A series of six ICC World Cricket League (WCL) tournaments, as well as a series of pre-qualifying regional tournaments, and the 2009 Cricket World Cup Qualifier were played between January 2007 and April 2009. It was the first use of the World Cricket League structure. Through the WCL tournaments, teams could advance to the World Cup Qualifier, which could lead to qualification for the 2011 Cricket World Cup. 30 Associate and Affiliate members of the ICC participated in the events.
The Afghanistan national cricket team ascended from Division Five to Division One by winning three of these tournaments and performing well in the World Cup Qualifier.
Structure The league structure was organised with the five global divisions.Opportunities for Europe as WCL expands , by Rod Lyall, published by CricketEurope, on 10 September 2006 The regional tournaments were administered by the five Development Regions of the International Cricket Council: Africa, Americas, Asia, East Asia-Pacific, and Europe.
Summary The following is the summary of World Cricket League and its structure. This was followed by the International Cricket Council.
The above diagram shows the chronological order and structure of the divisions within the World Cricket League. From left to right the chronology of the divisions is indicated; from top to bottom the hierarchy within the competition. The arrows indicate the number of teams promoted and relegated between leagues
Tournaments summary DetailsDatesHost nation(s)FinalVenueWinnerResultRunner-up2007Division One29 January – 7 February 2007Nairobi Gymkhana Club, Nairobi158/2 (37.5 overs) Kenya won by 8 wicketsScorecard 155 all out (47 overs)2007Division Three27 May – 2 June 2007Gardens Oval, Darwin241/8 (50 overs) Uganda won by 91 runsscorecard 150 all out (46.3 overs)2007Division Two24 November – 1 December 2007Wanderers Cricket Ground, Windhoek347/8 (50 overs) United Arab Emirates won by 67 runsscorecard 280 all out (43.2 overs)2008Division Five23–31 May 2008Grainville, St Saviour81/8 (37.4 overs)Afghanistan won by 2 wicketsScorecard 80 all out (39.5 overs)2008Division FourWorld Cup dream for twelve nations cricinfo.com 1 May 2008Afghanistan claim another title cricinfo.com 11 October 20084–11 October 2008Kinondoni Ground, Dar es Salaam179 all out (49.4 overs)Afghanistan won by 57 runsScorecard 122 all out (45.0 overs)2009Division ThreeUSA return to the fold cricinfo.com 18 May 2008Match schedule cricinfo.com 21 January 200924–31 January 2009Belgrano Athletic Club, Buenos Aires8 points, +0.971(NRR) Afghanistan topped points tableTable8 points, +0.768(NRR)2009WC Qualifier1–19 April 2009SuperSport Park, Centurion188/1 (42.3 overs) Ireland won by 9 wicketsScorecard185 all out (48 overs)
Teams TeamDivisionat start200720082009Divisionat endDiv OneDiv ThreeDiv TwoDiv FiveDiv FourDiv ThreeWCQ16th9th 214th2nd ‡115th1st ‡111st4th ‡113rd3rd ‡112nd6th 151st 1st 1st5th 152nd †6th 6th 4511th R56th 634th 5th 424th12th 338th 5th 557th R35th 2nd 4th 337th 3rd 4510th 752nd 6th 558th R23rd8th 253rd 559th 622nd11th 333rd 3rd 355th 636th 4th 431st †5th 2nd10th 221st7th 234th 5512th R
Team with ODI status Team qualifies for 2009 ICC World Cup Qualifier Team promoted to next division Team remains in the division Team relegated to a lower division RRegional tournament†Qualified for the High Performance Program (HPP)‡Qualified for the 2011 Cricket World Cup
References