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

	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.

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.

In just their second Americas Region competition Bahamas Under-15s proved too powerful for the Cayman Islands and Belize as they ended the Central Division tournament with a perfect 4-0 record.

Cayman Islands captured the silver defeating Belize, the newcomers, twice.

Turan Brown (Bahamas) was declared Player of the Tournament.

Andrew Murgatroyd

Last weekend four Central American nations met on the fields of Academia Britannica Cuscatleca (aka British School ) in El Salvador to compete for the second Easter Cup.

Named after the time of year when the first edition was played, it involved hosts El Salvador, defending champions Costa Rica, Easter Cup newcomers Mexico and favourites Belize, the Twenty20 event was a first time the small Central American nation had hosted an international.

The sun shone brightly, and with a wind keeping the fielders cool and the bails wobbling, the tournament was set.

The British School field had been cleared of its football goals and gym bars, a pitch-sized trench had been cut out of the centre field, a wooden underlay put down and an artificial mat laid on top. With a sound system playing, and a bouncy castle, food court and drinks available the players waited for the clock to tick down.

If rankings and experience were true measures Belize and Mexico would fight it out for top spot, with Costa Rica and El Salvador competing for third place

The tournament started with the biggest clash of the four games : Belize v Mexico . Once the anthems had faded and the umpires in place, some fireworks batting from the Belize opening pair in the very first over indicated, as good a spirit as the tournament was played in, teams were in it to win it.

The Mexican reply started equally impressively but couldn’t maintain the momentum and Belize in the end finished comfortable winners. Costa Rica look to Mexico as their target for improvement while El Salvador look to Costa Rica.

Some tight bowling and careless batting had Costa Rica posting a modest total as they opened with the bat. El Salvador recovered from a first-over loss to get their noses in front and seemed to be cruising, then a combination of nerves and improved bowling turned the tables and Costa Rica won to preserve their 100% record against El Salvador.

Day two began with Belize making another aggressive start, and despite a Costa Rica fightback in the second half, they posted a total that looked daunting.

And so it proved to be. With wickets falling early the Costa Rica middle order saw their challenge as surviving the 20 overs. This, to their credit, they managed however Belize had won easily again.

Up until now the pitch – with a few notable exceptions - had been true and predictable, the umpires consistent and calm and the scoreboard busy.

The wind had died down, drink were flowing and the shady tents were beginning to fill up with a pleasingly large amount of Sunday afternoon spectators, at least half of which were curious Salvadoreans.

The final game saw El Salvador risk batting first and it seemed to pay off with another strong batting start. The tail starts too early for this new cricketing nation however and although a decent total had been posted it didn´t look like it was going to be enough.

Blistering aggressive attacking by the Mexican opening pair had El Salvador flummoxed as they struggled to stem the flow of runs. Mexico won easily.

A closing ceremony followed with the appropriate thanks given to the school, the principal sponsors (Wegerich Natural Medicines & El Salvador/Canada Chamber of Commerce), some generous private donors, the many helpers, and the traveling teams. Last off the trophy table came the bottles of champagne.

A fine tournament had worthy winners and a group of exhausted but satisfied cricketers watched Belize pop the corks while a few thoughts drifted to the next regional tournament - the Central American Tournament, Costa Rica, April 2009.

Clayton Lambert, the former West Indies batsman, will lead the Atlanta Lions Cricket Club of the USA on a tour to Belize in August 2008. The visiting team will play two matches against the national champion and the national team. While in Belize, Lambert will also coach junior cricketers on behalf of the Belize National Cricket Association.

Next week's ICC annual get-together promises to have more than its fair share of politicking, posturing and controversy. But, unless there is a major about-turn, it should also be a watershed for the Associates and Affiliates.

In 2009, income from the ICC's six-year media deal with ESPN-Star, worth over US$1 billion, kicks in, and while the game's big boys will still keep the lion's share, the rest will see substantial increases in their incomes.

Although the ICC draws considerable flak on many fronts, it is quietly committed to promoting the game in as many countries as possible, and it does that by means of a myriad of competitions and initiatives. Most do not warrant much media attention, but they are there and they work.

Until now, the gripe of the smaller countries, and especially those bubbling just underneath the top flight, has been about the inequality of the way in which the game is financed. That was never more apparent than when it came to earnings from last year's World Cup.

Ireland got a flat fee of US$125,000 a year for four years for taking part, and on top of that they received another $50,000 for reaching the Super Eights. However, because of the extra costs involved in their progression, not least because their players are not professional cricketers and their absences from their full-time jobs had to be underwritten, Ireland's success actually left the board out of pocket.

Zimbabwe, on the other hand, turned up, tied with Ireland and never threatened to progress after being thumped by Pakistan and West Indies. For those three matches, Zimbabwe Cricket received US$11 million, their share of the pot as a Full Member.

The top six Associates receive no more than US$500,000 a year - some substantially less - to fund their entire operations. Out of that they have to pay all their cricketing and administration costs. Only those with a low cost of living, such as Kenya, can hope to maintain a professional squad on that kind of money.

The gulf between the haves and have-nots is further widened by the limited sums Associates can earn from sponsorship and media contracts. Zimbabwe can exploit home series against, say, India to carve out lucrative TV deals worth millions, and on the back of that, attract shirt- and other corporate sponsorship. As highlighted by Scotland's failure to secure any TV deal for their forthcoming ODI against England, the Associates struggle to get such income streams.

The new deals will provide a substantial increase for Associates, especially for the countries who are pressing for space at the top table. Until now the share has been roughly equal, rewarding Netherlands and Kenya on par with Thailand and Fiji. The new system will see more demarcation between the top Associates and the rest.

The leading ten could earn as much as US$1.5 million a year from 2009. There will then be an onus on them to professionalise their administrations, but several of them are already well down that route. They will also be more accountable - the ICC does not want a repeat of the mess that came following a spike in Kenya's funding earlier in the decade.

The second-string Associates will also get more - around US$160,000 as a base figure - but then again the demands on them are less. Even Affiliates will receive US$15,000, with the opportunity for more should they make a good enough case. There will also be more cash in the pot for participating and hosting competitions.

There have never been more opportunities for development outside the Full Member countries, but there remain some nagging worries.

The main one is how to bridge the gap between semi and full-blown professionalism. Almost all the Associates rely on dedicated amateurs, both on and off the field. As the number of ICC competitions has increased - and they have to be welcomed - the pressure has begun to tell. Scotland and Ireland particularly have already found players cannot meet all their commitments, and even the increased income will not allow them to employ a full-time squad.

"So much of putting players on full-time retainers depends on how many fixtures we can command," Warren Deutrom, Cricket Ireland's chief executive, said. "At the moment, all we can promise the squad in 2009 is a World Cup qualifying campaign, eight FP Trophy matches, an England game, and probably some Intercontinental Cup matches. Of course, we hope to have more, but can't be sure at the moment.

"Our top players are already plying their trade in county cricket, while others have full-time jobs which they may not wish to give up. The actual number of players that the coach will want to put on a full-time contract, or else the number that even want to have one, may not be that many."

The other quandary is how to get them fixtures. Kenya, widely regarded as the leading Associate, have found it almost impossible to get Full Member countries to visit or host them. As a result they invariably play other Associates. Good for the win-loss ratio, not so clever in providing the kind of experience that no amount of money can buy.

These issues will need to be addressed, but for now the future has never looked so promising beyond the Test world.

They say every good book or movie should have a dynamic beginning, a solid middle to keep your interest and a surprise and thrilling ending. If the 2008 Americas Division 3 was a movie or book it had the perfect script.

The beginning, days 1 & 2, saw Chile upsetting the two co-favourites on consecutive days beating Belize and Turks & Caicos. The Chile captain, Simon Shalders, with a brilliant century (104) was the hero on the first day. He was back again on day two but this time in a supporting role (69) as he watched countryman Paul Wollocombe take the spotlight with another century (104). Chiles’s third match was against newcomer Peru and it was no surprise going into the rest day. Their perfect record of 3-0 had them comfortably in front, with only struggling Brazil in the path to Division 2. Meanwhile Belize and Turks & Caicos could only try to keep pace and hope for a miracle.

That miracle happened on day 4 when Brazil, led by the skipper Matt Featherstone (152 from 109 balls) posted a massive score of 359 for 6 in their 50 overs.

Chile knew all was at stake and gave it a valiant try again. Led by Shalders (80) the Chileans fell short of capturing the crown by 37 runs. This surprising loss opened up the gates for Belize and Turks & Caicos and set up the most exciting finish ever at an Americas Region tournament.

Day five, the final chapter, and it was all about run rate with Belize playing TCI. In an extraordinary turn of events, three teams – TCI, Belize and Chile - all stood a chance of winning the championship off the final ball of the match. TCI batted first and made 196, Belize were 192 for 9 with one ball to go. Chile had completed the tournament with 12 points, Belize and TCI had 8 and there was 4 on the line for a victory. The latter two had better run rates than Chile.

A six (or 5 runs) on the final delivery would have given Belize the Championship. A four would have given Chile the championship - anything less and TCI would be crowned. Howell Gillett (no rabbit) was on 62 facing the final delivery from TCI skipper Ralph Doughty. (Who wrote this script?). On the final delivery, Gillett’s desperate swing did not make proper contact and resulted in one run being scored and a Turks & Caicos Championship.

Final Table
1st Turks & Caicos Islands
2nd Chile
3rd Belize
4th Peru
5th Brazil

Simon Shalders (Chile) took both Best Batsman and Player-of-the-Tournament awards.

Taken from the ICC Americas regional newsletter for February 2008

The number of people actively participating in cricket outside the Test-playing countries increased 17% in 2007, according to the ICC.

The research, carried out by the ICC's development program, was collated from 33 Associate and 58 Affiliate members. It showed that there were 338,051 male and female players in those countries in 2007, an increase of 49,158 on the previous year. Since 2002, when there were 144,047 participants, there has been a 135% rise.

Click here for the full story.

Chile dominated the first two days of the ICC Americas Division 3 tournament in Argentina, beating pre-tournament favourites Belize by 26 runs on the opening day after posting 271 for 6, with their captain Simon Shalders leading the way with an 84-ball 104. In the day’s other game, Peru, only admitted to ICC membership in 2007, went down to an eight-wicket defeat to Turks & Caicos Islands combination, whose veteran captain Ralph Doughty took 4 for 18 in 9.2 overs.

On the second day Chile powered to an eight-wicket win over Turks and Caicos Islands. Turks and Caicos were bowled out for 252, with Donvan Mathews’ 68 the top score. Chile's Paul Woolocombe lead the chase with an unbeaten 104 with captain Simon Shalders scoring 69. In the other match Belize beat Brazil by 138 runs, bowling out the Brazilians for 55.

Eldon Wade from Belize, Player of the Tournament © ICC

In an absorbing day of cricket, with fortunes see-sawing at various times, a final flourish from the Belizean bowlers saw the hosts deny a committed Mexican challenge to win by 78 runs, and thus also win the first Central American Cricket Championships.

It was an interesting and entertaining three days of cricket in Belize, and with plans already in place to play the second Central American Championship in Mexico in 2007, the success of the event, and the positive spin-offs it will no doubt provide for cricket development in the Central American region, seem assured.