Schedule announced for Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 3
Media accreditation process now open for Buenos Aires event
The International Cricket Council today confirmed the match schedule for the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 3 (WCL Div. 3) event, which will take place in Buenos Aires from 24 to 31 January.
Host team Argentina takes on Hong Kong on day one at Hurlingham while Papua New Guinea gets its campaign underway against the Cayman Islands at Belgrano Athletic Club and Uganda faces Afghanistan at Corimayo.
Afghanistan and Hong Kong, who progressed from WCL Div. 4 in Tanzania in October, go head-to-head on day two in what could be one of the games of the tournament.
In all, there will be 18 matches played over eight days with the final scheduled to take place on Saturday 31 January at the historic Belgrano ground.
The top two sides from this six-team event will win promotion to the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier, which will be held in South Africa next April. And in turn, the top four from that 12-team event, which incorporates WCL Divisions 1 and 2, will win a coveted place at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, the pinnacle of the limited-overs game.
The Pepsi ICC World Cricket League was created to provide a clear pathway for teams outside the top 10 towards improvement and ultimately, the ICC Cricket World Cup. This global event gives ICC Associate and Affiliate Members the opportunity to play similarly ranked sides in meaningful competition regardless of where they are located in the world.
Since its inception in 2007 the WCL and has already become an integral part of the Pepsi ICC Development Programme and in 2009 it will be expanded from five divisions to seven with an eighth division having been approved for 2010.
Teams: Afghanistan, Argentina, Cayman Islands, Hong Kong, Papua New Guinea, Uganda
Pepsi World Cricket League Division 3 match schedule
24 Jan – PNG v Cayman Islands, Belgrano; Argentina v Hong Kong, Hurlingham; Uganda v Afghanistan, Corimayo
25 Jan – Afghanistan v Hong Kong, Belgrano; Cayman Islands v Uganda, Hurlingham; PNG v Argentina, Corimayo
26 Jan – rest/reserve day
27 Jan – Uganda v PNG, Belgrano; Argentina v Afghanistan, Hurlingham; Hong Kong v Cayman Islands, Corimayo
28 Jan – Cayman Islands v Argentina, Belgrano; Afghanistan v PNG, Hurlingham; Hong Kong v Uganda, Corimayo
29 Jan – rest/reserve day
30 Jan – Argentina v Uganda, Belgrano; PNG v Hong Kong, Hurlingham; Cayman Islands v Afghanistan, Corimayo
31 Jan – Final, Belgrano; third/fourth place play-off, Hurlingham; fifth/sixth place play-off, St George’s College
Meanwhile, the accreditation process for the WCL Div. 3 has opened. If you are planning to attend the event please reply to this email giving details of your name, organisation, contact information and whether you will be there representing the written media, radio, television, a website or as a photographer.
The closing date for applications is Friday 9 January.
For members of the media who do not intend to attend but who wish to receive daily match reports from the competition, please contact James Fitzgerald or Sami-ul-Hasan (details below). Squad announcements for the Buenos Aires event will be released to media on the WCL Div. 3 distribution list in due course.
The official website of the WCL Div. 3 will be launched soon in association with CricketEurope. During the event, there will be live ball-by-ball commentary of one game per day, while there will be regular score updates from the other games. There will also be reports, photographs and interviews in the build-up to and during the tournament.