Afghanistan captured second place in the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Championship and the second automatic qualifying spot in the next ICC Cricket World Cup following two wins against Kenya in Sharjah (United Arab Emirates) last week. It is the first time Afghanistan has qualified for the showcase 50-over version of the ICC Cricket World Cup.
Canada will play in the 2014 ICC World Cup qualifier in New Zealand, early next year, in the quest for the last two qualifying places in the 2015 ICC World Cup. The ten team World Cup Qualifier comprises the six teams from the top tier of the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League who did not win one of the two automatic places in the next World Cup plus four qualifiers from the ranks of the Division Two and Three World Cricket League qualifying structure. So UAE, Netherlands, Scotland, Kenya, Namibia and Canada will be joined in the 2014 Qualifier by Hong Kong, Nepal, Papua New Guinea and Uganda.
Afghanistan has previously qualified for and played in the ICC World Twenty20 championships in 2010 and 2012. In 2008 Afghanistan was playing in Division 5 of the Pepsi ICC World Cup but made a breakthough in Division 3 in Argentina in early 2009 to reach the World Cup Qualifier in South Africa from which Canada qualified for the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup.
Second spot in the 2011-2013 Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Championship sees Afghanistan placed in Pool A of the next ICC World Cup along with co-hosts Australia and New Zealand, Bangladesh, England, Sri Lanka and Qualifier 3. Afghanistan’s opening match in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 will be against Bangladesh in Canberra, Australia, on 18 February 2015.
Ireland won the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League and will play in Pool B of the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup. Ireland’s pool includes defending champion India, Pakistan, South Africa, two-time champion West Indies, Zimbabwe and Qualifier 4.
In congratulating Afghanistan on this achievement, ICC Chief Executive David Richardson said: “Afghanistan has performed incredibly well in this tournament – Congratulations to the team, the Afghanistan Cricket Board and to the country for supporting them.”
He added, “Afghanistan’s journey has been a remarkable one. It started in World Cricket League Division 5 in 2008, and will now make its maiden appearance at the ICC’s flagship 50-over event, the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. Afghanistan is a talented team who will prove a competitive opponent for any team that comes up against it.”
Richardson also noted: “Afghanistan’s rapid rise is a feather in the cap for the ICC’s Global Development Programme. The World Cricket League Championship has proven a great success, providing meaningful context for Associate and Affiliate cricket and a fantastic pathway for all teams to reach the pinnacle of the sport.”
(Eddie Norfolk, based on ICC Media Releases)