Papua New Guinea 204 for 5 (Amini 71*, Ura 57, Arifin 1-24, Rahim 1-22) beat Malaysia 158 (Alagaratham 49, Dikana 2 for 14, Areni 2 for 27, Dai 2 for 41) by 46 runs

Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Singapore have scored comfortable wins on day one of the Air Niugini Supa Series in Port Moresby on Wednesday.

The home side beat Malaysia by 46 runs at Amini Park thanks to a strong batting performance, while Singapore exposed Hong Kong's inexperience to win by 90 runs at Colts Ground.

Malaysia won the toss and sent PNG in on a bouncy wicket. The PNG batsmen, led by Chris Amini, responded with 204 from 50 overs. Openers, Vani Vagi Morea and Tony Ura gave the PNG innings a firm base putting on 51 runs for the first wicket. Ura continued to reach first half-century for the Barramundis while in partnership with Chris Amini. The more experienced Amini batted in his usual attractive manner to close the innings out with an unbeaten 71.

The PNG attack bowled tightly to ensure Malaysia's reply never really got going. Captain Rarua Dikana maintained pressure, bowling 10 overs and conceding just 14 runs and snaring two wickets in the process. Malaysia captain, Suhan Kumar, attempting to increase the tempo in a rousing innings of 49, but eventually his team was bowled out for 158 in the 47th over to give the home team a comfortable win.

PNG coach, Andy Bichel, was pleased with his batsmen’s show. "The pitch this morning was quite bouncy and there was genuine turn, so to have our top order bats really perform was critical to our success today. Tony Ura made his first 50 as a Barramundi and looked strong in doing so, whilst Chris Amini fired up to score 75 not out. I was pleased that we had enough wickets in hand at the end of the game to perform strongly in the Powerplay.”

Singapore 252 for 8 (Suryawanshi 32, Mendis 41, Param 53, Arora 42, Z Ali 3-31, Amar 3-47) beat Hong Kong 162 (Gul 58, Mulewa 3-23, Tripathi 3-26) by 90 runs

In the other game at the Colts Ground, Singapore bowlers, Rohan Tripathi and Dharmichand Mulewa, capitalised on a good effort from their batsmen to give their team a 90-run win over Hong Kong.

Singapore elected to bat and there were contributions all round from Anish Param who top-scored with 53 and Munish Arora (42), while openers Buddhika Mendis and Chetan Suryawanshi set the tone.

Hong Kong, a Division Three team in the World Cricket League but fielding a young squad in this tournament, started smoothly in their response. It needed the guile of Mulewa to take three quick wickets to halt Hong Kong's momentum, while Rohan Tripathi cleaned up the lower-order with four wickets.

Hamid Hasan’s five-wicket haul triggered a late-innings collapse that derailed Malaysia’s chase, as Afghanistan sneaked home by one run at Hubara. Afghanistan’s top order laid a strong foundation after they won the toss, but the rest of the batsmen could not drive home the advantage. Karim Sadiq started well with a run-a-ball 46, and Asghar Stanikzai lent good support to lift the score to 82 for 2, and later 117 for 3, in good time. Thereafter, the lower order lost the plot and it was left to Raees Ahmadzai to hold things together with a 59-ball 64, as Afghanistan posted 236 for 9. Malaysia’s captain Suhan Kumar anchored the chase with 61, and significant contributions from the top order, barring opener Rakesh Madhavan, put their side on course, at 219 for 4. Hasan then took over, as three wickets fell without the addition of a run. Malaysia pressed the panic button, and sensing an opportunity, Afghanistan closed in on the kill. A ten-run stand for the final wicket nearly achieved the impossible, before Nowroz Mangal removed number 11 Sharulnizam Yusof to give Afghanistan victory by the slimmest of margins.

Nepal’s openers made short work of Singapore’s score of 216, to take their team to a comfortable seven-wicket win. Singapore’s batsmen failed to capitalize on their starts after winning the toss, as the top four all fell for scores between 30 and 40. Nepal turned in a tidy bowling effort to stifle the progress, and the lower order responded by falling to a spate of run outs, five in all. Mahesh Chettri and Anil Mandal got the chase off to a solid start, adding 135 in 26.5 overs. Mandal was the more adventurous of the two, hitting seven fours and a six in his 93-ball 83. Chettri made 87 off 111 balls, and the only sore point for Nepal was that neither opener could reach three figures, as the target was reached in the 44th over.

Bhutan suffered their second comprehensive defeat in as many matches as UAE beat them by an astonishing 437 runs. Once again it was the Bhutan bowlers who suffered with UAE racking up 510 for five in 50 overs. Saqib Ali thrashing 140 off 90 balls before retiring but there was no let up as Abdul Rehman smited five sixes in his 28-ball 75 to carry the total past the 500 mark. Understandably wilting under the onslaught the Bhutan bowlers sent down 30 wides with Barun Wakhley the main culprit, bowling 16 in his 10-over spell that cost 111. With the total long past anything reasonable the best Bhutan could hope for was to put up a decent fight and they managed to last 32.2 overs. Damber Gurung top scored with 25 but a regular trickle of wickets saw the match quickly reach its inevitable conclusion.

Awal Khan’s four wickets helped Oman complete an easy eight-wicket victory over Singapore at Hubara. Opting to bat first Singapore worked their way cautiously to 102-3 in 31 overs before subsiding to 173 all out 13 balls short of the 50-over quota. It didn’t look like enough for Singapore, despite an early wicket for Saad Janjua, who dismissed Hemin Desai in the first over of the innings. Vaibhav Wategaonkar ensured no slip-ups for Oman as he progressed smoothly past fifty and when he eventually fell to Dharmichand Mulewa, it was left to Adnan Ilyas to compile a 37-ball unbeaten 52 and guide Oman home.

Nepal brushed aside Hong Kong by 118 runs in their opening match of the ACC Trophy, at Unity. After the early loss of a wicket, Anil Mandal and Shakti Gauchan set the platform for a strong score with their 118-run partnership. Mandal was the more aggressive of the two, striking three sixes and eight fours in his 96-ball 72, while Gauchan contributed 65. Nadeem Ahmed and Moner Ahmed kept things tight after that, snaring eight wickets between them as Nepal finished with 236 for 7. Mehboob Alam’s opening burst ensured the chase never got going, and only Ilyas Gul offered any sort of resistance, with 27. Alam finished with 3 for 33 in his 7 overs, as Hong Kong stuttered to half of what Nepal managed.

Afghanistan continued their fine run of form in recent times, mauling Bhutan by the incredible margin of 393 runs at Hubara. Bhutan elected to field and were left to rue the decision as Afghanistan’s top three took their attack to the cleaners. Openers Karim Sadiq and Noor Ali Noori ran up a partnership of 218 in 25.1 overs, in the process bringing up fine hundreds, before Muhammad Asghar exploded with an 83-ball 151, including nine sixes, to lift the score to 471 for 5. Bhutan was out of the game even before they had the opportunity to bat, but Hamid Hassan ensured that they went home with nothing positive to take from the game. His spell of 6 for 18 shot Bhutan out for 78, and if not for Kumar Subba’s sedate 41, they would have lost by an even bigger margin.

In the only close finish of the day, Kuwait outlasted Singapore by three runs at KEC. Kuwait were lifted to 252 thanks to contributions of 45 from Hisham Mirza, 50 from Lasantha Dimuthu and a quickfire 68 from Saad Khalid. Dharmichand Mulewa finished with three wickets, while Buddhika Mendis, Narender Reddy and Saad Janjua picked two apiece. Singapore’s chase was anchored by Munish Arora’s sparkling 90 off 103 balls, but he had little support from the rest of the top order as Muhammad Amin helped himself to four wickets. Arora perished well short of the target and Singapore seemed out of the game, with the last wicket requiring to make 59 off 43 balls. Thanks to Janjua’s cameo at number nine, they almost pulled it off, but in the end they fell just short of the target. Janjua was unbeaten on 49 off 38 balls, and number eleven Shoib Razak finished with 16 off 19, but it was not enough to get Singapore a win.

Tony Munro

Singapore will be without key bowlers, Jackie Kumar and Riaz Hussien, due to work commitments, for the ACC Trophy Elite tournament starting in Kuwait on Wednesday.

Kumar, the 22-year old slow left-arm bowler, was Singapore's leading wicket-taker (11) at the World Cricket League Divison Five tournament in Nepal in February while allrounder Hussien, took seven wickets in his country's Division Six triumph last September.

They are among six changes to the Division Five squad which was controversially denied promotion after a riot in the match between the United States and Nepal.

Singapore captain Munish Arora played a dead bat to suggestions his team may place special emphasis on their match against Nepal on May 3. "We are waiting for the outcome of the ICC decision, so we are focusing on the job on hand - to do well in the ACC Trophy and keep our motivation going irrespective of whom we are playing."

It is a match Singapore will probably have to win if they are to reach the ACC Trophy semi-finals for the first time, Nepal has been victorious in the last three encounters between the teams (including a Twenty20 match). Arora said he was confident his team could close the gap. "Nepal has got the better of us in the last few close games, but there is not much difference in the two teams. We need to focus on our all-round game to get the results in our favour."

Singapore must get over other teams though as Group A also features defending ACC Trophy champions, Hong Kong, hosts Kuwait and the unpredictable ACC Twenty20 semi-finalists, Oman. Their opening game is against Kuwait on March 31.

Singapore: Munish Arora (capt), Muhammad Ali, Narender Reddy, Chetan Suryawanshi (wk), Shoib Razak, Dharmichand Mulewa, Pramodh Raja, Buddhika Mendis, Saad Janjua, Sagar Kulkarni, Irfan Madakia, Varun Varman, Manbhir Singh Philip Childs; Coach - Marvan Atapattu.

The ICC has agreed to demands from Singapore that it look into events surrounding the ICC World Cricket League Division 5 match between Nepal and USA in Kirtipur which was marred by serious crowd trouble.

Singapore argue that Nepal only qualified for the final and so gained promotion as a result of the disruption. Until the stoppage, Singapore looked set to edge them out on net run-rate, but, so they argue, the revised target agreed by the ICC technical committee altered the equation in Nepal’s favour and they edged through by 0.0035.

The ICC, who dismissed initial complaints, belatedly decided to look into the complaint, which centres on the decisions of the technical committee. Nevertheless, it seems bewildering an immediate investigation was not launched into the riot itself.

It may help Singapore’s efforts that Imran Khwaja, chairman of the Singapore Cricket Association, is one the ICC executive committee, although insider said there was little chance of the ICC reversing the technical committee’s decision. “They will do what they always do in this kind of situation – nothing.”

An editorial in the Straits Times, was highly critical of the ICC. “Nepali fans are known to run riot when their team are losing. But is it Singapore’s fault that security measures at the Tribhuvan University ground in Kathmandu were inadequate to stop around 5,000 of them from throwing stones and invading the ground for nearly an hour? The ICC’s silence is deafening.”

The round-robin match was delayed for around 45 minutes after sections of the 12,000-strong crowd started to throw rocks and debris onto the outfield. Trouble had been brewing for some time as USA cruised towards an easy victory over the hosts, and riot police were already in situ when things got nasty.

While most people headed at speed for the exits and the teams fled from the field, a hard core of spectators continued to hurl anything they could grab hold of onto the playing area. Some reports suggested tear gas was fired into the stands.

Eventually order was restored, and as police cleared the rubbish from the outfield using wheelbarrows, the ICC technical committee deliberated as to whether to continue the game or abandon it and award the win to the USA. In the end, a Duckworth-Lewis revised target of seven from 14 overs was agreed on and the match ended quickly and in relative calm.

Three of the semi-finalists were decided on the fourth day of the ACC Twenty20 Cup, with the three unbeaten teams - Afghanistan, Oman and UAE - all progressing to the last four.

UAE grabbed the headlines with a 209-run rout of the hapless China side, the biggest margin in a representative Twenty20 match. UAE made 236 for 5 and then bundled out China for 27, 15 of which were extras. In a week Australia’s chief executive claimed the ICC would be better off promoting cricket in China than in some existing Associates, it again highlighted the yawning chasm between the hopes of those running the game and the reality of the side itself.

Afghanistan bowled out Saudi Arabia for 72 to win by nine wickets, but Oman were made to struggle more, even so they beat Malaysia by 35 runs after posting 197 for 5. Nepal’s stop-start tournament continued with a six-wicket win over Qatar.

The closest game was between Hong Kong and Singapore where Singapore scraped home by one wicket off the penultimate ball.

The individual performance of the round came from Kuwait’s Khalid Butt who smashed 142 off 53 deliveries, including ten sixes, in his team’s nine-wicket win over Bahrain.

Singapore beat Bahrain yesterday to take the trophy of the World Cricket League Division 6. Click here for the full report and leave your comments below,

Mulewa Dharmichand

Wow. What a couple of days this has been. We’ve won two matches in two days, that four wins in a row and have now guaranteed ourselves promotion to the World Cricket League Division 5.

I wasn’t too happy to get out today for only four runs but I was very pleased to see Buddhika and Narender clock up the runs for us and secure us the win (Click here for the bulletin).

It’s been a good few days for us and we’re looking forward to having a day off tomorrow and I might go watch one of the other matches that are being replayed because of the rain on Tuesday.

We were lucky to get our match in on Tuesday – we had some torrential downpours in Singapore and the Singapore Cricket Club was the only ground able to play after the rain – you should see the pictures of Indian Association it was at least ten centimeters under water, but luckily it was so sunny today all the grounds dried up enough for everyone to get a game in.

It’s funny at the moment staying in a hotel when Singapore’s my home, but it’s good for us as a team and it means we get a real feel for the tournament, being around the other teams and having the whole "event experience".

I’m looking forward to a quiet day tomorrow and readying myself for the last group stage match which is against Malaysia who we really want to beat especially since we lost to them in the Stan Nagaiah Trophy before the ICC WCL Div.6 started. I know I want to make it five wins out of five before Saturday’s final.

Buddika Mendis continues to shine for Singapore, who remained unbeaten in the fourth round of matches in the ICC World Cricket League Division 6. Botswana and Malaysia also notched wins, but Guernsey suffered yet another defeat. Click here for the full round-up.

There were wins for Singapore, Bahrain and Malaysia in the second round of matches of the ICC World Cricket League Division Six, currently underway in Singapore. Here's the full round-up.

Mulewa Dharmichand

It’s been a great start to the tournament here in Singapore and I don’t think many things come close to winning Man of the Match for our first game, so for me personally it’s been a good start, especially since I managed to bag six wickets.

For the team, I think we had a good first game, especially since we won so convincingly and it was a game we knew we had to win – in our minds it was a key game no matter who we were playing.

It’s really competitive cricket here, more than I saw in Jersey when we played in Division 5 last time, and the wickets we’ve got here are more run–friendly so hopefully people we’ll see some good games. Although having said that, I’ll be looking to take lots of wickets and making sure the opposition teams don’t make lots of runs!

Before the tournament started, I was involved in the organising side and now that’s over with, it’s good to be able to focus on playing cricket and being part of the team – it’s a good feeling to just have to perform as a player and not have to wear my Singapore Cricket Association hat.

I think team has got a good lift with today’s win, as prior to the tournament we had a couple of bad games and then last week we had a Twenty20 tournament here in Singapore which went well and helped to boost team morale but with that win today at SCC – we’re all in a good mood and ready to take on our next challenge – Botswana.

Dharmichand Mulewa is the Singapore vice-captain

There were wins for the hosts, Singapore, along with Norway and Bahrain on the opening day of the ICC World Cricket League Division 6. Click here for a full round-up, and be sure to read our exclusive player diaries from the leading figures in the tournament.

Six teams start their next step towards the 2015 World Cup on Saturday, as the ICC World Cricket League Division 6 gets underway in Singapore. The diverse nations of Bahrain, Botswana, Malaysia, Guernsey, Norway and Singapore will compete for the two places to gain promotion to Division 5, which is due to be held in Nepal in February 2010.

Click here for the full report

Full coverage, including scorecards, reports and photographs will be on Cricinfo throughout the tournament

Trevor Chappell, the former Australia batsman, has been named coach of Singapore ahead of their ICC World Cricket League Division 6 campaign next month.

Chappell, younger brother of Ian and Greg, has coached Bangladesh and spent time as a fielding adviser to Sri Lanka. "There is plenty to be happy about,'' Chappell told the Singapore Cricket Association website. "There is plenty of talent. Obviously, there are areas we can improve.''

Full story here.

Nepal, the odds-on favourites who have dominated recent Asian Cricket Council Under-19 tournaments, were brought down to earth with a bump by Hong Kong who sent them crashing to a 36-run defeat. The result means both teams go through to the semi-finals.

Irfan Ahmed was the star of the show for Hong Kong, thumping 103 off 101 balls in a score of 193 for 7. Nepal struggled from the off and were bowled out for 157, Irfan Ahmed making the Man-of-the-Match adjudication a formality with 3 for 72 while Shakeel Haq took 4 for 17.
In the other Group A match, Singapore beat Saudi Arabia by 39 runs.

With Afghanistan already through from Group B, the other place was between UAE and Qatar, and it was Qatar who went through, bowling Bhutan out for 69 and coasting to a nine-wicket win - UAE’s 130-run defeat of Oman wasn’t enough.

Afghanistan will play a shell-shocked Nepal, while Hong Kong meet Qatar

Nepal, the odds-on favourites who have dominated recent Asian Cricket Council Under-19 tournaments, were brought down to earth with a bump by Hong Kong who sent them crashing to a 36-run defeat. The result means both teams go through to the semi-finals.

Irfan Ahmed was the star of the show for Hong Kong, thumping 103 off 101 balls in a score of 193 for 7. Nepal struggled from the off and were bowled out for 157, Irfan Ahmed making the Man-of-the-Match adjudication a formality with 3 for 72 while Shakeel Haq took 4 for 17.
In the other Group A match, Singapore beat Saudi Arabia by 39 runs.

With Afghanistan already through from Group B, the other place was between UAE and Qatar, and it was Qatar who went through, bowling Bhutan out for 69 and coasting to a nine-wicket win - UAE’s 130-run defeat of Oman wasn’t enough.

Afghanistan will play a shell-shocked Nepal, while Hong Kong meet Qatar

Nepal and Afghanistan made it two wins out of two on the second day of the ACC Under-19 Elite Cup in Kuwait.

Nepal’s win was against Malaysia, one of the pre-tournament favourites, and it extended their winning run against them to seven matches. Malaysia batted on winning the toss and scored 203, built around 90 from Keithan. Gyanendra Malla, Nepal’s captain, made 86 not out as they passed the target with six wickets in hand.

Afghanistan dismissed Oman for 188 (their last five wickets fell for 20) and then cruised to an eight-wicket win as Iqbal Maliki (86)and Noor ul Haq (79) put on 157 for the first wicket.

Hong Kong opened their account with a four-wicket win over Singapore who they bowled out for 124, aided by no fewer than five run-outs. Jamie Atkinson, who made his first-class debut for Durham UCCE earlier this month, hit 61 to spearhead the chase.

Pre-tournament favourites Malaysia and Nepal cruised to easy wins on the opening day of the ten-team ACC Under-19 Elite Cup in Kuwait. Afghanistan, whose senior side were the success story of the recent ICC World Cup Qualifiers, also got off to a flying start, but there was a surprise defeat for UAE.

Malaysia eased to a five-wicket win with more than ten overs to spare over Singapore after bowling them out for 183, Prem Dadlani providing the bulk of Singapore’s run with 96.

Nepal had more trouble in beating Saudi Arabia, and they had Amrit Bhattarai to thank as his 82 helped them to 233 after they had slipped to 76 for 7. That was too much for the Saudis who were bowled out for 96.

Afghanistan thrashed Bhutan by eight wickets after bowling them out for 63, ambling home in 13 overs.

UAE were bundled to a two-wicket defeat by Qatar after being bowled out for 164.

The Asian Cricket Council has announced its rankings for non Test-playing countries and Singapore have emerged as the leading side with Nepal and UAE second and third.

The rankings were based on two years’ performances in various levels of competition, including Under -15, U-17, U-19 and ACC Trophy events.

Click here for the full rankings.

Medium-pacer Chaminda Ruwan took five wickets as Singapore completed a 35-run win over Qatar at the Bayuemas Oval. A team effort from the batsmen, with five of them making more than 26, lifted Singapore to 227. Qatar looked in control as half-centuries from captain Omer Taj and Tamoor Sajjad left them needing 98 off the last 20 overs, with seven wickets in hand. Ruwan, though, ripped through the middle order - four wickets falling in the space of six runs - to consign Qatar to defeat.

Samir Inamdar, the chairman of Cricket Kenya, was elected as the chairman of the Associate and Affiliate members of the ICC at the annual conference in Dubai.

Inamdar, who was already one of the three representatives of the non Test-playing countries on the ICC executive board, replaces H.H. Tunku Imran who stood down because of his commitments with the IOC.

Inamdar, who polled 26 votes, is joined on the ICC executive board, by Imran Khwaja (Singapore, 22 votes) and Neil Speight (Bermuda, 21). Rene van Iashort from the Netherlands received 18 votes while Israel’s Stanley Pearman, who was a sitting representative, finished bottom of the pile with 16 votes.

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.

It may be three long years years away, but the road to the 2011 World Cup begins this week in the unlikely setting of Jersey. More famed for its cattle and potatoes than a venue for cricket tournaments, Jersey plays host to 12 of the world's lesser-known teams in Division 5 of the World Cricket League (WCL), as they battle to climb the ladder to the fourth division and dream of a World Cup place in Asia.

Will Luke previews Division 5 of the World Cricket League which gets underway this week.

Singapore have beaten Malaysia 3-0 in the Stan Nagaiah Trophy one-day series in Kuala Lumpur. They won the first and last matches by convincing margins, although they only squeezed home by three wickets in the penultimate over in the middle game. Singapore now head to Europe for the ICC World Cricket League Division Five in Guernsey.

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.

Singapore won the ACC U-15 Elite Cup 2007 last week, beating Kuwait by four wickets in the final played in Bhaktapur.

Kuwait made 121 for 7 in 40 overs after choosing to bat first. Apporv Sanjay Gaur notched 43 while Sarangdev Krishnan took two wickets. In reply, Singapore were down to 17 for 4 at one stage but patient batting from Mohit Kulkarki (24), Man of the Match Prasheen Param (30*) and Usman Manazir (26*) took them to victory in the 35th over.

Three Singapore cricketers are off to Perth in Australia to fast-track their improvement.

Chetan Suryawanshi, Shoib Razzak and Pramodh Raja will play in the Western Australian Cricket Association League until early March, before returning to the local league.

Suryawanshi and Shoib will start off in Grade 2, while Raja will play Grade 3.

In June, in another of its overseas exposure programmes, the SCA sent seven players to Chennai, India, for a 10-day training course.

'We are committed to raising the standard of the national team, and one of the best ways is to send them off to Australia, where the competition is stiff,'' said Singapore Cricket Association deputy president Mahmood Gaznavi, who also chairs the development committee.

Read the full story at The Strait Times.

	Singapore's captain Rezza Gaznavi receives the ACC Under-15 Elite Cup © ACC

The Asian Cricket Council had taken drastic action on Saturday and kicked out hosts and defending champions Nepal as well as Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Malaysia, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Thailand after its medical board reported that all the squads from those countries contained players over the stipulated age limit. Sunday's semi-finals - Nepal v Singapore and Afghanistan v Hong Kong - were scrapped.

Click here for the full story.

The 2007 ACC Twenty20 Cup gets underway on October 27, a ten-team tournament held in Kuwait.

Hong Kong Cricket's website, which Cricinfo hosts, will have more once the tournament gets underway.