Tony Munro

At least four African countries are set to lose their annual international competition following the apparent demise of the North-West African Championships (NWAC).

Nigerian Cricket Federation President, Kwesi Sagoe, has advised CricInfo the event is "highly unlikely" to be held in 2010 due to issues obtaining sponsorship as a result of the state of his country's economy. It will be the second year in a row it has not been held.

There is a possibility Nigeria and/or Ghana will be included in one of the lower divisions of the global World Cricket League, however that option is not open to Sierra Leone, Gambia, Mali and Morocco.

The latter four can compete in the regional Africa Division Three event bi-annually, and depending on results play in Division Two the following year.

The NWAC was a successor to the old West African Cricket Conference which had been held since 1960.

ICC Africa Development Officer, Cassim Suliman said his office would consider providing financial support if approached.

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.

Africa needs to look hard at itself and ask this question: why are there only two teams from the continent going to New Zealand for the Under-19s World Cup in January? And of the two, no-one can ever be too sure about Zimbabwe.

No non-Test nation (apart, now, from Zimbabwe) has made it through from Africa; whereas Asia will have six representatives (two non-Test sides), the Americas and Caribbean three (two non-Test nations), the Antipodes three (Australia, New Zealand and non-Test Papua New Guinea), and Europe two (one non-Test).

Uganda nearly made it through, but in the end they came out also-rans and, like Vanuatu, hom they beat, were not really up to scratch. Sierra Leone did not appear for the Toronto qualifiers - might they have been a surprise package or, more likely, mere fodder for the better teams? And Kenya were a no-shower for other reasons, compounded in part by their own foolishness amid premature assumptions that they would host the tournament.

So, the second question is this - and it's one that's been asked before: whither Africa?

South Africa will always hold its own; Zimbabwe seems possibly to be coming back; Uganda (where 38,000 people play the game) still appears promising; and Kenya has a lot to do. Backstage, Tanzania also hold promise, but Botswana recently took a biffing at the World Cricket League Division 6 event in Singapore.

Nigeria may be an untapped talent; Ghana are making efforts to climb; Malawi, on the other hand, and Zambia too, have faded away. Namibia are somewhere in-between, blowing hot and cold. One day Morocco may come through, but it will be a long time before Mali does.
In the wings, and whether they can fly or not nobody really knows, are Mozambique, Rwanda, Lesotho, Swaziland, Cameroon and the Gambia, while way offshore there lies little St Helena.

As yet, no Egypt. Why not?

It's not a particularly rosy picture; nor is it one of total despair. What it does illustrate, though, is that more resources need to be ploughed into the continent and proper development programmes carried through.

We could start with no less than adequate press coverage of cricket, so desperately lacking across most of the continent. So let's start there; the oxygen of publicity may be the saving of cricket in Africa.

What do others say?

Colin MacBeth

Sierra Leone won the African Affiliates Under-19 Championship staged in Maputo, edging out Ghana on net run-rate. They progress to the next stage of qualification for the 2010 U-19 World Cup when they are joined in Zambia by Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

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.

Ghana beat Swaziland by five wickets to win the ICC World Cricket League Africa Region Division Three. At the moment we have no further details.

Ghana will play Swaziland in the final of the ICC World Cricket League Africa Region Division Three.

Ghana had the easiest match, thrashing Rwanda by eight wickets with more than 39 overs in hand. Rwanda were bowled out for 23 in 11.1 overs, but that represented a recovery after they found themselves 13 for 8. Abdul-Karim Sumaila (4 for 11) and Isaac Aboagye (6 for 9) bowled unchanged throughout, while extras (9) contributed more than any individual batsman. Ghana lost both their openers in easing home.

Swaziland had to work harder, and survived a mini collapse within sight of the finishing line, before overcoming Sierra Leone by four wickets with 20 overs to spare in the battle of the group winners. Sierra Leone managed 116 thanks to an eighth-wicket stand of 50 which bailed them out from 50 for 7. Joseph Wright (5 for 17) was the man who blew away the top order. Swaziland were wobbling on 27 for 3 but Wright (48) and Abdulazis Patel (35*) put on 73 for the fourth wicket, and strikes from Lansana Lamin (4 for 19) came too late.

Lesotho lost to a South African Invitation XI by seven wickets in the fifth-place play-off.

Click here for the tournament scorecards.

Tony Munro

One of the oldest running (give or take the odd year) tournament in international cricket starts this weekend when five countries contest the North West African Championships in Lagos, Nigeria.

The traditional entrants, Gambia, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Nigeria, all members of the British Commonwealth, have taken part in the old West African Championships since the 1960s.
Last year Mali and Morocco became the first former French territories to compete, (in Banjul, Gambia), and the tournament became the North West African Championships.

Mali is back, Morocco is not, and plans for Cameroon to debut this year have been scuppered.

Also returning this year are 12 of the 14 members of the successful Nigerian team, the only changes forced by work commitments. The five teams will contest a round-robin, with the winner decided on win-loss record.

Ghana and Sierra Leone are regarded as Nigeria's main threats.

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.

Botswana produced the shock of the Africa Under-19 World Cup Qualifiers when they Uganda by 27 runs to reach the semi-finals in Benoni on Monday.

Botswana's unexpected victory eliminated Tanzania from the semi-final on net run-rate after the duo along with Uganda ended up at four points each from three matches. In Wednesday's semi-finals, Uganda meets Namibia while Kenya faces Botswana. Kenya topped Pool One after conjuring up a four-wicket victory over Zambia while Namibia finished second after defeating Ghana by 172 runs, courtesy of an unbeaten century by Sean Silver.

In the Botswana-Uganda match, Botswana scored 192 for 8 after being put into bat with contributions from Karan Kapoor (54) and Nadeem Tajbhay (36) while Emmanuel Nakaana bagged 3 for 45. In turn, Uganda was dismissed for 165 in 44 overs after losing their last seven wickets for 54.

Tanzania, in their last match, carved out a 153-run victory over Nigeria. Athumani Kakonzi (70) and Seif Abdul (68) put on 123 for the second wicket to set the platform for Tanzania's 296 in 49.5 overs. Nigeria, in its target chase, were bowled out for 143.

Silver scored 101 to inspire Namibia to a 172-run victory over Ghana and featured in a 117-run second wicket partnership with Tiaan Louw (62) as Namibia scored 287 for 6. Ghana were dismissed for 115 with Elandre Oosthuizen taking 4 for 39 and Louis Petrus van der Westhuizen claiming 3 for 13.

Spinners Rakep Patel and Rohit Vekaria shared six wickets to help Kenya beat Zamibia by four wickets. Patel took 3 for 16 and Vekaria bagged 3 for 17 as Zambia were spun out for 152. Kenya achieved victory in 34.1 overs for the loss of six wickets.

The winner of the Africa Under-19 Qualifiers join Papua New Guinea (from the East Asia-Pacific Region), Ireland (from the Europe Region) and Bermuda (from the Americas Region), the ICC's 10 Full Members and hosts Malaysia at the 16-team U-19 World Cup from February 17 to March 2 2008 in Malaysia.