A conflict of interest?

In August, Bermuda will be visiting Canada, to play an Intercontinental Cup game and two ODIs against Canada, plus two ODIs against Kenya. The problem is, if they progress to the semi final or final of the Stanford 20/20, they will have to be in two places at once. Their fixture list would be like this:

• 9th August: 1st ODI v Kenya (Toronto)
• 10th August: 2nd ODI v Kenya (Toronto)
• 11th August: Stanford 20/20 Semi Final (Antigua)
• 12th August: 4 day game v Canada (Toronto)
• 13th August: Stanford 20/20 Final (Antigua)

This is obviously impossible. So what will happen? Teams are obligated to send their best XI to ICC events, but would Bermuda really send a second XI to a tournament with a million dollar first prize? I highly doubt it.

Test status for Canada

Cricinfo are reporting that Canada aim to gain Test status within the next ten years.

Ben Sennik, the president of the Canadian Cricket Association laid out his vision on an interview with the Bermudian newspaper, the Mid-Ocean News. He pointed out that the players would need to go professional before this can even begin to happen.

More things than that need to happen. By many accounts, the organisation of Canadian cricket leaves a lot to be desired. Facilities are a problem too. Canada does have one ICC-approved ground, but it is at a private club, and the CCA have to pay to use it.

There is also the problem that cricket is based primarily in Toronto, and that is also where baseball is the most popular in Canada. The CCA need to prioritise the development of cricket elsewhere in Canada, leading eventually to an inter-provincial competition.

This, along with developing more international standard cricket grounds, needs to happen before they can even think about test status.

Of course, this could all have been very different if the CCA had actually accepted test status when it was offered to them back in the 1950s.

ICC announce hosts for World Cups and more

The ICC have announced hosts for a whole range of events going up to the 2019 World Cup, to be held in England (probably in Wales, Scotland and Ireland too).

The 2011 World Cup has gone to Asia, with the 2015 event being jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand. The 2009 ICC Trophy will be played in the UAE, and the 2013 event in Scotland. The Netherlands also get a look in, and will host the 2010 World Cricket League Division One tournament.

Surprisingly, the ICC have decided to move the Under 19 World Cup to the associate countries. Malaysia will host the 2008 event, followed by Kenya in 2010, Canada in 2012, and the UAE in 2014.

I was quite surprised by this, as I thought the Twenty20 tournaments would have more of a chance of going to associate countries. Whatever your opinion of Twenty20, one can’t deny that it is probably the most marketable form of the game, and holding it in a country where cricket is not popular could do wonders for the sports popularity in that country. Instead, the first two tournaments will go to South Africa in 2007, and England in 2009, which I suppose is fair enough with those countries being early adopters of the format.

ICC announce huge schedule for associates

The ICC have today announced a huge schedule of cricket for six associates with ODI status. (Bermuda, Canada, Ireland, Kenya, Netherlands and Scotland).

Good to see these countries getting a lot more cricket.