Steps for Afghanistan

Afghanistan is about to create its first national cricket board.

Read all about it here. What a great new development for a country I'm pretty sure everyone has been supporting in their efforts.

Ireland win the World Cup Qualifiers

Yes they do. I am pleased indeed, but also disappointed because Afghanistan didn't make it to the World Cup. No fear, they still have next time, and I'm certain the team will be even stronger contenders in years to come.

The 4 teams going to the 2011 World Cup: Ireland, Canada, Netherlands and Kenya, qualifying in that order. Those are some strong teams, maybe they'll beat Bangladesh.

I'm only joking, of course Ireland will beat Australia. It's the only possible outcome.

The man of the tournament was Netherlands' Edgar Schiferli. Interesting name.

Afghanistan came fifth, winning their last match against Scotland. It's not even a consolation prize, because considering the work they've put it in to get this far, every win is an important win.

Afghanistan still want it

You can't not want them to make it through to the World Cup. Their coach Kabir Khan speaks of his faith in the team:

"I have always had faith in my batsmen, who have learnt quickly after seeing those from other countries play an innings under pressure. It was no fluke that we got this far."

It isn't. They've proven themselves in the World Cup Qualifiers these past few weeks. If an extraordinary sequence of results go their way, they'll be going to the 2011 World Cup. But before that, they need to win their last match against Namibia, and opener Karim Sadiq is hopeful of assisting his side in getting there:

"I hope to score a century on Friday and give my country a big chance of getting to the World Cup."

A century for the team.

The midgets of cricket

Less significant than the giants, some of these teams don't even get counted as minnows. Who said I don't care about them? See this? This is me. Caring. At the moment, there are several interesting international cricket matches going on for the 2011 World Cup Qualifier:

Oman vs. Scotland - Scotland have set an imposing score of 273, with a KJ Coetzer scoring 127 of those runs. I picked out a random name from the Oman side, and he's who I'm pegging to save the match, if anyone: Sultan Ahmed.

Netherlands vs. United Arab Emirates - Netherlands are 259/9. ES Szwarczynski scored the highest at 56, before being caught by Naeemuddin Aslam off Fayyaz Ahmed. If UAE win, it will have been Khurram Khan who wins it for them.

Bermuda vs. Denmark - Absolutely shoddy performance by Denmark, getting all out for 157. Maybe they're depressed from the thought of paying 60% of their income in taxes. I know this stuff. Nobody did well enough in this team to deserve a mention, and Bermuda doesn't need a star player to win them this match. They should do it easily against a team like Denmark.

Afghanistan vs. Kenya - Kenya is world class. What brilliance, 282 from 50 overs, and only 5 wickets falling in this time. KO Otieno scored 109, A Obanda hit 60, and a few more worthy scores to round up their total. Afghanistan has no hope of winning this match, even with Asghar Stanikzai, who, in my mind, is capable of doing amazing things. Not that I'd know about Afghani cricket.

Canada vs. Namibia - "I am Canada, hear me roar in numbers too big to ignore," sings Helen Reddy. And she's right. You simply can't ignore the massive total of 319 that Canada have posted in their innings. Their opener JM Davison flew down from heaven to hit 131 runs, and IS Bilcliff complemented this with 61 more. A few other players have good performances too. Namibia gave away 15 wides though. How on earth is that even possible? 15 wides in an ODI? LP van der Westhuizen is not going to save their sorry asses.

And that is the report during the innings break. I do care about these teams.
...Seriously, I do.