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First/Group Round - Group B - Scotland, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Hong Kong

James

Cricket Web Owner
General Discussion surrounding Group B of the First/Group Round involving Scotland, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Hong Kong

8 March
Hong Kong v Zimbabwe
Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur

Afghanistan v Scotland
Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur

10 March
Scotland v Zimbabwe
Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur

Afghanistan v Hong Kong
Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur

12 March
Afghanistan v Zimbabwe
Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur

Hong Kong v Scotland
Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur
 

cnerd123

likes this
w00t Hong Kong!

Chapman is gun, Irfan is a dick off the field but pretty good on it. Tanwir Afzaal is having a beastly season so far. Their strength lies in their batting, accurate seam bowling, and experienced spinners. But I can't say much for their fielding or their cricketing IQ.
 

cnerd123

likes this
I expect Zimbabwe and Afghanistan to top this group.

Scotland is coming over here to play a few games later this month. I'm planning to go watch them in person. There will be an FC game, two ODIs and two T20s. Those should give a rather good indication on how the sides will stack up at the WC. I'm not sure how the pitch will play up, but they tend to be pretty bowler friendly. Will keep you all posted.
 

Red

The normal awards that everyone else has
People in the know should write some short pieces about the associate teams like Hong Kong, the teams most ppl don't know about. Would be interesting reading, particularly on the game at grassroots and domestic level in those countries.
 

Slippaah

U19 12th Man
HK T20I Stats:

Cricket Records | Hong Kong | Records | Twenty20 Internationals | Highest averages | ESPN Cricinfo

Cricket Records | Hong Kong | Records | Twenty20 Internationals | Most wickets | ESPN Cricinfo


Hong Kong Cricket Association

HK cricket is run by an increasingly active supervisory body- HKCA. The China market beckons. Over the past 5 years HK have risen from WCL Div 4 to become a leading Associate . Ranked 11 in T20 in the World. HK are a young side who inevitably lack depth because eligible players for ICC/ACC competitions are few in number despite a healthy local Club Comp in which numerous ineligible short term HK expats play. Given space constraints, land prices and the intense urban nature of the City HK only has 3 turf wickets 2 of which (HKCC,KCC) are situated in expensive private members clubs. Not ideal.
 

Slippaah

U19 12th Man
Here are 3 of the 4 Group B Squads. Afghanistan probably favourites ahead of Scotland and Zimbabwe.

Current ICC Rankings

ICC Ranking for T20 teams International Cricket Council

Afghanistan Squad: Asghar Stanikzai (capt), Noor Ali Zadran, Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Usman Ghani, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Sadiq, Shafiqullah, Rashid Khan, Amir Hamza, Dawlat Zadran, Shapoor Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Samiullah Shenwari, Najibullah Zadran, Hamid Hassan.

Scotland Squad :Preston Mommsen (Captain), Kyle Coetzer (Vice Captain), Alasdair Evans, Calum MacLeod, Con de Lange, Gavin Main, George Munsey, Josh Davey, Mark Watt, Matt Machan, Matthew Cross, Michael Leask, Richie Berrington, Rob Taylor, Safyaan Sharif

Hong Kong : Tanwir Afzal (capt), Mark Chapman (vice-capt), Haseeb Amjad, Nadeem Ahmed, Tanwir Ahmed, James Atkinson, Waqas Barkat, Ryan Campbell, Christopher Carter, Babar Hayat, Nizakat Khan, Aizaz Khan, Waqas Khan, Kinchit Shah, Anshuman Rath.

Zimbabwe not announced yet.
 

Slippaah

U19 12th Man
Any truth in the rumours that HK Cricket Board have failed to secure Indian Visas for one third of their squad, who are still in HK, and another cannot participate due to passport issues. With HK's first warm up game, in Dharamsala, 48 hours away that's a pretty untidy approach to an ICC World Cup.
 

Camo999

State 12th Man
C'mon Scotland. We're 0 wins 14 losses at ODI World Cups. 0 wins, 3 losses (and a glorious washout against India) at WT20s. It would be great to qualify for the next stage but first it's time to win a match. Any match. Please.

The lead up form is a bit scratchy. With the batting, we're tending to lose about 4 quick wickets in the power plays before the likes of Mommsen and Berrington at 5 and 6 give us some respectability. I like Matthew Cross but I'm not sure he's the answer at #3. Machan and MacLeod seem badly out of form at present. Why not throw Berrington up the order? After all it was he that scored 100 in our only ever victory over a full member.

We can't afford not to be picking our best XI and I'm not sure why Majid Haq continues to be ignored. A young fast bowler called Wheal looked like a world beater in one of the games against HK but was promptly dropped from the squad too. Even more disturbing, we've got three spinners in the squad but neither Michael Leask or Con de Lange even got on the park in the official lead up matches. Part timers MacLeod and Machan have instead been bowling recently with virtually no success. Josh Davey would be one of the first picked in ODIs but in this format and these conditions I'd be inclined to leave him on the bench.

My starting XI: Coetzer / Munsey / Berrington / Machan / Mommsen / Leask / Cross / Taylor (or de Lange) / Sharif / Watt / Evans

Likely starting XI: Coetzer / MacLeod / Cross / Machan / Mommsen / Berrington / Munsey / Davey / Sharif / Watt / Evans

Please boys. Just win one.
 
Last edited:

AndyZaltzHair

Hall of Fame Member
Ryan Campbell set to make debut :wacko:

At 44 years and 29 days, Ryan Campbell is the oldest player at the tournament and is all set to become the oldest debutant in T20Is. Campbell has more than two decades of experience as a professional cricketer, having played two ODIs for Australia. He was once left chasing Adam Gilchrist for a spot in the Australia XI, but is now on the hunt for a happy second-coming for his adopted home. Campbell starred in Hong Kong's warm-up win over HPCA XI when he scored 46 off 42 balls and took 2 for 10. He then admitted it felt good to "show you can do it."
 

Slippaah

U19 12th Man
In India, despite being the hosts of this ICC event, one would not know a T20 Cricket WC begins today. Cricket media focus is entirely on India's performance in the Asia Cup, whether India can play Pakistan at 20/20, and a 5 day match at CCI's Brabourne Stadium between Mumbai and the Rest of India . As for the 8 countries doing battle in Nagpur and Dharmasala this week not a whisper - in the newspapers, on TV or social media. Sad stuff. The hosts's attitude- who cares ! India is simply not interested if it does not involve themselves.
 

Slippaah

U19 12th Man
In India, despite being the hosts of this ICC event, one would not know a T20 Cricket WC begins today. Cricket media focus is entirely on India's performance in the Asia Cup, whether India can play Pakistan at 20/20, and a 5 day match at CCI's Brabourne Stadium between Mumbai and the Rest of India . As for the 8 countries doing battle in Nagpur and Dharmasala this week not a whisper - in the newspapers, on TV or social media. Sad stuff. The hosts's attitude- who cares ! India is simply not interested if it does not involve themselves.
This lack of interest may change now that Cricinfo has today latched on to recent comments, allegedly made by the Head of ACU and the ICC CEO regarding a match fixing investigation, and identified HK as currently under investigation on the day the T20 WC begins with HK playing Zimbabwe. Astonishing stuff ! Investigations are usually kept confidential because innocent players' reputations will be materially undermined when comments, such as those reported, enable the media to join the dots and identify an entire team as being investigated. So much for protecting an international cricket team from external interference in performing on the field of play.

Hong Kong seek clarity over Richardson comments | Cricket | ESPN Cricinfo
 

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