ICC Intercontinental Cup

Infobox cricket tournament main
name = ICC Intercontinental Cup


imagesize =
caption =
administrator = International Cricket Council
cricket format = First-class cricket
tournament format = Round robin and Knockout
first = 2004
last =
participants = 14
champions = cr|IRE
most successful = cr|IRE (2 titles)
most runs = flagicon|Kenya Steve Tikolo (1,206)
most wickets = flagicon|Canada Umar Bhatti (59)The ICC Intercontinental Cup is a cricket tournament organised by the International Cricket Council as part of its cricket development program. It is designed to allow Associate Members of the ICC the chance to play first-class cricket matches against teams of similar skill in a competition environment and prepare them for eventual promotion to Test cricket status. The ICC have announced that over the next two years the tournament will change, shrinking in size to eight teams who each play every other team, and the matches will also last four days instead of the three days that were played in 2005. There are also hopes to introduce a second division in the future.

Tournament history

2004

"See also: 2004 ICC Intercontinental Cup"

The inaugural ICC Intercontinental Cup was completed on 22 November 2004 when Scotland won the title in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. Scotland beat Canada by an innings and 84 runs in the final. The competition included 12 teams, divided by geographical region into four groups of three. Each team played the other two teams in its group once each. The top team in each group then progresses to the semi-finals, and the winners of those to the final. In order to encourage competitive play and avoid deadlocks, a point system including bonus points was used.

2005

"See also: 2005 ICC Intercontinental Cup"

The tournament was played for the second time in 2005. The teams and groupings were the same, except that Hong Kong came in to replace Malaysia, and the Cayman Islands replaced USA following an internal power struggle. The points system was also modified so that teams could score unlimited batting points in the first innings and a maximum of 4 points in the second innings.

2006

"See also: 2006 ICC Intercontinental Cup"

The tournament was cut from 12 to eight teams, with Hong Kong, the Cayman Islands and Uganda losing the right to participate, while Namibia knocked out Nepal in a play off for the eighth place. The match length was extended from three to four days, and each team was scheduled to play at least three matches. The teams were divided into two groups of four, with each team playing the other once and the top two teams qualifying for the final, and the points system has also been changed: 14 points are now awarded for a win, and six for a first-innings lead. Due to preparations for the 2007 World Cup and the longer tournament, the final was played in May 2007, where Ireland defeated Canada to defend their title.

2007–08

"See also: 2007-08 ICC Intercontinental Cup"

The ICC have announced that the 2007–08 tournament as a single round robin league, so that each team gets seven matches. [ [http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/icccont/content/story/292562.html New-look Intercontinental Cup schedule unveiled] ]

Team Records

Eight teams have participated in all three editions of the ICC Intercontinental Cup. The first three editions were dominated by Ireland who won the tournament twice and also six of their ten matches.

The 2006 challenge match is not included. Updated after the last match in 2007.

"Key:" TP/TW=Tournaments participated/won, M=Matches played, W/L/D=wins/losses/draws, Win%=percentage of games won, a draw counts as half of a win.

References

External links

* [http://www.icc-cricket.com/icc/events/intercontinental/ ICC Official site]
* [http://www.icc-cricket.com/icc-development/content/story/235165.html ICC Intercontinental Cup 2006 schedule announced]
* [http://www.icc-cricket.com/icc-iccic/content/story/242574.html Kenya and the Netherlands open ICC Intercontinental Cup 2006 group stages in Nairobi on Wednesday]