Mombasa to host ICC Intercontinental Cup

By Oscar Pilipili

International Cricket Council (ICC) has confirmed new dates for the fourth round fixtures of Intercontinental Cup and Pepsi ICC World Cricket League (WCL) Championship matches between Kenya and Namibia.

The matches were originally scheduled for June but due to security concerns and particularly in Nairobi.

The matches will now all take place at Mombasa Sports Club Ground, Mombasa between September and October.

According to statement from Cricket Kenya (CK), the Intercontinental Cup will be played on September 27-30.

The tournament will then pave way for the first 50-overs Pepsi WCL Championships match slatted for October 2.

The second round of Pepsi WCL between Kenya and Namibia is scheduled for October four at the same venue.

The ICC Intercontinental Cup has quickly grown in stature and profile since its inception seven years ago.

prize money

The ICC’s premier first-class tournament is an integral part of the Associate Members’ cricket schedule.

There will be a total of US$254,000 in prize money for the Associate and Affiliate teams taking part in the ICC Intercontinental Cup 2011-13.

Winners pocket US$100,000 and US$40,000 is reserved for the runners-up.

Teams finishing in third and fourth place with receive US$20,000 and US$10,000 respectively while an outright win by any team during the course of the round-robin stage will see it walk away with US$3,000 per match.

global tourney

Having previously been designed around a two-group, three-day format, the event then evolved into an eight-team, round-robin and truly global tournament featuring four-day cricket.

 The purpose of the Intercontinental Cup is to offer those teams who do not play Test cricket the chance to experience the longer form of the game.

This year’s format will include eight teams – Afghanistan, Canada, Ireland, Kenya, Netherlands, Scotland, Namibia and United Arab Emirates.

Scotland won the first ICC Intercontinental Cup in 2004, beating Canada in the final, while Ireland has been victorious in three events since then, beating Kenya in the 2005 decider, Canada in the 2006-07 event and Namibia in 2007-08.  Afghanistan won in 2009-10.

The Pepsi ICC WCL Championship, together with the ongoing global divisions of the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League (WCL), is an extremely important event on the calendar of ICC Development Programme.

 The competitions provide  a dual pathway for all Associate and Affiliate Members to qualify for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 to be staged in Australia and New Zealand.