Published: Jan 28, 2015, 07:45 PM (IST)
Edited: Jan 29, 2015, 10:42 AM (IST)
Afghanistan and Ireland will join the 10 Full Members and have therefore qualified for the ICC World Cup 2019 based on a ranking system for the tournament. The top eight sides as on September 30, 2017 will qualify automatically for the mega event in 2019 leaving the bottom four teams to play in the 10-team ICC Cricket World Cup qualifier in 2018 to determine the final two teams in the line-up.
Due to this, the International Cricket Council (ICC) Board approved this Ireland and Afghanistan will no longer play in the One-Day competition for the leading associate and affiliate sides, which is, ICC World Cricket League Championship. The final two positions in that will be filled by Kenya and Nepal, who finished third and fourth respectively in the Pepsi ICC Cricket World League Division 2 in Namibia last week. Hong Kong, Namibia, Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Scotland and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will join them in the two-year competition, which will take played in the middle of 2015, reports ICC’s official website.
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ICC Chief Executive David Richardson said: “Both Afghanistan and Ireland have excelled on and off the field in recent years, and this decision is a critical step forward to the ICC’s aim of having more competitive teams in international cricket. The decision also provides even greater context to One-Day International cricket, and provides a fully meritocratic pathway into ICC’s Cricket World Cup and Champions Trophy events. It also compliments the recent decision by the ICC Board to introduce opportunities for Associate and Affiliate Members to play Test cricket through the ICC Intercontinental Cup and ICC Test Challenge.
“With a system of promotion and relegation in place, I look forward to seeing the leading Associate and Affiliate teams become even more competitive as they battle for the opportunity to compete at the very highest level of one-day cricket,” Richardson added
Cricket Ireland CEO Warren Deutrom said: “We are absolutely delighted with the opportunity to qualify directly to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. Ireland has worked very hard over recent years to prove itself as the leading Associate side and has beaten a number of Full Members over the years. We are confident that we can now accelerate our progress as part of this qualification structure with the Full Members, while this is also an excellent boost as we put our finishing touches on our preparations for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015.”
