Finally after the struggle for almost 6 years, that started from division 5 in May, 2008, we are almost in the highest platform of World cricket league, i.e., ICC WCL division 1. But we have many queries in our mind. I am trying to clear them all one by one. 1. Can Nepal still be NOT able to qualify to division 1? Almost no. Nepal has almost qualified. But lets be clear to what the word almost mean. Nepal currently is in 2nd position, because Namibia have better Net run rate than Nepal. The only way that Nepal slips to no. 3 is- Nepal looses to Kenya by huge margin, Netherlands wins its last match by huge margin and Namibia also wins the match. This I think will never happen. Lets be hopeful. 2. Which teams are in Division 1? Division 1 has 6 teams already. All these 6 have ODI status. But the two team that comes from division 2 will only have List A status. The 6 teams are: Ireland, Afghanistan, Scotland, UAE, Hongkong and Papua New guinea. 3. Now that Nepal is almost in Division 1, can Nepal play 2015 world cup? NO. Nepal has already lost the qualifier that took place in Newzealand in 2013. All the 14 teams of 2015 WC are confirmed. 10 test nations + ireland, afghanistan, scotland and UAE. 4. Is there any difference between the format of division 2 and division 1? Division 1 is completly different format than division 2. Now lets be clear in this point. Division 1 is not the same tournament where a single country host the match and the tournament is held for 7 days period. It is entirely different. It takes place for a cycle of 2 years (2015-2017). 5. So what division 1 actually is? Division 1 has two tournaments that runs side by side. 8 nations of division 1 will play for 50 over format of ICC World cricket league championship and 4 day format ICC intercontinental cup. No single country will be the host. Both this tournament is played in home-away basis. For example if the match is between Nepal and Ireland, then Nepal will play a One day and a 4 day game in Nepal and the same matches also in Ireland. This way team will be busy playing each other for full 2 years. 6. Division 1 is the last division then, what is the significance of this tournament? If the format of qualification remains same for 2019 world cup then, ICC world cricket league championship will be the gateway for qualifying in 2019 world cup. After playing all the match of ICC WCL championship in 2 years, the top 2 team will get direct entry to 2019 world cup. Remaining 6 teams will still get one more chance. These 6 teams combines with 4 teams of division 2 and play a qualifying tournament from where the remaining two places are booked. ICC intercontinent cup will be the gateway for becoming a test nation. After 2 years of intercontinental cup the team with highest point (Winner of I-cup) will play against 10 th ranked side on the reliance ICC test team rankings as of 31st december 2017. There will be two 5-day matches at home and two 5-day matches at away basis. If the winner of I-cup wins this series then, it gets test status for 4 years. 7. So this is it. What will be the challenge for Nepal in division 1? Nepal has many challenges, that begins even before division 1 begins. The first challenge is that Nepal dont have the cricket stadium of List A standard. Media and broadcasting facility are not present in stadiums of Nepal, moreover the only 1 cricket ground of kirtipur cant hold all the matches. Nepal can also make the country like UAE as its home country but then CAN dont have sufficient money to afford UAE. Moreover, UAE is already the home ground of UAE, Pakistan and Afghanistan, so UAE cricket board might refuse the proposal of Nepal. Other challenge is that of teams standard. All the teams of division 1 are under icc assistance for high performance programs. Thus, they might be far more better than what weve thought. 8. How can Nepal get ODI status? There is currently no way Nepal could get odi status till 2017. Matches between teams from Division One have full One-Day International status, while matches featuring one or both of the Division Two teams have List A status. six associate teams that gets odi status are confirmed till 2017 from the tournament of 2013, new Zealand. However, ICC can decide if it wants to grant odi status to top 2 of division 2 as well. If you have any more questions, you can keep them in comments. I will try to clear your misunderstandings.
Posted on: Wed, 21 Jan 2015 17:53:04 +0000
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