Eight Associate nations to feature in inaugural Desert T20 tournament

Eight Associate nations to feature in inaugural Desert T20 tournament
by Cricbuzz Staff •
Last updated on Fri, 30 Dec, 2016, 12:55 AM

Afghanistan is the top-ranked Associate nation in T20s

Eight of the top Associate nations will participate in the inaugural Desert T20 tournament, set to start on January 14. Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Ireland, Namibia, Netherlands, Oman, Scotland, and the UAE will be the participating nations, with the matches set to be hosted in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

"Emirates Cricket Board are delighted to collaborate with the participating Associates to bring this inaugural T20 tournament to the UAE," said Zayed Abbas, Emirates Cricket Board Member. "The aim of the tournament is to provide an opportunity for our teams to play more competitive Men's T20 cricket. Each of the participating countries are very close in ICC T20I rankings, so we expect the quality of cricket to be very strong."

Afghanistan (9), Ireland (17), Namibia (NR), and the UAE (14) are drawn in Pool A, while Netherlands (11), Scotland (13), Oman (16) and Hong Kong (15) will be in Pool B. Two teams will qualify from each group for the semi-finals.

"With the world-class practice facilities and playing surfaces available to us in the UAE, we are confident each Associate will benefit greatly from this tournament. We extend our sincere thanks to the participating Unions, the ICC and the ICC Academy for their support and commitment to this tournament," Abbas added.

The seven-day tournament will be played from January 14-17 in Abu Dhabi, before moving to Dubai on January 18. The finals and the semifinals will be played on January 20 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Fixtures:

January 14: Scotland v Hong Kong (Zayed Cricket Stadium)

January 14: Afghanistan v Ireland (Zayed Cricket Stadium)

January 15: Netherlands v Oman (Zayed Cricket Stadium)

January 15: UAE v Namibia (Zayed Cricket Stadium)

January 16: Oman v Hong Kong (Zayed Cricket Stadium)

January 16: Afghanistan v UAE (Zayed Cricket Stadium)

January 17: Ireland v Namibia (Zayed Cricket Stadium)

January 17: Netherlands v Scotland (Zayed Cricket Stadium)

January 18: UAE v Ireland (Dubai International Stadium)

January 18: Netherlands v Hong Kong (Dubai International Stadium)

January 19: Afghanistan v Namibia (Dubai International Stadium)

January 19: Scotland v Oman (Dubai International Stadium)

January 20: Semifinal 1 A1 v B2; Semifinal 2 A2 v B1 (Dubai International Stadium)

January 20: Final (Dubai International Stadium)

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Okkkkk lets go Afghanistan 

With the teams involved, I'm not sure that this is a tournament that they will be showing on pay-per-view, put it that way!

While I understand the need for tournaments such as this to take place, and it can only be a good thing for those teams involved, I'm not sure that a lot I'd going to be gained out of it for cricket as a whole. There's still a certain amount of snobbery involved with cricket, and these teams are always going to be seen as minnows no matter how many tournaments they win.

pay attention : Ireland is in the same Pool A !

They left out the Rastas!!!  Perfect tourney for their skill level!!!  ::LOL:: ::LOL:: ::LOL:: ::LOL::

What! No USA? I thought that the whole future of cricket was based around it starting to become popular in America? Well, that's the impression that the ICB are giving anyway and it seems that whenever somebody comes out and talks about the sport USA get mentioned and it's starting to become a little boring now.

If the USA embraces cricket, fine, that will give the sport a boost but it's not the holy grail that many people seem to think in my opinion.

Cricket in 'Merica goin' nowhere wid desies/rastas as it is...go nowhere even faster if playin' in camel crap.

I fixed the quote to reflect the truth 

...USA will NOT embrace unless there is a name change

with a claim to have invented the Game

You noticed I picked the winner ? ::LOL:: ::LOL:: ::LOL::

Since you know little about Cricket  ..such as DCC being T20 Champs  for the last two years
in Guyana.

Why not stick to something simple like lawn bowling ... ::LOL:: ::LOL:: ::LOL::