ICC Europe has announced the tournament fixture schedule for the upcoming ICC European Under-19 Division 2 Championship to be held in Antwerp and Brussels, Belgium.

This will be the third time that a Division 2 tournament has been staged at this age group and will see the Under-19 national squads from Belgium, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Israel, Italy and Isle of Man contest the Championship title over a series of 50-over and Twenty20 matches.

“The competition is of particular importance to national development programmes and player pathways as it gives young cricketers a taste of international cricket before they play
for their country's senior side,” said, ICC Europe regional development manager
Richard Holdsworth. "With seven teams participating, this event is one of the larger tournaments in Europe this summer. There is nothing greater than representing your country in any sport and to be able to do so prior to senior level will hopefully inspire continued growth and development of cricketers in our junior age groups."

The ICC European Division 2 Championship gets underway on Monday in Guernsey. Six countries - Croatia, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Guernsey and Jersey - will compete for the title, and their finishing positions will determine their potential entry into the proposed expansion of the World Cricket League.

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France finished their short tour of Holland with an encouraging six-wicket win over a Netherlands side containing three players who recently took part in the Intercontinental Cup.

In the first game, shortened to 35-overs a side because of rain, Netherlands A won by 20 runs after posting 158 for 8. But the result meant they strengthened their side for the second match

After a steady but slow start Netherlands were 112 for 0 after 30 overs. France came back through Jon Houghton (3 for 49) and Tahir Mohammed (4 for 23, including three wickets in an over) and Netherlands were bowled out for 178 with four overs to go.

A couple of steady partnerships and a solid 62 from opener Arun Ayyavooraju, aided by some lusty blows from Shahid Malik (35) and captain Waseem Bhatti (32*), saw France home with 10 overs to spare.

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.

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.

Denmark have won the 2008 European Indoor Championship in Finland, beating old foes Portugal in a thrilling encounter. Denmark scrambled a two-wicket win off the penultimate delivery, overhauling Portugal's total of 132.

Hamid Shah was their hero in the decider with an unbeaten 28, sharing a match-winning partnership with Taha Ahmed (25*), after they were precariously placed at 65 for 3. For Paulo Buccimazza, the captain of Portugal, there was the consolation of being awarded Player of the Tournament after finishing as the leading run scorer in the competition, and once again in the final showed his quality making an unbeaten 38.

Such was Denmark's strength that they sailed through the competition unbeaten - eight games in total. Finn Kleissl, the captain, marshalled his squad superbly, and their disciplined bowling, backed up by athletic fielding, was a powerful combination which ensured their deserved success.

The host nation Finland finished a very encouraging third, and was just reward for the hard work the side put in to prepare for their debut as a host nation. They also unearthed a star, the wicketkeeper Jonathan Scamans, who was one of the standouts in the event.

France improved considerably as the competition progressed and thanks to wins over Hellas and Luxembourg, clinched fifth place. They came dramatically close to recording the highest ever European Indoor score when they totalled 158 for 1 - just one short of the 159 made by Hellas in 2002.

Their main performer was Arun Ayyavooraju, who performed consistently throughout.

Luxembourg steadily improved as the competition went on, and won the 'Spirit of Cricket Award'. William Heath, their captain, was pipped at the post for the Player-of-the-Tournament award, but he did record the highest individual score over the three days with an undefeated 41.

Hellas finished seventh, but there were moments of encouragement for their very young and inexperienced team. Their main contributor was Spyridon-Marios Kavvadias, who turned in some determined all-round performances.

"It's been an amazing few days of cricket, finished off with a nail-biting final," Richard Holdsworth, ICC's European development manager said. "The facilities here have been exemplary, with two pitches playing superbly. The players have all learnt a lot and improved as a result. This is what it's all about - it's primarily a development tournament.

"This is by far the youngest group of players we've had in the ten years, and that's encouraging, as it means that there are better, younger players being put forward by their Associations. I am also thrilled by the fantastic web coverage which has resulted in over 50,000 visitors to our website over the weekend - a great promotion for the game in Europe."

"I think indoor cricket is a marvellous way of promoting the game, particularly in some countries where they struggle with pitches and they haven't got a cricketing culture," Roger Knight, the chairman of European Cricket. "It helps with the basics of cricket - bowling straight, finding the gaps when batting, and running quickly between the wickets. All the teams have played good cricket, and it's been a pleasure to watch so many young teams in action.

"This is what European cricket is all about, and it's a great experience for them to meet people from other countries and learn from them."

The tenth ICC European Indoor Championship take place this weekend in Kuortane, Finland. This will be the first tournament to take place in Finland and Kuortane will become the most northerly venue ever to be used for an official international cricket championship.

Originally held every year, the European Indoor Championship has now become a biennial event. The 2006 tournament was held at Lord's and was won by Denmark, who were victors in three of the last four championships. The only other winner in that period was Hellas (Greece), who defeated Denmark by 3 runs in the 2005 final in Herning, Denmark.

Read the full report at Cricinfo.

This French Life blog (no strapline or explanation necessary) have an interesting interview with Dave Szumowski, the national coach (or Entraîneur National).

Where are the hot-beds of French cricket?
The majority of clubs are located in Ile d'France followed by the south (east and west). Aquitaine, Midi Pyrénées, Languedoc Roussillon and PACA are organised in regional associations to assist with the management and promotion of cricket in the south. The remainder of the clubs are scattered throughout France from Lille in the north to Cannes in the south. France Cricket currently has 1,000 licensed members in 50 affiliated clubs.

There are more clubs and cricketers in France that are not yet affiliated to France Cricket and the challenge is to involve them all and make everyone in France aware that cricket exists so that they can join a club. We then have to encourage all clubs to become affiliated to France Cricket so that their members can be eligible to play for the national teams and the sport can be recognised as a 'Sport de Haut Niveau' resulting in the Government releasing much needed resources. It is hoped that when licence numbers reach 2,000 this main objective can be achieved.

The ICC Europe Cricket Committee (ECC) have confirmed Ireland as the host for next year's European Division One Championship.

They lasted hosted the tournament in 2002 when 12 teams participated. In the past five years, however, six more countries have joined including Europe's four High Performance Program countries: Denmark, Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands. Norway - who won Division Two in 2006 - also join Italy.

The previous championship, hosted by Scotland in 2006, crowned Ireland as the European Champions and 2008's event will also feature three official one-dayers.

Meanwhile it was also confirmed that Guernsey will host the Division Two Championship in August, a six-team tournament which includes France, Germany, Gibraltar and Jersey. The sixth place will be decided later this year when Croatia meet Israel on November 18.

Guernsey secured their first ever title when they beat Jersey in the final of the European Under-15 Division 2 Championship in La Manga, Spain on Saturday. Click here to read the full story.

The Crusaders, an Australian team comprising former Test, first-class and league players, will travel to France to play a match just outside Paris on June 27 in their 42-day tour of Europe.

The highlights of their tour will be matches against a President's Italian cricket X1, Switzerland, Duke of Norfolk's X1 and the MCC at the Lord's Nursery Ground.

The Australian's will spend a whole week in France visiting the Burgundy vinyards of the Cote d'Or, explore Paris and the Palace of Versailles and admire the beauty of Monet's gardens at Giverny.

The Crusaders will play a match against Standard Athletic Club 24th June (2pm) at Meudon. From Paris they will travel to the Somme battlefields of northern France and the adopted Australian village of Villers Bretonneux. Then south to the Loire Valley and Chateau Chenonceau and Chateau Villandry and the highlight of the tour - the match against l'Equipe de France de Cricket.

Full story at This French Life.

The European Cricket Council has announced a deal with ICC Europe, ECB and Premium TV to make ECBtv available on subscription throughout Europe.

In many areas of Europe there is no access to TV highlights of matches, and this move looks to make coverage accessible to everyone.

"ECB is pleased and excited to be able to offer Europe’s cricket fans access to ECBtv and it is hoped that it will take the game to previously uncharted areas, inspiring people to get involved in this great sport,” Richard Holdsworth, the ICC’s regional development manager, said. "Delivering live video coverage via broadband to European territories has brought people closer to the game than ever before.”

ECBtv shows Test and one-day international matches live to certain territories, as well as match highlights, exclusive interviews, press conferences, coaching master classes and many other features to a global audience. Live streams start at £2.99. Click here for full details.

It won't get many column inches in the mainstream cricket press, but the World Cricket League, which started in Nairobi yesterday and continues into next week, features the best of the rest, the six sides just under the ten Test-playing countries. For the two finalists, the rewards are bountiful - a place among the big boys in the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa this September, along with $250,000. For countries used to surviving on annual handouts from the ICC of less than $200,000, that's big money.

With the exception of Bermuda, cricket is not a mainstream sport in any of the participants. And yet it survives, and in some instances thrives, despite the lack of attention and a relatively small number of enthusiasts.

The ICC, who do sterling work in supporting the game's second and third tiers, will rightly use the event to highlight that cricket is not just about the Indians and Australias of the world.

But there remains a nagging worry. The ICC boasts that the game is spreading across the world. But is that right? Is it taking root or is it surviving because more people from its hotbed - south-east Asia - are emigrating and keeping it alive for the duration of their careers?

In last year's Wisden Almanack, Matthew Engel raised this very issue. "Overwhelmingly, the game in non-traditional countries is played by expatriates, mostly South Asian. Journalists were kidded into believing that cricket was about to burst on China, on the basis of some warm comments by civil servants and a couple of coaching courses. I have seen not one shred of evidence to back this up. Are the kids playing with tapeballs on the streets of Shanghai? Are they heck!"

Take Canada. Of the squad in Nairobi at the moment, only three were born in the country, and two of those are over 35. Of the rest, five come from the Caribbean, four from India and each from Pakistan and Uganda. Whereas other Associates have a smattering of expats, Canada are utterly reliant on them.

Engel's comment attracted fierce criticism from those who either argued that England had more than their share of "imports" or that the game only spread in Asia, Africa, Australasia and the Caribbean through expats playing it in the first place.

The worry in some countries is that rather the game is not being continued by the second and third generations but is only being maintained by a steady flow of new immigrants

With regards to England, yes there have been quite a few non English-born players who have been picked for the side, but the game still has a massive stronghold in the country. The selection has been more about improving a solid side. And as for the ex-pats argument? Well, yes, but that's the crucial point. In the regions flagged the game was brought in but it was then embraced by the indigenous population and taken on as their own. This is exemplified no better than in CLR James's seminal work, Beyond A Boundary.

The worry in some countries - and again I come back to Canada - is that rather the game is not being continued by the second and third generations but is only being maintained by a steady flow of new immigrants. Canada's cricket heritage is rich but there is little sign that it has been built on. This is best underlined by the selection of former West Indies international Anderson Cummins. Forty years old and without a major match to his name since 1995-96, he made his debut in Mombasa last week. What message does that send out about the strength in depth of cricket in Canada?

It's not just Canada. Look at the USA, whose 2004 Champions Trophy side was a collection of ageing expats whose performances verged on the disgraceful. And the UAE, which is almost entirely dependant on its ex-pat workforce to keep the game alive.

Cricket's expansion should not be about filling teams with expats and expecting the locals to get excited about it. The only way cricket can gain a foothold in emerging countries is by actually getting the indigenous population to embrace the game, and two excellent examples where this is happening are Nepal and Uganda.

Anderson Cummins of Barbados, West Inbies ... and now Canada © Eddie Norfolk

Does it matter? Yes, because as the ICC looks to develop the game in as many places as possible, that means the financial cake has to be cut in ever thinner slices. The ICC needs to concentrate on a smaller number of countries where the chances of the game taking off. It is invidious that Uganda gets the same basic allowance as Belgium.

Cricket is in trouble in its traditional homes in Africa - Zimbabwe are hell-bent on destruction and South Africa seems to be falling out of love with the game. So efforts should be made in Uganda . And in Asia, which everyone accepts is the game's stronghold, a side like Nepal should really be given the leg up. It's about targeting rather than a scattergun approach.

In fairness to the ICC, they have a tough time and a lot of countries scrambling for a share of the spoils. It's about weeding out the weak and really looking to grow the game in areas where it has the best chance of taking root. It's an almost impossible ask. Look at the repeated failure of American Football to crack Europe ... and if football itself still battles for acceptance outside expats and schools in the USA, then the size of the ICC's task becomes clear.

Of course expats have a key role to play in expansion. But if the game is basically played by them, is it the game spreading or is it more about diehards clinging to the traditions of their homelands? In the UK there are baseball and American football sides, but they are almost all expat Americans and so few would seriously claim the games have taken hold. However, basketball and ice hockey are widely played by locals, boosted by some imported players and expats, and, crucially, the national side can stand on its own two feet. That's the difference.

The European Cricket Council's European Cricket Championships, which are being held in Scotland, are the first to be organised under the auspices of the International Cricket Council’s World Cricket League.

The tournament will feature 13 countries in two divisions playing 30 matches in seven days at 12 west of Scotland grounds, starting on Thursday (August 3).

The Division 1 sides - Scotland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Denmark and Italy - will play a round-robin tournament, from which there is no relegation. The three matches involving the first three named teams are deemed by the International Cricket Council as official One-Day Internationals, and will be played at Ayr Cricket Club, where ground facilities have been upgraded with support from South Ayrshire Council.

Scotland’s other two matches will be played at New Anniesland (against Denmark) and Hamilton Crescent (against Italy).

Division 2 consists of eight teams - France, Germany, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Hellas (Greece), Israel, Jersey and Norway - who will play in two initial pools of four, followed by crossover semi-finals and four ranking finals - and one team will be promoted to the first division in two years’ time. The facilities at all grounds have been equipped with additional weather protection and other enhancements, thanks to a range of local authority grants and commercial support.

A huge bonus is available for the Division 2 teams, with the winners not only promoted to the European Division 1 in 2008, but also a place in the new ICC World Cricket League Division 5 in 2007-08. This team will receive $20,000 towards preparation of that event, the venue of which is still to be decided.