ACS Overseas First-Class Annual 2011

Rest of the World in 2010/11 There were 10 matches played in the 2010/11 season outside the ICC full member nations. Of these, five were in Namibia, four of which were home matches by Namibia in the South African Provincial Competition. Namibia had seven home matches scheduled in this competition but the last three fell victim to altogether exceptional weather as Windhoek experienced, in January 2011, the wettest month since records began in 1892, with little let-up in February. Namibia could point to the loss of these three home fixtures in extenuation of finishing in last place. More details of this competition, and a final table, are found in the South Africa section. The remaining match in Namibia, and the five matches elsewhere, were all part of the ICC Intercontinental competitions, the Cup and the Shield, which both reached their final stages in the 2010/11 season. The Intercontinental Cup was first contested in 2004 and aims to provide competitive first-class cricket for the strongest non-Test nations. This objective was somewhat compromised in the fifth edition of the Cup, which ran during the the calendar years 2009 and 2010, by the ICC’s decision to invite a Zimbabwe team to take part (although it competed as a Zimbabwe XI, rather than Zimbabwe as such). The surprise-packet of the competition, however, proved not to be the Zimbabwe XI, or even the defending champions Ireland. Instead it was Afghanistan, for whom the event was nothing short of a triumph. With virtually no experience of the longer form of the game, and handicapped by being obliged for obvious reasons to play all their matches away from home, the Afghans swept through the league stage with five wins out of six. They were held to a draw only by the full ICC member Zimbabwe, which put out its strongest side for the occasion (and even then, the Afghans secured first-innings points). Second place, and the right to meet Afghanistan in the final, was secured by Scotland, who suffered only one defeat at the league stage (inevitably, to Afghanistan) against four victories. One of these wins, however, was achieved in the committee room rather than the field of play after the Scots, on the advice of the British government, declined to travel to Harare to play the Zimbabwe XI. After initial hesitation, Zimbabwe responded by conceding the match, thereby putting Scotland into the final. Apart from the concession to Scotland, the Zimbabwe XI were undefeated and could take some encouragement from finishing in third place with three wins. The defending champions, Ireland, finished a disappointing fourth, while Kenya, fifth, continued their decline from the heady days of the late 1990s when Test status seemed a realistic prospect. Kenya at least demonstrated a marked superiority over the Netherlands and Canada, both without a win and with five defeats apiece, which were by some margin the weakest teams in the competition. The Intercontinental Shield, also played over the years 2009 and 2010, was created by ICC to supplement the Intercontinental Cup. The format was similar but only four teams were involved, each playing three matches. Namibia and United Arab Emirates, each with two wins and a draw, headed the league table and met in the final. Uganda came third, winning only against Bermuda, who fared disastrously to finish winless and pointless in bottom place. The finals of the Cup and Shield were both played in the United Arab Emirates in December 2010. Afghanistan, after conceding a first-innings lead, routed Scotland for 83 and won by seven wickets to claim the Cup at the first attempt: a splendid achievement and some rare good news for a troubled land. In the Shield final, Namibia held on to win despite a spirited second-innings 657