This year’s wet summer in Ireland and Scotland made its presence felt again today as day one of both the Ireland versus Canada game at Malahide and the Scotland versus Kenya match at Titwood, Glasgow was washed out without a single ball being bowled.
And with the weather set to be unsettled over the weekend, there is no guarantee the game in Scotland will start let alone provide a result. The forecast is more promising for Dublin on Friday so hopes are high the players will at least get the match underway.
Weather-permitting the start times in both Malahide and Titwood have been brought forward half and hour to 1030.
Squads
Ireland (from): Kyle McCallan (captain), Andre Botha, Peter Connell, Alex Cusack, Thinus Fourie, Trent Johnston, Kevin O'Brien, Andrew Poynter, Paul Stirling, Reinhardt Strydom, Greg Thompson, Andrew White, Gary Wilson.
Canada (from): Sanjay Thuraisingam (captain), Rustam Bhatti, Geoffrey Barnett, Harvir Baidwan, Eion Katchay, Sunil Dhaniram, Zubin Surkari, Karun Jethi, Steven Welsh, Qaiser Ali, Ruvindu Gunasekera, Mohammad Iqbal, Arvind Kandappah, Saad bin Zafar.
Scotland (from): Ryan Watson (captain), Richie Berrington, Dewald Nel, John Blain, Gordon Drummond, Majid Haq, Omer Hussain, Dougie Lockhart, Ross Lyons, Qasim Sheikh, Neil McCallum, Fraser Watts.
Kenya (from): Steve Tikolo (captain), Thomas Odoyo, Kennedy Otieno, Peter Ongondo, Tony Suji, Hiren Varaiya, Rakep Patel, Morris Ouma, Jimmy Kamande, Nehemiah Odhiambo, Elijah Otieno, Alex Obanda, Ragheb Aga, David Obuya, Alfred Luseno, Collins Obuya.
ICC Intercontinental Cup table (as of 7 August)
P W L D Pts
Namibia 5 5 0 0 82
Scotland 6 3 1 2 72
Ireland 4 3 0 1 69
Kenya 4 3 1 0 66
Netherlands 6 3 3 0 48
UAE 7 1 5 1 29
Canada 6 1 5 0 26
Bermuda 6 1 5 0 26
Key:
Six points for first innings lead
14 points for a win (so, maximum of 20 points per match)
Three points for a draw
Top two sides qualify for the final at a venue to be confirmed
The ICC Intercontinental Cup has quickly grown in stature and profile since its inception three years ago and now the ICC’s premier first-class tournament is an integral part of the Associate Members’ cricket schedule.
Having previously been designed around a two-group, three-day format, the event has evolved into an eight-team, round-robin and truly global tournament featuring four-day cricket which gives those teams who do not play Test cricket the chance to experience the longer form of the game.
Scotland won the first ICC Intercontinental Cup in 2004, beating Canada in the final, while Ireland has been victorious in both events since then, beating Kenya in the 2005 decider and Canada in the 2006-07 event.
The final of the ICC Intercontinental Cup 2007-08 will take place in November 2008 at a venue yet to be confirmed.
ICC MEDIA RELEASE