Global Game: Scotland men back in international action

Scotland last international cricket back in December 2019 in Cricket World Cup League Two action in UAE, winning one match in their tri-series with the hosts and the USA. They were also scheduled to host both Australia and New Zealand in international action last year, only for Covid to intervene.

ICC Associate Player of the Decade Kyle Coetzer leads an experienced team, with the tour providing crucial match practice for a busy year of international cricket. On top of 2023 World Cup qualification, Scotland enter the first round of the T20 World Cup this October, before qualification for the 2022 T20 World Cup early next year.

On Furlough for most of the last 18 months, the team has only been able to train sporadically due to the pandemic, though have ramped up their efforts through an intensive six-week camp under coach Shane Burger in a lead-up to the rest of the year.

Like several of their Dutch counterparts on county duty, Josh Davey and Michael Jones will not travel on the tour.

Dutch men’s A squad return home after 2-1 defeat to Ireland Wolves

Netherlands A have returned from a three match one-day series in Ireland, going down 2-1 to an Ireland Wolves side in County Wicklow.

After a disappointing 94-run defeat in the first match the Dutch hit back in the second encounter, restricting the Wolves to under a hundred, thanks to new ball partnership Vivian Kingma and Paul van Meekeren at the Oak Hill Cricket Club Ground.

Reeling at 10-5 inside six overs after the Dutch salvo, the Wolves failed to claw back, and crumbled to be all out for 94 despite the best efforts of Shane Getkate and Craig Young. Leading the Dutch on the tour, wicketkeeper Scott Edwards nursed home the chase with the help of Stephan Myburgh and Tobias Visee to win by five wickets.

The Wolves responded emphatically in the decider with a tearaway bowling performance of their own, bowling out the Dutch for just 105. Despite early wickets from Ryan Klein and Bas de Leede, the Wolves steadied through skipper Harry Tector to chase down the small target inside 21 overs.

After a tough tri-series in Nepal for the bowlers, the Dutch found their rhythm on the tour, with Kingma and young leg-spinner Philippe Boissevain taking five wickets apiece, both doing so at an economy of less than a run a ball.

Netherlands host Ireland in their first matches of the ICC Cricket World Cup Super League in early June, and welcome Scotland this week in two One Day Internationals in Rotterdam.

Central Europe Cup to play out in Czech Republic this week

The Central Europe Cup begins on Friday in Prague at the Vinoř Cricket Ground, with the Czechs hosting Austria and Luxembourg in a double round-robin men’s T20I tri-series.

Austria at 39th come into the tournament as the highest-ranked T20I team thanks largely to beating the Czechs in the final at the 2019 Continent Cup in Romania. The Czechs and Luxembourg enter the tournament sitting at 61st and 62nd respectively. After the 2022 T20 World Cup sub-regional qualifying events in Europe were cancelled due to Covid, the tournament provides the only official internationals pencilled in on the calendars for the three teams at this stage.

Originally a quadrangular series, internal Covid restrictions forced Malta to withdraw from the event.

USA prepare for Men’s U19 World Cup Qualifier

Twenty-six of the game’s future stars in the USA have been invited to a training and selection Camp in California, in preparation for their home Americas U19 World Cup Qualifier campaign in August.

In an announcement made by USA Cricket this week, players will meet in the San Francisco Bay Area from June 10 to 20, with the camp including up to five 50-over matches, focussing on skill development and providing an opportunity for each player to stake their claim for a place in the final squad.

Players were rewarded for strong performances in the recently-concluded U19 National Championships, and in a testament to the collective quality across the country, all eight teams in the tournament are represented in the group.

Men’s senior national team Head Coach J Arun Kumar will join U19s Head Coach Kevin Darlington to oversee the camp.

The USA will take on Canada, Bermuda and Argentina in the Qualifier, with the winner progressing to the tournament proper in the West Indies.

Sierra Leone’s Kent Cricket Club receive donation from Sydney Thunder

In a further boost for cricket in Sierra Leone, Freetown’s Kent Cricket Club has received another shipment of equipment from Australian Big Bash team Sydney Thunder, building on their existing partnership.

The donation is the fourth since the link was made in January 2019, and includes a range of batting equipment, stumps, balls and apparel to be used by both junior and senior cricketers in the capital.

“Through the generosity of the Sydney Thunder, Kent Cricket Club has helped sport spread across Sierra Leone, with the club further spreading any donated resources to ensure that it has the most significant impact on society,” Emmanuel Pessima, Founder of the Kent Cricket Club, explained.

“The impact that these donations have had on our ability has been immeasurable in helping us achieve our goals of helping the game grow in Freetown.”

The donations to Sierra Leone are organised by the Madiba Project, a Sydney-based not-for-profit organisation, who facilitate in shipping and subsidising overhead costs.

Global Game is a collaboration between the ICC andEmerging Cricket.