Story The Road to Champion's Trophy - A Minnow's dream.

[Bala]

Hi and welcome to my first story thread. I am going to stick with Cricket 2004 for sometime until the great patchmakers of our land come up with some enchanting stuff.

This is all about the aspirations of a cricketing minnow, as it embarks on their mission of landing the second most coveted trophy in the world of One Day Internationals - The ICC Champion's Trophy.

I am going to play as Scotland as they try to qualify for the ICC Champion's Trophy.

Please Note: The story may not resemble to the actual fixtures.

 

[Bala]

NEWS FLASH: Kenya stripped of its One Day Status.

CRICINFO Quotes:

Kenya's unique status - they are the only one-day member - has been ended

The category was created as a stepping stone for countries to prepare for Test status. Bangladesh were the first, and they were followed by Kenya in 1997. Bangladesh went on to become the tenth Test-playing country in 2001, leaving Kenya as the sole one-day member.

But circumstances then changed. Bangladesh's performances were poor, and as calls for them to be stripped of their Test status grew it became clear that the ICC could not allow another weak member to be accepted into the elite. Kenya itself was being ripped apart by internal disputes and widespread allegations of mismanagement, and their performance in the ICC Champions Trophy - coupled with the abysmal display by another associate, the USA - led the powers that be to call time.

The original intention was that one-day membership would mean that those involved would be given more access to games against the big boys, thus speeding their development. In the last two years, Kenya have played two ODIs, both in Champions Trophy. Despite being World Cup semi-finalists, they have not been able to secure a single additional ODI anywhere. So much for the intent - the reality is that it has made not a jot of difference to Kenyan cricket

Kenya are no longer guaranteed a World Cup and Champions Trophy spot, and that they have to take their chances with other associates in the four-yearly qualifying tournament (which also determines which six countries have one-day status). But the reality is that if Kenya cannot get into that top six, then they do not deserve to consider themselves a serious player on the world stage. Given the talent they possess and the enthusiasm which remains despite the problems, they should be at the head of the six.

The ICC's decision should not be seen as kicking a man when he is down, but rather a positive step which should help Kenya get back on course. It will also ensure that the competition among the second string countries is fiercer than it has ever been.

 

[Bala]

ICC Champions Trophy 2006 to be held at India

The ICC have confirmed that the 2006 edition of The ICC Champion's Trophy will be held in India. The BCCI had quelled of stiff competition from New Zealand and Netherlands to win the chance to host the tournament.

Jon Long of Reuters reports from Dublin:

The ICC Champions Trophy 2006 will be held in January 2006 in India. The iternary will be released on the 15 th of July 2005.

A new format has been adopted by the ICC after the previous ICC Champions Trophy was criticized for pitting a lot of Minnows who just could not match the teams that form the top echelons of world cricket. There were far too many one sided contests with the Australian captain Ricky Ponting questioning the idea of having too many weakteams.

The new format will pit the top 8 sides against each other in a knock out first round that will be based on the following rule.

Team Ranked 1 Vs Qualifier
Team Ranked 2 Vs Team Ranked 7
Team Ranked 3 Vs Team Ranked 6
Team Ranked 4 Vs Team Ranked 5

The rankings would be as on 01/12/2005.

ICC Chief Executive Malcolm Speed said the new format would be highly competitive for all the participating teams.

"After the last ICC Champions Trophy we sought the opinions of a wide range of stakeholders and conducted a thorough review of the tournament's structure," said Mr Speed.

"The IDI Board is of the view that the new format has addressed the main flaws of the previous 12-team system and we now look forward to an exciting major international event in India."

The IDI Board confirmed that the ICC Champions Trophy 2006 will take place in India subject to formal notification of tax exemption from the Indian Government and confirmation of the terms of the host agreement between the ICC and the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

 

[Bala]

The Road to the ICC CHampion's Trophy

ICC today have announced the road to the Champion's Trophy reports Samantha Becks of Reuters. Teams ranked from 1 - 6 in the ICC One Day rankings for the associate member nations will compete in the ICC Trophy to be held in Australia from July 07, 2005. The winner of the ICC Trophy would compete in the ICC CHampion's Trophy qualifying tournaments taht will be held at Sharjah during September 2005.

The teams that Qualify for the ICC Trophy are
1. Kenya
2. Netherlands
3. Scotland
4. Namibia
5. U.A.E
6. Canada

The ICC Trophy will be played at the Docklands stadium in Melbourne.

Stay tuned.