550892 © PA

Cricket Ireland has set out its strategy to bring full Test status by 2020. Targets include an increase in the number of people playing the game in Ireland to 50,000, reaching eighth in the world rankings and establishing a domestic first-class structure.

A number of commercial deals have been secured, allowing Ireland to unveil their strategic plan to 2015 and target their ultimate ambition of securing Test status. As part of that process Cricket Ireland want to have three first-class teams in place by 2015.

Warren Deutrom, Ireland's chief executive, said: "We have set ourselves a very clear long-term ambition - to become a full Test nation by 2020, nothing less. This is not a dreamy aspiration but a real ambition founded on the playing talent being developed on this island, the growing passion and profile of the game here, a sustained and proven track record of achievement on and off the field and a clear roadmap set out by us for how to get there."

Phil Simmons, the Ireland coach, has also agreed a two-year extension to his contract which will take him through to at least the end of Ireland's World Cup qualifying campaign late next year.

Cricket Ireland has offered a record 23 professional contracts to players, in three categories, for 2012, a development Simmons says is vital for their continued improvement.

"A key part of our success to date has been the move to professionalism," Simmons said. "With so many players on full or part-time contracts we now have a structure supporting the senior squad to make sure we can maintain our competitiveness on the international stage."

Initiatives to swell participation numbers to 50,000 will include the establishment of regional academies; a Get Into Cricket scheme which will seek to attract six to 12-year-olds to take up the game in clubs and schools; a Better Clubs Initiative, which will encourage clubs to improve their facilities; and the Cricket Ireland national awards which will recognise contributions ranging from players to volunteers.

"Our commitment to the game at grassroots level will hopefully make a real difference on the ground," Deutrom said. "We want to give as much attention to the domestic game as we have to the international teams in the last four years."

© AP

On Canadian website sportsnet, Nigel Reed is less than impressed with the way Canada have played so far in the Caribbean Twenty20. Despite bright starts in both their Group A games in Antigua, the momentum deserted them at crucial times resulting in heavy defeats to both the Windward and Leeward Islands.

Taking a chance is one thing. Poor choice of shot or execution is quite another. Sadly a fair few Canadian batsmen have fallen in the latter category. I lost count of the number of players who threw away their wickets because of bad shots rather than being beaten by the skill of a bowler.

It didn't have to be like this. Technically Canada does not rank among the best in the world but I would like to think there are enough decent players on duty to at least be competitive in the Caribbean. The fact is if you choose to bat and fail the game is virtually over as a contest before the run chase begins

Canada must improve or the ramifications could be costly. Ian Bishop, the former West Indies fast bowler, openly questioned Canada's participation following a second thumping defeat. At the same time Bishop recognizes Canada has to play better teams more frequently to get better. Is that a chicken or an egg I hear?

As many as 22 former and current Members of Parliament and seven senators have written letters of endorsement to induct Frederick Heather into the 2012 Canada Sports Hall of Fame. Heather, who played a major role in the growth and development of cricket in Canada, moved to the country from England in 1921 and died in Toronto in 1976. Heather is being nominated in the Builder’s category for the Sports Hall of Fame – the category recognises “outstanding contribution to Canadian sport as a leader, administrator, official, coach, business leader, and media or in other roles.”

Upon retiring as a player, Heather took to umpiring and also became an administrator, as a secretary for two clubs, a founding member and first secretary-treasurer of the Toronto District Cricket Umpire’s Association and the first secretary of the Canadian Umpire’s Control Board. He began umpiring in 1929 and was Canada’s longest-serving umpire when he retired. He was also appointed to several international assignments, including the inaugural first-class match in Canada held against the MCC. Heather also started a school for cricket umpires and started a junior cricket league in Toronto, which led to the formation of 18 junior clubs that included more than 300 players.

“The support and praise for Heather’s contributions as a builder of Canadian cricket have been overwhelming with a total of 43 written endorsements,” a press release stated. “There are Olympic medalists, CEOs, mayors, and authors who have joined the effort to have cricket recognised in Canada. Heather’s contributions to cricket can be read on the Cricket Canada website. Unfortunately, Canada does not have a cricket hall of fame, although Heather was inducted into the US Cricket Hall of Fame in 2010.

“Our Members of Parliament promote that 2012 be the year Canadians are inspired by Heather’s outstanding achievements, through his inclusion to Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame.”

Cricket Kenya and Supersport have agreed terms for the broadcaster to televise the East African Premier League and East Africa Cup for the next two years.

The continuation of the partnership will see Supersport broadcast coverage of the Twenty20 and 50-over competitions in 2012 and 2013. Supersport will show comprehensive live coverage of both the competitions and look to build on their additional coverage which included a weekly magazine show featuring highlights, features and player profiles in the inaugural season.

“The extension of our broadcast agreement with Supersport is testimony to how successful the first year of the East African Cricket Competitions has been,” explained Tom Sears, Cricket Kenya’s CEO. “The Supersport coverage has generated enormous interest all over Africa and the feedback we have had is incredibly encouraging. To have East African domestic cricket broadcast all over the continent gives the game wonderful exposure and presents fantastic opportunities to commercial partners.

“We are delighted with how the first year has gone, weather interfering with the finals aside, and we are currently reviewing ways we can further improve the competitions for 2012. The East African Cricket Competitions are a key part of our strategy for the future development of cricket at all levels in the region and Supersport’s endorsement of what we are striving to achieve is enormously encouraging.”

Hamid Hassan came away with mixed memories from the ICC Combined XI match, claiming two key wickets but also needing a trip to hospital

'My body is now pretty spectacular as I have some interesting coloured bruises, some of which are green, yellow and blue' © Getty Images

It has been a fairly eventful few days in Dubai for me, playing for the ICC Combined Associate and Affiliate XI against England, with the high of getting two of the best batsmen in the world out, followed by one of the biggest lows in my career, when I injured myself while fielding, which ruled me out of the rest of the game.

Day two of the match had started so well for me. I felt I was bowling quickly and accurately against England’s top order and was just trying to concentrate on not giving the batsmen any room. Hopefully the person who updates the statistics on Cricinfo will have been watching and will change my style of bowling to fast, rather than just medium-fast, on my player profile.

It was an amazing feeling to dismiss Andrew Strauss and Jonathan Trott and I felt I was capable of taking quite a few more wickets.

However, just as I was beginning to really enjoy myself, I then suffered my horrendous injury. I can remember running down to the boundary to try and stop a ball that had been hit by Alastair Cook and then suddenly realising the fence was getting near me, trying to jump over it, only to catch my leg, which brought me down to the ground. This meant I hit the tracks that they move the sightscreen on really heavily.

After that I think I must have blanked out, as my next memory is opening my eyes and feeling the pain in my legs – I couldn’t move them at all – and so I just lay on my back, with lots of people gathering around me to tell me to relax, keep calm, and not move. I then got carried off on a stretcher and was taken to hospital where I had a series of x-rays, which thankfully revealed no permanent damage, although that didn’t mean it has stopped hurting since.

My body is now pretty spectacular as I have some interesting coloured bruises, some of which are green, yellow and blue, but thankfully the doctors have said that after two weeks rest, I will be fine to resume training and so I should be on track to play against Pakistan next month in our ODI game at Sharjah.

I am really proud of the way the 12 players picked for the game did in representing the Associate and Affiliate world against the best test team in the world and I was following every ball on the internet from my hotel room once I came back from hospital.

I am particularly proud of my fellow countryman, with Mohammad Shahzad scoring half-centuries in both innings, and Mohammad Nabi bowling so well.

It made me so disappointed that I wasn’t on the field with the rest of the guys today as when England needed 60 to win with four wickets left, that would have been my perfect time to bowl and I think I could have won us the game with my yorkers, especially if the ball was reversing, but all our bowlers did really well.

It has made me extra determined to help Afghanistan qualify for the ICC World Twenty20 2012, as one of the qualifiers will get the chance to play against England in the group stages. It would be nice to have the chance to finish the job that I started and get the chance to beat England this year.

The overall experience this week, training and playing alongside some great players against some of the world’s finest, was an amazing one, and I feel I have learnt so much from the team coaches.

I really hope that there is another chance for the ICC Combined Associate/Affiliate XI to play against other Test teams, as I think we have shown we are good enough to compete, and perhaps one day even play a match with Test status. That would be like a dream for me.

Netherlands cricket has received a major boost after securing a four-year sponsorship deal with the major Dutch bank ABN AMBRO. It will allow them to pump more money into central contracts as they build towards the 2015 World Cup.

As with other Associate nations, Netherlands' players have to balance their cricket careers with full-time jobs to ensure they can make a living. Some of their leading stars, like Ryan ten Doeschate and Alexei Kervezee, play county cricket - where Netherlands compete in the CB40 competition - while Tom Cooper has reached as far as the Australia A setup. Currently three players have contracts with the Netherlands board but they now expect that to increase.

"We are delighted to be able to secure this deal, which also provides us with a two-fold opportunity," Richard Cox, the Netherlands chief-executive, said. "Firstly we will be able to offer considerably more full-time playing contracts to our players and effectively turn professional for the foreseeable four years and beyond. Secondly we will be able to offer a career-path for our best young cricketers from our development programmes in to the national team. This is a sea-change for the future of Dutch cricket and is the fruit of many months of work by team manager Ed van Nierop and the KNCB."

Netherlands took part in last year's World Cup but did not manage to win any of their group matches, although they gave England a tough outing when ten Doeschate struck 119 in Nagpur. In March they will be one of 16 teams taking part in the World Twenty20 qualifiers in Dubai, from which two sides will qualify for the main event in Sri Lanka. Their attention will then turn to preparing for the next World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, in 2015.

Hamid Hassan is looking forward at another chance to impress © Getty Images

Hamid Hassan writes about his excitement in being selected for the ICC Combined XI to play England

It has been a brilliant first few days in Dubai preparing for the ICC Combined Associate and Affiliate XI match against England on Saturday. We have worked really hard in our training camp and it has been great to spend some time with some really good players from outside the Test playing world.

We were sitting in the changing rooms earlier and we were talking about how funny it is for us all to be on the same team and to make so many good friends, when we are so used to playing against each other and when usually our only interaction is to shake hands at the end of a match. Everybody is very proud to have been selected for this inaugural match and we want to do all of the countries outside of the Test playing world proud with a good performance.

Last year was a bit disappointing for Afghanistan, losing matches that we should have done better in, but hopefully winning the Asian Cricket Council Twenty20 Cup in Nepal in December is a positive sign of things to come.

On a personal level, it was also sad that I continued to struggle with an ankle injury in 2011, but I am confident that I will be able to get through an exciting year of cricket without too many problems.

As well as this match against England, there is also a lot to look forward to in the coming year for my country. Having the chance to play against Pakistan in February is a game that people back home are really looking forward to – I would imagine that it will be very hard to get a ticket for that game, as so many Afghanistan fans living in the UAE will want to come and watch.

In March, we have the ICC World Twenty20 2012 qualifier, which we really want to get through, so that we can show the potential of the Afghanistan team on the world stage again, like we did in the Caribbean back in 2010. Obviously players from many of my main rivals in that event are playing alongside me this week, so it will be a different experience playing against them in March, having got to know them so well through this match.

There are also a number of important Intercontinental Cup matches in 2012 and we obviously want to do well in the 50-over league to have a chance of playing in our first ever World Cup, having come so close to having qualified for the last tournament in 2009.

It is very exciting that we have the chance to play the No. 1 Test team in the world this week, although I don’t really feel any pressure. I am looking forward to the opportunity provided to me by the ICC and my view is that I need to treat this game like any other, and I know if I focus on just bowling well, then I will give myself a better chance of taking wickets, even if I am bowling against some of the greatest players in world cricket.

During my time on the staff with the MCC, a few years ago, I had the opportunity to bowl to some members of the England team in the nets and in practice games, including playing with my hero Andrew Flintoff. Indeed I once got Matt Prior out first ball and I have even broken Monty Panesar’s helmet before with a bouncer in the nets.

I have played quite a bit of club cricket in England and my former team-mates have been sending me some really nice messages on Facebook in the last few days wishing me good luck for the game. I don’t think they can believe they shared a dressing room in club cricket with somebody who will have the chance to play against some of their heroes like Strauss, Bell, Pietersen and Trott this week.

I have always enjoyed playing in the UAE, as we qualified for the World Twenty20 2010 here, we use the country as our main base for matches and I also did very well for the MCC team against Nottinghamshire in Abu Dhabi last April, taking seven wickets in the first-class match and then five wickets in a T20 game, including a hat-trick. The facilities at the ICC Global Cricket Academy are absolutely outstanding and it is a great place to prepare for such a big game.

The weather is ideal for cricket and we all can’t wait to get started on Saturday. Hopefully by doing well in this match we can further the reputations of all Associate and Affiliate players, so that next time I am lining up against England, I am playing for my country in a full ODI or T20 international match.