ICC Intercontinental Cup and Shield

ICC Intercontinental Cup 2009-10 QUALIFYING TABLE Played Won Lost Drawn Abandoned First inns Total lead points Afghanistan 6 5 0 1 0 4 97 Scotland 6 4 1 1 0 4 89 Zimbabwe XI 6 3 1 2 0 4 72 Ireland 6 2 1 3 0 3 55 Kenya 6 2 3 1 0 2 43 Netherlands 6 0 5 1 0 2 15 Canada 6 0 5 1 0 1 9 Scoring system: Win = 14 points. Tie = 7 points. First-innings lead = 6 points. Tie on first innings = 3 points. Draw in a match in which ten or more hours’ play is lost to the weather = 7 points. Draw in a match in which less than ten hours’ play is lost to the weather = 3 points. Match abandoned =10 points. Teams finishing level on points are separated first by the most number of outright wins and then by most first-innings leads and then by net runs-per-wicket ratio. FINAL Afghanistan beat Scotland by seven wickets For the 2009-10 competition, the qualifying rules were changed. Instead of being related to the results of the previous contest, the ICC decided that the top six countries in the World Cup Qualifying (WCQ) competition, held in South Africa in April 2009, would participate. This meant reducing the number of countries by two. The WCQ involved the top twelve Associate and Affiliate countries, namely those comprising Divisions 1 and 2 of the World Cricket League. The outcome was that Ireland, Scotland, The Netherlands, Kenya and Canada were now joined by Afghanistan and that there was no place for Namibia, the United Arab Emirates or Bermuda. This seemed somewhat harsh on Namibia who were the previous finalists along with Ireland. Perhaps by way of consolation, the ICC decided to institute the Intercontinental Shield to be contested by those countries finishing in seventh to tenth positions in the World Cup Qualifying. Namibia, the UAE and Bermuda were therefore joined by Uganda. There was no place for either Oman or Denmark who occupied the eleventh and twelfth places and were relegated to World Cricket League Division 3. Before the 2009-10 competition got under way, a further change was made. The ICC decided it would be a good idea to allow Zimbabwe to field what might be considered an ‘A’ side as part of a programme to assist that country in regaining test status. Questions were raised not only about the ethics of allowing a Full-Member country to take part in a competition intended for Associate and Affiliate teams, but also about whether the governments of all the competing countries would allow their sides to play in Zimbabwe. The ICC therefore agreed that, where necessary, Zimbabwe could play its home matches in a neutral country, most probably South Africa. Later the ICC rescinded this decision and agreed to a request from Cricket Zimbabwe that, following improvements to the security situation in the country, Zimbabwe should be permitted to play its home matches at home. In the event only Scotland, acting on advice from the United Kingdom government, refused to play in Zimbabwe. Rather than Scotland being penalised for failing to fulfil the fixture, there was the somewhat bizarre outcome of Cricket Zimbabwe asking to forfeit the fixture so that Scotland could progress to the final. Cricket Zimbabwe argued that the competition was intended for Associate and Affiliate countries only and that they were grateful for the experience their players had gained from their participation thus far. Following concerns in 2007-08 about teams where a match is abandoned gaining a substantial points advantage over teams where play is possible but the weather prevents a result being obtained, the scoring system was changed. Ten points were still awarded to each side in the event 175