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Grant Bradburn: “We are under no illusions that our familiar foes, the Netherlands, will be tough opponents in both formats”
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Aqib Javed: “To play in these high profile competitions are priceless opportunities for the leading Associates”
The International Cricket Council (ICC) today announced the second round schedule of the four-day first-class ICC Intercontinental Cup, which is a pathway for Test cricket, as well as the ICC World Cricket League Championship, which provides an opportunity to the participating teams to play in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018 and subsequently qualify for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.
The second round of the ICC Intercontinental Cup will start on 8 September when Scotland will travel to Voorburg, a town in the outskirts of Amsterdam, to lock horns with the Netherlands. In the first round, Scotland, which won the inaugural tournament in 2004, had to settle with a draw against Afghanistan, while Netherland was surprised by Papua New Guinea, which came from behind to win the match by five wickets.
The first-class match will be followed by the two 50-over matches, which will be part of the ICC World Cricket League Championship. These games will be played on 14 and 16 September at the VRA Cricket Ground in Amstelveen.
Former New Zealand all-rounder and Scotland coach Grant Bradburn, looking forward to the Dutch game, said: “After a solid start to both of these campaigns this season, with first innings points against Afghanistan and two wins over Nepal, we are looking to take our performances to the next level in our next round of fixtures.
“We are under no illusions that our familiar foes, the Netherlands, will be tough opponents in both formats. It was disappointing for our final clash in the T20 Qualifiers to be washed out, so we look forward to once again locking horns during this series.”
Dutch captain Peter Borren said he couldn’t wait to face the Scots. “We are very much looking forward to hosting Scotland for the ICC Intercontinental Cup and ICC World Cricket League fixtures during September. During my career, fixtures against Scotland have always been competitive affairs, and I’m sure this series will be no different. We have a lot of respect for the current Scottish set-up. They have some exciting talent right now and they will be hard to beat.
“Our team has also experienced fairly sustained success over the last few years, and our side for these matches will be a nice blend of experience and younger talent.
“For those Dutch cricket supporters who haven’t had their summer fix yet, I think this is the perfect opportunity to see two really good sides go toe to toe. I'm sure the cricket in this series will be played in a fiercely competitive manner, but also in a great spirit given the mutual respect between the teams.”
October will see Namibia host defending champion Ireland for the four-day first-class ICC Intercontinental Cup match in Windhoek, from 24-27 October. Both sides made winning starts to the tournament with Namibia defeating debutant Hong Kong by 114 runs at the same venue, while Ireland defeated the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by an innings and 26 runs victory in Dublin.
In November, the UAE and Hong Kong will go head to head in Dubai from 11-14 November in the ICC Intercontinental Cup match, which will be followed by two One-day Internationals on 16 and 18 November, while former champion Afghanistan will host Papua New Guinea (PNG) in Sharjah from 21-24 November in the same tournament.
In addition to the ICC Intercontinental Cup matches, there will be two more second round matches in the ICC World Cricket League Championship with Namibia and Kenya playing in Windhoek on 30 October and 1 November, and Nepal hosting PNG in Kathmandu on 28 and 30 November. However, the venue of Nepal-PNG match is subject to security and infrastructure assessment and clearance.
UAE coach and former Pakistan fast bowler Aqib Javed once again highlighted the importance of the ICC Intercontinental Cup and the ICC World Cricket League Championship. “To play in these high profile competitions are priceless opportunities for the leading Associates. These tournaments help you hone your skills, continuously access your progress in a competitive environment, get a flavour of top level cricket and at the same time qualify for Test cricket and the ICC Cricket World Cup.
“The Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) has prepared a roadmap to international cricket and the ICC Intercontinental Cup and the ICC World Cricket League Championship provide us the platform to stay on course to achieve our objectives.”
The four-day first-class ICC Intercontinental Cup is competed by the top eight Associate sides.
The side that wins the round-robin tournament spread over two-and-a-half years will play the 10th-ranked side on the ICC Test Team Rankings (as at 31 December 2017) in the four-match ICC Test Challenge during 2018. If the Associate Member wins the series, to be played on a home and away basis, then it will become the 11th Test nation.
The eight-team ICC World Cricket League Championship is contested by the same sides which are participating in the ICC Intercontinental Cup except Afghanistan and Ireland, which have been promoted to the ICC ODI Team Rankings. These two sides have been replaced by Kenya and Nepal, which had finished third and fourth, respectively, in the ICC World Cricket League Championship Division 2.
The finalists of the ICC World Cricket League Championship will have an opportunity to play in the ICC’s pinnacle event - the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 - if they finish in the top two of the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018.
Second round matches:
Netherlands v Scotland
8-11 September – Four-day ICC Intercontinental Cup, Voorburg
14 and 16 September – ICC World Cricket League Championship, VRACG, Amstelveen
Namibia v Ireland
24-27 October – Four-day ICC Intercontinental Cup, Wanderers, Windhoek
Namibia v Kenya
30 October and 1 November – ICC World Cricket League Championship, Wanderers, Windhoek
UAE v Hong Kong
November 11-14 – Four-day ICC Intercontinental Cup, ICC Academy, Dubai
*16 and 18 November – ICC World Cricket League Championship, ICC Academy, Dubai
*(As both Hong Kong and the UAE have ODI status, these two 50-over matches will be classified as One-Day Internationals)
Afghanistan v Papua New Guinea
21-24 November – Four-day ICC Intercontinental Cup, Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Nepal v Papua New Guinea
28 and 30 November – ICC World Cricket League Championship, University Ground, Kathmandu (subjection to infrastructure/security assessment/approval)
ICC Intercontinental Cup 2015-17 (first round results and points table)
Namibia (272 and 232-5d) beat Hong (203 and 187) by 114 runs in Windhoek
Ireland (492) beat UAE (213 and 253) by an innings and 26 runs in Dublin
Scotland (233) drew with Afghanistan (135) in Stirling
Netherlands (209 and 223) lost to Papua New Guinea (128 and 305-5) by five wickets in Amstelveen
Points Table
Team Played Won Lost Draw Points
Ireland 1 1 - - 20
Namibia 1 1 - - 20
PNG 1 1 - - 14
Scotland 1 - - 1 13
Afghanistan 1 - - 1 7
Netherlands 1 - 1 - 6
Hong Kong 1 - 1 - 0
UAE 1 - 1 - 0
ICC World Cricket League Championship (first around results and points table)
15 May - Namibia (195-9) beat Hong Kong (194-9) by one wicket
17 May – Hong Kong (113-2) beat Namibia (109) by eight wickets
22 June – Netherlands (125-5) beat PNG (122-9) by five wickets (D/L)
24 June – Netherlands (297-6) beat PNG (212) by 85 runs
25 June – UAE (173-5) beat Kenya (171) by five wickets
27 June – Kenya (270-6) beat UAE (205) by 65 runs
29 July – Scotland (235-7) beat Nepal (232-5) by three runs
31 July/1 Aug –Scotland (111-1) beat Nepal (167) by nine wickets (D/L)
Points table
Team Played Won Lost Points
Netherlands 2 2 0 4
Scotland 2 2 0 4
Hong Kong 2 1 1 2
Kenya 2 1 1 2
UAE 2 1 1 2
Namibia 2 1 1 2
Nepal 2 0 2 0
PNG 2 0 2 0
Source: ICC