Germany's Andre Leslie writes about the ICC WCL Division Eight.

What a feeling! As you can imagine, the mood in the German camp is tough to beat this evening. We have worked hard for a long time to get ourselves back and ready for the World Cricket League - it all started at a successful European Championships in Guernsey in July - and that just makes victory all the sweeter today. Still, we knew we would have to play well against Vanuatu to get the victory. They have played consistently all tournament and have been turning heads with their positive attitude and non-stop music!

Even though we did not manage a big total like in some of our other games, we were quietly confident with our total of 185. The ground at Sulabiya has been a tough place to bat all tournament. Personally, I was obviously pretty disappointed not to be in the starting line-up today. But, that is sometimes what happens when your team is performing well - there are only 11 spots after all. It sounds clichéd, but the success of the team was the most important thing and it was great to be part of that. I also want to send my condolences, via this route, to Trevor and his team.

The game today was very important for both sides. We wish Vanuatu all the best on Friday in their final game - their team has certainly played in the right spirit and still has plenty to play for. We did not go too wild with celebrations this evening - just a quick swim followed by a round of pizza. The final against Kuwait will be a big game and a good challenge. Ending this tournament on top would really be a great event for German cricket.

Trevor Langa, Vanuatu's wicketkeeper, writes about the World Cricket League Division 8

I think today our batting let us down, we really didn’t play the way we all know we can and on behalf of all the boys we’re really disappointed that we couldn’t take Vanuatu to the next level.

We had a good start against Germany – with both Patricks (Matautaava and Haines) bowling well and restricting the Germans from scoring and we were confident that we would be able to make the runs. But perhaps we were overconfident and that led us to play silly shots and not bat to our true ability.

All the team is pretty down this evening, we just had a team meal and now its about reflecting before tomorrow’s big game against Zambia. That match is really important as the winner gets to stay up in the tournament, and the second team gets relegated with Bahamas, Bhutan, Gibraltar and Suriname. We really don’t want to be relegated – I would really like Vanuatu to stay up in Division 8 as that would mean there are four teams from the East-Asia Pacific region in the World Cricket League – the others are Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Japan in case you didn’t know.

Tomorrow is do-or-die for us – we really don’t want to go back to the regional qualifiers as we know we’re worthy of being in this tournament and staying in it – we want to do the people of Vanuatu proud and want them to know we’ve given this tournament our all.

I’m off for an early night to make sure I’m ready for tomorrow. One last thing - I wanted to say thank you for all the feedback I’ve been getting on my blog – I’ve really appreciated all the words of support. Until tomorrow…

Kuwait solidified their position at the top of Group A with their third easy victory, while Germany's Kashif Haider took his team to victory with the bowling performance of the tournament so far. Zambia eased to victory over Gibraltar despite Kieron Ferrary's hundred, and Vanuatu scrapped to a win over Suriname. For a full round-up of all the action click here.

Trevor Langa, Vanuatu's wicketkeeper, writes about the World Cricket League Division 8

Today went well for us but Suriname definitely tested us when we went into bat. They did well to restrict us to begin with, and they were bowling in the right areas. But it’s good to know we’re now through to the semi-finals of the tournament.

We fielded much better today than we did on Sunday. We picked ourselves up and it was good to have a rest day yesterday to refocus and look at what we needed to improve for today’s game.

I hit the winning runs today, which is a good feeling. It’s nice to bring home a victory for the team but we can’t rest on our laurels. Thursday’s game against Germany is a big match for us that could see us qualifying through to Division 7 in Botswana.

After our recovery session yesterday morning we went for lunch as a team at one of the restaurants outside the hotel – it was good to get out and not be sitting in our rooms all day. We had a total day off, which I think probably helped us today, as our minds were clear and ready for the game.

One of my team-mates, Frederick Timakata, was late to our pool training session yesterday so we decided to fine him for it. This morning when we went to breakfast at 5 a.m., Frederick arrived at breakfast in full batting kit, pads, helmet, gloves, bat – the whole lot! It was good laugh for everyone – including all the other teams and officials who were in the breakfast area!

We’ve got another rest day tomorrow, but our coach Mark Coles has already decided we’re going to have a training session. We didn’t perform as well as we could have today against Suriname and Germany is going to be a big test for us since they’ve been batting really well through this tournament.

Hopefully once we’re finished with training tomorrow we can go for a walk around the mall or something just to have a break from cricket before the big game on Thursday.

Germany batsman Andre Leslie writes about the World Cricket League Division 8

The team is pretty chuffed with our two victories so far in the tournament here in Kuwait. But, we aren't getting too carried away - things are still tight in our group.

Our first match against Zambia was a close call. After scoring just 128 we knew we would need a massive effort in the field to turn things around. Once again it was our fast bowler, Ehsan Latif, who got the crucial wickets at the end. Our spinners also made a big contribution with some very economical bowling. The win gave us a great boost of confidence to start the tournament.

After “getting out of jail” against Zambia, we managed to do things a little easier on Sunday against Gibraltar. Our batting was very strong - thanks mainly to centuries from both Milan Fernando and our captain, Asif Khan. It is the first time we have had two centurions in one innings for a long time in German cricket. In the end we won by 130 runs.

With lots of training and playing, we haven't really had a chance to see much of Kuwait so far. Today we plan to head out and check out some of the sights in Kuwait City. I'm especially looking forward to the Kuwait Towers. Where I live in Berlin we also have a unique-looking thin tower. The locals call it "the asparagus". I wonder what they call it here.

One added bonus of sightseeing here in Kuwait is that you know it is going to be sunny and warm. When we left Germany last week, the mercury was already starting to dip below zero degrees.

Trevor Langa, Vanuatu's wicketkeeper, writes about the World Cricket League Division 8

We were really looking forward to playing Kuwait today as we knew they’d be a challenge and they were definitely that. They got a lot of runs on the board, which was disappointing, but we didn’t help matters with some poor fielding today. We missed at least eight catches, including some really easy ones at point and also first slip. They batted out 50 overs and then they fielded out 50 overs against us – they are a seriously tough team but that being said if we hadn’t let them get to 400, then I think we would have been able to chase down the score a little bit better.

It’s never a great feeling to lose, but the mood on the bus home was positive – we were pleased that we batted out the 50 overs in an attempt to chase the total and we know we’ve still got all to play for on Tuesday against Suriname. The important thing for us is to keep our run-rate up so we finish top two and have a chance to make the play-offs for promotion to Division 7 in Botswana.

Tomorrow we’ve got a rest day – the team has a couple of recovery sessions planned in the pool but other than that it’s our chance to have a sleep in and get our minds off cricket for the day. I’m not too sure what I’m going to do, I think I’ll probably sleep and rest up for Tuesday and go out and explore Kuwait on the second rest day. I don’t think I’ll do too much shopping while I’m here though as I went a bit mad buying things in Dubai when we had a stopover so I’m not sure if there’s room to get anything more in my suitcase back to Vanuatu.

I’m keeping this one short as I’ve got to run off to a team function this evening – Kuwait Cricket Council are hosting all eight teams here for the tournament, it should be an interesting evening!

Trevor Langa, the Vanuatu wicketkeeper, writes about the World Cricket League Division 8

Before we came to Kuwait we had camp in Brisbane with some of Cricket Australia’s High Performance guys and we also had talk from John Buchanan the former Aussie coach. He spoke to us about how to be a team on the field but also how to play to your best as individuals – I think that’s come through for us today against Bhutan.

Today was good day for us beating Bhutan – it was our first win ever in an ICC World Cricket League which was awesome, but our total today of 337 was also the highest Vanuatu has ever scored in a 50-over game which made it even more special. We can be proud of that but we have to look ahead to Sunday when face Kuwait who beat Suriname today very easily.

I think if people come to watch here in Kuwait, or if they see Vanuatu playing cricket, they might be surprised as we’re quite loud on the field. It keeps us upbeat and I think it helped us against Bhutan today.

When we last played in World Cricket League Division 5 in Jersey we got smashed by Norway and that was our first time out in the league. I think this was Bhutan’s first time out in the league and maybe they were a bit nervous, but it felt it good to smash them. We’ve long way to go though before we can say we’re through to the next round.

Kuwait is a new experience for me – I’m from Vanuatu which is very green and is kind of tropical and this place is definitely not that. It’s very hot and sandy here and I’ve only seen trees on the highway or at the cricket pitches so far.

I’m sharing room this time round with Damien Smith who is as loud as me, which I think is why we’re put together. He’s a funny guy but at the moment he seems to be my wake-up call to get me down to breakfast. We’re starting early here in Kuwait, the earliest I’ve ever had to get up for cricket, the buses leave at 6am for an 8.15 start so we’re all breakfast at 5am falling asleep into our cornflakes!

Mind you the early start didn’t affect us today with our win, so maybe I shouldn’t complain.

The World Cricket League Division 8 tournament began in Kuwait on Saturday with comprehensive victories for Vanuatu and Kuwait, a tight win for Germany and an efficient performance from Bermuda. For a full round-up of all the action click here.

The squads for the inaugural World Cricket League Division 8 tournament, to be held in Kuwait from November 6 to 12, have been announced. Teams from Suriname, Vanuatu, Bhutan, Gibraltar, Germany, Zambia and the Bahamas will join hosts Kuwait at the event, and the top two sides will win promotion to the Division 7 edition in Botswana in May 2011.

Four grounds – Hubara, Unity, KEC and Sulaibiya - will host games and, with eight teams rather than the usual six competing, the tournament will be played in a slightly different format with two groups of four. The sixth day of the event will see play-offs between the groups after the final group standings have been completed on day four. The WCL Div. 8 final and position play-offs will then take place on 12 November.

Live scorecards from every game will be available through ESPNcricinfo, and a full fixture list can be found here.

Bahamas: Gregory Taylor, Marc Taylor, Jonathan Barry, Gerron Dean, Jermaine Adderley, Mario Ford, Dereck Gittens Jr, Robert Ford, Ashmeid Allie, Shanaka Perera, Julio Jemison, Dwight Weakley, Gregory Irvin, Narendra Ekanayake


Bhutan: Jigme Singye, Thinley Jamtsho, Tshering Dorji, Tandin Wangchuk, Tandin Wangchuk, Phuntsho Wangdi, Dorji Loday, Manoj Adhikari, Kumar Subba, Kencho Norbu, Sonam Tobgay, Dampo Dorji, Lobzang Yonten, Tashi Yoesdzer Thinley


Germany: Asif Khan, Satyanorayana Srinivas, Rawat Tarun, Shakeel Hassan, Khalid Butt, Kashif Haider, Eksan Latif, Rana-Javed Iqbal, Shafraz Samsudeen, Dilshan Rajudeen, Milan Fernando, Rishi Pilal, Andre Leslie, James Eggleston


Gibraltar: Mark Bacarese, Richard Buzaglo, David Coram, Ian Farrell, Kieron Ferrary, Ross Harkins, Matthew Hunter, Vickram Khatwani, Iain Latin, Kabir Mirpuri, Chris Phillips, Kayson Stagno, Sebastian Suarez, Christian Rocca


Kuwait: Hisham Mirza, Saud Qamar, Azmatullah Nazeer, Abdullah Akhundzada, Mohammed Murad, Muhammed Haji Akhudzada, Haroon Shahid, Faisal Nadeem, Saad Khalid, Irfan Bhatti, Sajid Manzil, Jagath Roshantha, Midhun Pakalapati, Abid Mushtaq


Suriname: Giovani Inderdath Gokoel, Vishaul Angad Singh, Troy Anthony Dudnath, Mohindra Boodram, Arun Kamesh Gokoel, Shazam Ramjohn, Carlton Randolph Baker, Terbhawan Ranjit, Radjeev Jagroep, Bramha Prasad, Anthony Seeraj, Patrick Vishram, Deoraj Sewanan, Sanjeev Mangroo


Vanuatu: Andrew Mansale, Patrick Haines, Simpson Obed, Trevor Langa, Patrick Matautaava, Kenny Tari, Damian Smith, Jonathan Dunn, Jelany Chilia, Lenica Natapei, Frederick Timakata, Edy Mansale, Aby John, Nalin Nipiko


Zambia: Abid Patel, Allan Nsensha, Ashraf Lulat, Gladson Kandela, Godfrey Kandela, Himal Patel, Imran Patel, Isaac Mwaba, Kafumu Banda, Mohamed Mitha, Sarfarajhusen Sopariya, Sarfraz Patel, Sharif Yousuf, Tapson Nyirongo