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NIGERIA REPRESENTS AFRICA IN ICC WORLD CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION 7 IN GUERNSEY IN MAY 2009 | (2008-11-18 )

The Nigerian cricket team arising from its second position at the
recently concluded
World Cricket League (WCL) Africa Division 2 tournament held in South
Africa has earned
the right to play in the global ICC WCL Division 7 that will take place
in Guernsey in May,
2009.
 
The team will contest with contemporaries from the other continents i.e.
Guernsey, Japan,
Suriname, Bahrain and Gibraltar to determine two countries that will be
further promoted
to compete in the WCL 6 that will be held later in September, 2009 in
Singapore along with
Singapore, Botswana, Norway and Malaysia.
 
The President of the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF), Kwesi Sagoe has
commented that these
are exciting times for Nigerian cricket and the WCL 7 represents an
opportunity for the national
team put itself on the world map as far as cricket is concerned. 'I'm
absolutely delighted at the
opportunities that our cricketers will be exposed to with the WCL; first
they travel to Guernsey
in May, 2009 and if we grab the second position, they will then journey
to Singapore to play in
WCL 6 in September!'
 
'On my election two years ago, I had promised a new era for cricket in
Nigeria and I'm pleased
to have been able to motivate both our players and coaching crew to
achieve success within a
short timeframe and I believe the boys can do better if the National
Sports Commission supports
the efforts of the NCF in preparing the team adequately for these
upcoming tournaments'
 
'If we can get the team out to the ACA academy in South Africa for a
month before May, 2009
I have every reason to believe that we will qualify for WCL 6; however
on a medium term basis, we
seriously will need to build an indoor training facility at the Tafawa
Balewa Square to serve as an
Academy for the intensive preparation of our cricketers for tournaments
such as these.'
 

 
ICC MEDIA RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dubai, 16 November 2008
 
Venues and teams approved for Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Divisions 6
and 7
 
The ICC Development Committee has approved in principle that the Pepsi
ICC World Cricket League Division 7 (WCL Div. 7) tournament will be held
in May/June 2009 in Guernsey and that the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League
Division 6 (WCL Div. 6) tournament will be held in September in
Singapore.
 
 
The decisions were made as the committee gathered in Spain for one of
its biannual meetings, which concluded on Sunday, and the choice of
venues are now subject to appropriate finalisation of arrangements.
 
In arriving at the determination of which teams would participate in
each tournament, the Development Committee considered the relative
strength of each region given the results of the WCL Div. 5 event in
Jersey earlier this year as well as the most recent regional results and
the desire to recognise all five regions of the Pepsi ICC Development
Programme.
 
The Development Committee allocated the 10 positions across the two
divisions by region assigning three teams from Asia (two for WCL Div. 6
and one for WCL Div. 7), three teams from Europe (one for WCL Div. 6 and
two for WCL Div. 7), two teams from Africa (one for each division), one
team from the Americas (for WCL Div. 7) and one team from East
Asia-Pacific (also for WCL Div. 7).
 
In line with current ICC regional rankings, the make-up of the two
tournaments will be as follows:
 
Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 7, May 2009 (Guernsey):
Guernsey, Nigeria, Japan, Suriname, Bahrain and Gibraltar
 
Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 6, September 2009 (Singapore):
Singapore, Botswana, Norway, Malaysia and top two teams qualifying from
WCL Div. 7
 
Further information will be released on both tournaments in due course.
 
About the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League:
 
The Pepsi ICC World Cricket League was created to provide regular global
one-day cricket opportunities to those countries outside the ICC's Full
Members.
 
The inaugural Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 1 event took place
in Nairobi in January 2007, part of a multi-tiered event which will
provide competitive cricket for the sport's developing teams.
 
Bermuda, Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands and Scotland joined the host
nation Kenya in this event in which all the matches had official ODI
status. It proved to be a resounding success, with some outstanding
cricket played, and it brought considerable media attention to the
leading Associate Member countries.
 
As well as being timed to provide the vital preparation ahead of the ICC
Cricket World Cup West Indies 2007, the two leading sides from the event
which reached the final, Kenya and Scotland, gained qualification for
the ICC World Twenty20 2007.
 
Kenya defeated Scotland in the final by eight wickets, avenging an
earlier defeat in the group stage to the same opposition.
 
In the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division Three in Darwin,
Australia, in mid-2007, Uganda secured the title when it defeated
Argentina by 91 runs.
 
The top four teams from the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 2,
who were Oman, UAE, Namibia and Denmark, will go forward to the ICC
Cricket World Cup Qualifier, which will be held in South Africa during
April 2009.
 
Afghanistan and host Jersey were the top two teams at the Pepsi ICC
World Cricket League Division 5 in May 2008. They were promoted to the
Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 4 in October in Tanzania.
 
At that event, Afghanistan again performed outstandingly to defeat Hong
Kong in the final, although both sides secured promotion to the Pepsi
ICC World Cricket League Division 3, which will take place in Buenos
Aires from 24-31 January 2009.
 
The Pepsi ICC World Cricket League is about more than just the top six
Associate teams. It is a multi-division structure designed to afford
teams of various standards the opportunity to play regular one-day
cricket against similarly ranked opponents regardless of where in the
world they are located.
 
It also ensures that the qualifying pathway for the ICC Cricket World
Cup is open to the majority of the 94 ICC Associate and Affiliate
members.
 
This new structure of one-day cricket sits on top of the regional
qualifying events to create a pyramid in which all teams have an
opportunity to develop and an incentive to improve.
 
Promotion and relegation are possible between divisions as each team
seeks to move up the world cricket ratings.