ICC Intercontinental Cup and Shield

CANADA Played Won Drawn Lost Won on first inns Lost on first inns No result 23 5 2 1 1 14 Highest team total 588 v Bermuda King City (NW) 2006 Lowest team total 79 v Scotland King City (NE) 2008 Highest individual total 174 Qaiser Ali v Netherlands Pretoria 2006 Best bowling analysis 9-76 J.M.Davison v USA Fort Lauderdale 2004 Best wicketkeeping 5 c A.A.Mulla v Scotland Aberdeen 2009 Canada’s performances in the competition have been mixed. They have reached the final twice but, on both occasions, lost disastrously. In the last four years they have won only one match out of thirteen. Their main problem has been inconsistency brought about in part by the best players not always being available. For 23 matches they have used 57 players with only six of those being selected ten or more times. Eleven players were chosen for only one match and a further fifteen for only two. In addition to fielding an unsettled side, the players themselves, with a few exceptions, performed inconsistently. Although twelve centuries were made, only two players, Ian Billcliff and Sunil Dhaniram, have batting averages over 40 among those who had ten or more innings. Offsetting this somewhat mediocre display is one of the most successful all-round bowling attacks in the competition. Umar Bhatti with 78 wickets and Henry Osinde with 56 were, for several years, the most effective new-ball partnership in Associate cricket. Umar Bhatti’s record is outstanding with a strike rate of only 37.76. The pair were well supported by the spin of Dhaniram (38 wickets) and, when available, John Davison (28 wickets). Ashish Bagai disappointed with the bat but gave excellent support to the bowlers with a more than competent display of wicketkeeping. When he was not available, Asif Mulla and, more recently, Rustam Bhatti and Hamza Tariq were more than able deputies. The poor record in recent years can be partially explained by the retirement or declining form of the more established players and the inclusion of inexperienced cricketers who have come through the Canadian Under-19 programme. Of more concern, however, is the increasing reliance on immigrants from the Caribbean, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India, particularly as this does not seem to be being translated into better results. In 2004, 38% of the players selected were Canadian born; in 2009-10, only 16% were. CAYMAN ISLANDS Played Won Drawn Lost Won on first inns Lost on first inns 2 0 0 0 2 Highest team total 212 v Canada Toronto 2005 Lowest team total 85 v Bermuda Toronto 2005 Highest individual total 65 S.C.Gordon v Bermuda Toronto 2005 Best bowling analysis 4-60 T.Taylor v Bermuda Toronto 2005 Best wicketkeeping 1 c Ryan Ebanks v Canada Toronto 2005 1 c Ryan Ebanks v Canada Toronto 2005 The Cayman Islands were given 19 days’ notice that they would be invited to replace the United States in the 2005 tournament following the suspension of that country’s membership of the ICC. Never having played three-day cricket internationally before and with little time and few facilities for practice – the country was still rebuilding after the effects of Hurricane Ivan the previous September which caused over US$1.85 billion worth of damage – they were probably the most inexperienced team to play in the competition. Not surprisingly, they did not win a 271 Countries