Specials – Five memorable Associate wins at the T20 World Cup

The seventh edition of the men’s T20 World Cup is finally upon us, with the much-awaited action set to get underway from 17th October. First up will be the preliminary round featuring eight teams, who will battle it out for four berths in the Super 12 stage, or the ‘tournament proper’. These include five Associate […]

Specials – Associate nations at the World Cup, Part 5

The 16-team format used for the 2007 World Cup proved to be short-lived, as the tournament reverted to a two-group structure of 14 teams (as was the case in 2003, but with quarterfinals instead of the Super Six) for the next two editions. In this final part of our series on Associates at the […]

Record Book – The youngest players to take five wickets in an ODI

Afghan off-spinner Mujeeb Zadran became the youngest bowler to take an ODI five-wicket haul last week, when he took 5/50 in his team’s series-clinching ten-wicket win against Zimbabwe at Sharjah at the age of 16 years and 325 days. In the process, he broke the long-standing record held by Waqar Younis. Here is a […]

Record Book – Numbers from the Intercontinental Cup

Newly-elevated full member nation Afghanistan ended their last ICC Intercontinental Cup as deserving champions, finishing unbeaten with 121 points, 12 clear of Ireland, their fellow new entrants into Test cricket. Here is a look back at a few key numbers from the tournament, which began in May 2015 and spanned over 30 months. Afghanistan’s […]

Review – Associate cricket’s best moments from 2015

Even as the ICC continued with its blinkered outlook towards the non-Test playing nations, there were plenty of encouraging signs throughout 2015 that underlined the rising stock of Associate cricket. The World Cup saw a string of exciting performances from the four Associate teams involved, with Ireland producing their best display at the […]

VIEWPOINT – Time to get our World Cup back

With the utterly callous decision of reducing the number of teams to just ten in the 2019 World Cup finalised, it is now or never for the Associate nations to show what they are capable of. It is time for them to give a performance so strong that it mortifies the ICC and sparks […]

IN FOCUS – ICC Intercontinental Cup final : Preview

The final of the sixth edition of the ICC Intercontinental Cup, the premier first-class tournament for non-Test nations, will be fittingly played between the two best Associate teams, namely Ireland and Afghanistan. The current tournament started in June 2011 and the defending champions are the Afghans, who defeated Scotland in the final of the […]

IN FOCUS – The Afghan fairy-tale continues

In what has to be the most sensational rise by a cricket team, Afghanistan’s national side has managed to qualify for the 2015 World Cup just fourteen years after becoming an ICC member and seven years after starting in the World Cricket League Division Five. Remarkably, most of these cricketers learnt the game […]