Denmark looks to perpetuate the stereotype

Captain Klokker says underdog status could work to his team’s advantage
Sometimes teams buck the stereotypical view their country’s sportsmen portrays overseas. But if your image of the Denmark cricket team is one of tenacity, skill, mental strength and a hunger to succeed – a la the Henrik Larsen and Brian Laudrup-inspired Denmark soccer team that shocked everyone at the UEFA European Championships 1992 – then you might not be too far off the mark.

Traditionally Denmark cricket teams are tough competitors whose positive attitude secures victories from matches that looked like resulting in certain defeats and captain Freddie Klokker is determined his team will work hard and focus intently on the job at hand as it plots the realisation of its dream of reaching the ICC Cricket World Cup.

“We have obviously got to be realistic and will take one game at a time but we are going to South Africa with high hopes,” said Klokker.

“We have Afghanistan in our first game and if we can get a victory there and if we get another one in the second, we are looking to be in the Super Eight, and we will take it from there,” said the 26-year-old left-hander, who has experience of English county cricket with Derbyshire.

“We are very excited as it is the biggest tournament that Denmark will play since four years ago.”

At the ICC Trophy in 2005, it crashed to a 103-run defeat at the hands of Namibia, to finish eighth at the event, but Klokker is hopeful of a better finish in 2009 and believes that World Cup qualification would have a positive effect on the sport in Denmark.

“It will be massive as it will be the biggest achievement the country has ever done and it will be amazing,” he said.

“For us to do that it would boost the game, it would become popular, it would be coming in the news, and hopefully more and more young kids will start playing it.”

A key player for the Danes could be leg-spinner Bobby Chawla. His ten wickets at the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 2 were a major part of Denmark reaching this ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier.

His 4-38 against Uganda helped seal a vital win to secure fourth place at the event and his tricky bowling will again be looked upon as an important source of wickets during the tournament. A veteran of the ICC Trophy in 2001 and 2005, where he took nine wickets, Chawla has a lot of responsibility to perform well at the event despite his relative youth at 26 years old.

A third-place finish at the European Championships in 2008, ahead of the Netherlands, showed the potential of the Danish side, with Ireland struggling to a five-wicket win in probably Denmark’s best performance at the tournament. It also recorded a 21-run win over Uganda during the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 2 event in Namibia.

Klokker, who carried his bat for 99 not out against the UAE during that event, believes the fact few people expect Denmark to be a main contender at the tournament could work in its favour.

“When there is no expectation, you can play with a mentality that you have nothing to lose and can play a lot more freely,” he said.

“If we win the first two or three games in the competition, other teams will start taking notice and that will be a big boost for us.”

The side has prepared for the event with a training camp in Port Elizabeth and has the potential to be one of the surprise packages of the event.

Denmark (squad): Frederik Klokker (captain), Mickey Lund, Carsten Pedersen, Michael Pedersen, Morten Hedegaard Andersen, Thomas Hansen, David Borchersen, Henrik Hansen, Bobby Chawla, Max Overgaard, Rohit Kanaiya, Soren Vestergaard, Rizwan Mahmood, Basir Shah, Lars Hedegaard Andersen.
Listen to the full interview with Freddie Klokker at http://www.icc-cricket.com/.

This captain’s interview is one of 12 being sent out in the days leading up to the start of the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier. The schedule for those releases is as follows (including those that have been sent out already):

31 Jan – confirmation of all 12 participating teams
10 Feb – fixtures and venues confirmation
10 Mar – squad announcements (all 12 squads)
Releases (12) in the month beforehand, each focusing on one of the teams:
11 Mar – Namibia
12 Mar – Bermuda
13 Mar – Scotland
16 Mar – Ireland
17 Mar – Afghanistan
18 Mar – Canada
19 Mar – Netherlands
20 Mar – UAE
23 Mar – Uganda
24 Mar – Kenya
25 Mar – Oman
26 Mar – Denmark

In addition, there will be further tournament previews and other features sent out before the event gets underway on 1 April.
In total there are eight venues being used for 54 matches played over 19 days with 12 teams fighting it out for the four qualification places on offer in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.

The ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier, formerly known as the ICC Trophy, incorporates Divisions 1 and 2 of the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League and is the gateway for the top Associate and Affiliate teams into the premier one-day tournament in the world.

Day one of the event offers up perhaps the most eagerly awaited fixture of all with defending champion Scotland taking on fierce rival Ireland in an ODI at Willowmoore Park in what will be a repeat of the final in 2005.

Among the teams will be Afghanistan and Uganda, which both qualified from January’s Pepsi World Cricket League Division 3 event in Buenos Aires. The WCL 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.

The 12 teams taking part in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier are split into two groups of six teams. Ireland, Scotland, Canada, Oman, Namibia and Uganda make up Group A while Kenya, Netherlands, Bermuda, UAE, Denmark and Afghanistan form Group B.

Each side plays the other teams in its group once with the top four from the groups progressing to the Super Eight stage. The teams each play four Super Eight matches against the sides they did not meet in the group stage. All points won in the groups will be carried over to the Super Eight stage apart from those gained against the bottom two from each group.

The top two teams in the Super Eight stage will contest the final to be played at Centurion on 19 April. The third and fourth-placed sides will play-off at Potchefstroom, the fifth and sixth-placed sides play off at Willowmoore Park while the seventh and eighth-placed teams play off at Stan Friedman Oval, Krugersdorp.

The top four sides at the event qualify for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. The top six teams secure ODI status until 2013 and also qualify automatically for the ICC Intercontinental Cup 2009-10.

The bottom two teams from the CWCQ, which incorporates Divisions 1 and 2 of the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League, will be relegated to Division 3.

Note to reporters and editors: the process of media accreditation for the event is now closed. If you require accreditation and still have not applied please emaillucy.benjamin@icc-cricket.comimmediately.