To say news has been thin on the ground regarding the next round of world T20 qualifiers would be to grossly over-state the available coverage. Starting before the last tournament has completed doesn't help, but even so, when Cricket Europe don't notice that Africa T20 Division Three was on until a week after it finished something has gone wrong. Those who manage to find their way to the ICC page for the 2014 qualifiers might wonder what happened to Africa Division 2, supposedly scheduled for last month. Apparently it has been pushed to August though it is not clear what that means for division one, also scheduled for that month.

But to the cricket, Rwanda came in hoping to defend their title, but disappointed. Favourites Zambia, a strong side, making their qualification debut who went through the tournament undefeated and largely unchallenged. Seychelles pipped Gambia to second with St Helena playing well on debut to come fifth - though that result speaks volumes of the limitations in cricket in Mali, Cameroon and Morocco given the remote island's limited population. The second division will likely be much closer, and Zambia will definitely like their chances of progressing to division one.

The European Division Three tournament starts in Estonia on June 14th with just three teams, neither the Czech Republic nor Turkey are attending the event, although the former played Hungary (also absent) only yesterday. Estonia, as the best performed of the three teams in last year's competition and playing at home will be favourites over Slovenia. However squads and performance at this level can change quickly, and a surprise is always possible.

Cricket - Associate 7th June, 2012 08:55:13   [#] 

Comments