ACS Overseas First-Class Annual 2014

Of the other sides, there seems little to choose between Namibia, Scotland, and the UAE. They have all had their moments in the Intercontinental competition, but without suggesting any consistent strength. They all benefit, potentially, from links to stronger cricketing nations in the form of, respectively, South Africa, England and Pakistan; although this can cut both ways as there is a danger that their best players could be creamed off. At the next level down come Canada and Kenya. The former is increasingly dominated by its vibrant Asian community, which helps to maintain a certain standard of play, although at the risk of compromising the game’s appeal to the country as a whole. Kenyan cricket, meanwhile, is afflicted by growing difficulties, almost wholly of its own devising; it is a sad shadow of the side that, not so long ago, seemed within touching distance of becoming the eleventh Test nation. Finally, Netherlands occupied the bottom place and was the only side to go through the entire league stage without a win; although the Dutch could fairly point out that, with two ‘no results’ and one complete abandonment, they suffered particular misfortune with the weather. The ICC has announced that the winners of the next edition of the Intercontinental Cup, which will run from 2015 to 2017, will play off against the bottom-ranked Test side, with Test status as the prize. (JCB) ICC Intercontinental Cup 2011 to 2013: Final table P W WLF L LWF DWF DLF ND A Adj Pts NetRpW 20 14 0 6 9 3 3 10 1 Ireland 7 4 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 4 116 16.757 2 Afghanistan 7 4 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 4 104 4.759 3 Scotland 7 2 0 2 0 1 0 1 1 4 66 -1.734 4 United Arab Emirates 7 1 1 1 0 1 2 1 0 8 60 -1.817 5 Namibia 7 2 1 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 57 -1.272 6 Canada 7 1 0 4 0 1 0 0 1 4 43 -4.627 7 Kenya 7 1 0 3 2 0 0 0 1 0 42 -8.049 8 Netherlands 7 0 0 2 2 0 0 2 1 8 36 -7.304 FINAL: Ireland beat Afghanistan by 122 runs. Abandoned Matches Namibia v Free State, Wanderers Cricket Ground, Windhoek, February 20, 21, 22, 2014. Rain. 646 Rest of the World in 2013/14