ICC Intercontinental Cup and Shield

that a more competitive match would have resulted. Zimbabwe chose to forfeit their match against Scotland who, following advice from the United Kingdom government, refused to travel to Harare. Zimbabwe’s withdrawal ensured that the final remained in keeping with the remit of the competition as one for Associate and Affiliate countries only. Ireland are the only country who have a Proficiency Index above 100% in all five competitions. For the last four they achieved this by averaging over 30 runs per wicket lost and conceding fewer than 30 runs per wicket taken. Scotland would also have achieved a proficiency greater than 100% in all competitions if they had not lost the final in 2009-10 so disastrously. Scotland’s strength, however, was in their bowling which conceded fewer than 26 runs per wicket taken; their batting averaged above 30 runs per wicket lost only in 2004 and was otherwise generally disappointing. Ireland’s record is remarkable considering that they played many of their matches without their strongest team and is a tribute to their strength in depth. Their record contrasts with that of The Netherlands which is quite inconsistent depending on how many matches their best player and arguably the top player in present-day Associate cricket, Ryan ten Doeschate, is available for. They also suffer from a consistent problem of being unable to dismiss the opposition cheaply; in every tournament their bowlers have conceded over 30 runs per wicket taken. Kenya have improved over the five competitions contrary to popular belief that their standards have fallen over this period but their bowlers have also struggled to take wickets. The other team to show improvement is Namibia. After raising their proficiency index above 100% in 2007-08, they failed to qualify for the 2009-10 competition but maintained their reputation by achieving a high level of proficiency in the Intercontinental Shield. The proficiency values for 2004 and 2005, when the regional groups existed, show that the Cayman Islands were outclassed in the American Group. The low values for Kenya in both years and for the United Arab Emirates in 2005 are explained by their poor performances in the later stages of the competition after winning their respective groups. The United Arab Emirates were outclassed in 2006-07 when the competition was reduced to the stronger teams but have since shown improvement. The country whose standards have deteriorated most is Bermuda. Since winning the American Group in 2005, they have been decreasingly competitive in every tournament. In 2009-10 they were even outclassed in the Intercontinental Shield when their proficiency index fell to the dismal level of 39.32. Nine players have scored more than 1,000 runs in the Intercontinental Cup. Steve Tikolo (Kenya) leads the run aggregate with 1,918, followed by Andre Botha (Ireland) on 1,352 and Ryan ten Doeschate (Netherlands) on 1,285. The latter, however, has a competition batting average of 142.77 compared to Tikolo’s 63.93 and Botha’s 46.62. Other batsmen to have scored over 1,000 and average over 60 are Niall O’Brien (Ireland, 1,029 runs, average 68.60) and Andrew White (Ireland, 1,083 runs, average 63.70). These figures underpin Ireland’s strength in batting. The leading wicket-taker is Trent Johnston (Ireland) with 81 wickets at 16.07, followed by Umar Bhatti (Canada) with 78 at 20.56 and Dwayne Leverock (Bermuda) with 71 at 26.47. Three other bowlers have taken over 50 wickets, including Henry Osinde (Canada), making his new-ball partnership with Umar Bhatti the strongest pairing in the competition. Leverock’s aggregate comes from bowling a remarkable 685.5 overs, showing how much Bermuda relied on his wicket-taking ability. His retirement is certainly one factor contributing to his country’s decline in performance. The second highest number of overs bowled in the competition is 195 fewer at 491 by Umar Bhatti. For bowlers who have taken 30 wickets or more the six best strike rates are all by pace bowlers whereas the six best economy rates are split evenly between pace and spin bowlers. Thus pace bowlers are the most effective in dismissing the opposition but the top spin bowlers play a vital role in keeping run-scoring down once batsmen get set. Four wicketkeepers have accounted for 30 or more victims each, the highest being 34 by both Niall O’Brien (33ct 1st) and Maurice Ouma (Kenya, 32ct 2st). The leading fielder by catches held is Steve Tikolo with 30 with the next highest being Peter Borren (Netherlands) on 18. Whether the competition has led to a closing of the gap in standard between the Associate and Affiliate countries and the Full Members is a more open question. To some extent, narrowing the gap is a moving target because the standard of the Full Member countries is itself subject to improvement. The quality of cricket played by Zimbabwe and Bangladesh is certainly higher 10 Introduction