ACS Overseas First-Class Annual 2015

Matches in 2015 The basis for including a first-class scorecard in this section is, essentially, that the match does not qualify to appear anywhere else: it is not part of the 2014/15 season that makes up most of this book; nor did it take place in England or Wales (for such matches will be found in the 2016 Wisden). These qualifications virtually guarantee that the section will consist of a varied assortment of games, and so it proves this year. There are 26 matches included in this section, listed in alphabetical order of the country where they were played. Test tours in the ‘off’ season account for 14 matches. Bangladesh hosted Tests against Pakistan (2), India (1), and South Africa (2); Sri Lanka played Pakistan (3 Tests) and India (3); and Australia played two Tests in West Indies on a tour that included the novel feature (these days) of an additional first-class match. Bangladesh could be cautiously satisfied with their programme of 5 home ‘off’-season Tests. They went down to a 1-0 defeat by Pakistan, losing the second Test heavily, but in the first they had fought back pluckily after conceding a huge lead and had emerged with a highly creditable draw. The single Test against India and the two against South Africa were all drawn, mainly it must be said because of the weather; but even so, one defeat and four draws was a decent return by Bangladeshi standards, and the side could also point to a handy first-innings lead in the first Test against South Africa. Sri Lanka’s home programme of Tests was far less satisfactory for the home nation: both rubbers ended in defeat by identical 2-1 margins. In both cases, Sri Lanka had appeared well placed to win, notably when setting Pakistan the little matter of 377 to win the third Test with the rubber tied 1-1. But Pakistan accomplished the feat with ease, winning by seven wickets even after being 35-2 at one point. In the India series, Sri Lanka overcame a big first-innings deficit to claim the first Test and must have had high hopes at this point, especially given their opponents’ notorious fallibility away from home. But India responded superbly and demonstrated clear superiority in the remaining two Tests. Australia’s Tests in West Indies went very much to form with two big wins for the visitors. Since England had had to settle for an evenly-fought 1-1 draw in the Caribbean only a couple of months before, the Australians must have left for the UK with high confidence of success in the forthcoming Ashes. But the result proved otherwise. There were also three tours by ‘A’ sides. Pakistan A visited Sri Lanka a month before their Test counterparts followed suit; but benign pitches and malign weather combined to ensure that all three matches would be drawn. India hosted tours by Australia A and South Africa A for two matches each, India A losing 1-0 to Australia A but defeating South Africa A by the same margin. Finally, the 2015 season saw the first five matches of the seventh edition of the ICC Intercontinental Cup. The Cup will run from 2015 to 2017. The format is unaltered from the sixth edition: the eight leading non-Test nations will compete in a round-robin league, followed by a final between the top two. What has changed, though, is the list of sides taking part. These changes are based on the current ICC rating of non-Test countries, not on previous Intercontinental performance, meaning that the Netherlands, for instance, retains its place despite finishing last in the 2011-13 Cup. Instead, Canada and Kenya are dropped from the competition, so these two nations will lose their first-class status. This is a particularly sad fate for Kenya, which not so long ago was freely canvassed as potentially the eleventh Test nation. The two 607