immediate denial from board chairman Marc Asselbergs. He insisted that the selection process had been fair, while pointing out that as the ICC provides about 80% of the KNBC’s income, it had a right to have its views taken seriously. There are existing ICC regulations on appointments which apply to all Associates.

But the KNBC has hardly helped its own cause in this whole affair, with few media releases and an advertisement in July which was so absurd it was forced to withdraw it. It opened with the line that it was “required by ICC regulations to advertise this position once again. Hence the following advertisement” and went downhill from there, but in case anyone was still interested, the description concluded: “Attention is drawn to the fact that there is already an established candidate.”

An appointment is expected within the next week, hence the decision not to extend Zwart’s tenure. Cricket Europe reported that Zwart had expected to be made permanent, hence his unfortunate remarks when he found out he was not.

What is needed now is for a strong and credible appointment to be made. Whoever it is needs to be able and willing to work outside the boundaries of the country. The higher profiles of Warren Deutrom (Ireland), Samir Inamdar (Kenya) and Roddy Smith (Scotland) have helped boost the profiles of their countries within the ICC and among the cricket world in general.

For too long the Netherlands have been an almost anonymous Associate as far as the rest of the world is concerned, surfacing for the occasional foray at global events. The new CEO needs to embrace the ICC and the media as much as he addresses the problems facing cricket in the country.