ICC confirm match officials and squads for the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier

(Web Desk) - The International Cricket Council today announced the match officials for next month’s ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier and also confirmed eight of the 10 squads to take part in the tournament, which will be played across four Zimbabwe venues from 4 to 25 March.

Dev Govindjee, Graeme La Brooy, David Jukes and Shaid Wadvalla from the International Panel will be the referees, while the umpiring responsibilities will be shared between Ahsan Raza, Gregory Brathwaite, Christopher Brown, Simon Fry, Shaun George, Michael Gough, Adrian Holdstock, Langton Rusere, Chettithody Shamshuddin, Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid, Joel Wilson and Paul Wilson, all from the International Panel.

Meanwhile, the ICC have also confirmed eight of the 10 squads, which will feature in the three-week tournament. Two more sides will be confirmed following the ICC World Cricket League Division 2, which culminates in Namibia on 15 February.

The eight confirmed sides have relied heavily on their experience and star cricketers in their quest to qualify for the 25 March final, which, in turn, will also earn them tickets for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 to be held from 30 May to 15 July in England and Wales.

Hong Kong, along with Papua New Guinea, will be the least experienced side in the tournament with a total of 131 ODI caps

Afghanistan have retained eight players from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, namely: Asghar Stanikzai, Dawlat Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, Javed Ahmadi, Najibullah Zadran, Samiullah Shinwari and Shahpoor Zadran.

Mujeeb Zadran, the 17-year-old off-spinner, has been included in Afghanistan s squad

Afghanistan, who until 2008 were playing in the ICC World Cricket League Division 5, had a collective experience of 571 ODIs in their ranks before the start of their series against Zimbabwe.

Hong Kong have named four 20-year-olds – Tanveer Ahmed, Chris Carter, Anshuman Rath and Shahid Wasif – in the squad which will be captained by Babar Hayat. Hayat was his side’s second most successful batsman in the 50-over ICC World Cricket League Championship after Rath with 543 runs. With 721 runs in the four-day ICC Intercontinental Cup, Hayat was easily the highest run-getter for his side.

Ireland have retained 10 players from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 campaign

Ireland have retained 10 players from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 campaign. These are: William Porterfield, Ed Joyce, Kevin O’Brien, Niall O’Brien, Andrew Balbirnie, George Dockrell, Boyd Rankin, Paul Stirling, Gary Wilson and Andrew McBrine.
ICC CWCQ - Netherlands captain Peter Borren on his team s chances
The Netherlands will be captained by Peter Borren, who played in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup for New Zealand in 2002. The 34-year-old has represented the Netherlands in 58 ODIs and 43 T20Is since 2006.
The Netherlands have a combined experience of 191 ODIs in their side.

The Netherlands have a combined experience of 191 ODIs in their side

Papua New Guinea, who along with the Netherlands have featured in all the qualifying events since 1979, will rely on 25-year-old left-hander Sese Bau who scored 446 runs at an average of just over 37 in the 50-over ICC World Cricket League Championship.
For their title defence, Scotland have retained Kyle Coetzer, Richie Berrington, Matthew Cross, Ali Evans, Michael Leask and Calum MacLeod from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 side.

Scotland have a total experience of 333 ODIs – more than Hong Kong (131), the Netherlands (191) and PNG (127).

Zimbabwe will rely heavily on Brendan Taylor, who produced centuries in his last two innings at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015

Hosts Zimbabwe will rely heavily on Brendan Taylor, who produced centuries in his last two innings at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 – 121 v Ireland and 138 v India. Taylor and Kyle Jarvis had returned to national duty in October 2017 after having given up international cricket to pursuecareers in English county cricket.

Zimbabwe had a combined experience of 842 ODIs prior to the start of their series against Afghanistan. By the time the series ends on 19 January in Sharjah, Zimbabwe will become the most experienced side in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018 with nearly 900 ODI caps.

MATCH REFEREES: Dev Govindjee, Graeme La Brooy, David Jukes and Shaid Wadvalla

UMPIRES: Ahsan Raza, Gregory Brathwaite, Chris Brown, Simon Fry, Shaun George, Michael Gough, Nitin Menon, Langton Rusere, Chettihody Shamshuddin, Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid, Joel Wilson and Paul Wilson.

UMPIRE COACHES: Denis Burns and Karl Hurter

AFGHANISTAN (total ODI caps – 571, before the start of series v Zimbabwe): Asghar Stanikzai (captain), Dawlat Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Ihsanullah Janat, Mohammad Nabi, Mohammad Shahzad, Nasir Jamal, Javed Ahmadi, Mujeeb Rahman, Najibullah Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Rashid Khan, Samiullah Shinwari, Shahpoor Zadran and Sharafuddin Ashraf. Phil Simmons (coach)

HONG KONG (total ODI caps – 131): Babar Hayat (captain), Ahsan Abbasi, Nadeem Ahmed, Tanveer Ahmed, Tanwir Afzal, Waqas Barkat, Chris Carter, Aizaz Khan, Ehsan Khan, Ehsan Nawaz, Nizakat Khan, Scott McKechnie, Anshuman Rath, Simandeep Singh and Shahid Wasif. Simon Cook (coach)

IRELAND (total ODI caps – 851): William Porterfield (captain), Andrew Balbirnie, Peter Chase, George Dockrell, Ed Joyce, Andrew McBrine, Barry McCarthy, Tim Murtagh, Kevin O Brien, Niall O Brien, Boyd Rankin, James Shannon, Simi Singh, Paul Stirling and Gary Wilson

THE NETHERLANDS (total ODI caps – 191): Peter Borren (captain), Wesley Barresi, Ben Cooper, Scott Edwards, Vivian Kingma, Frederick Klaassen, Stephan Myburgh, Maxwell O Dowd, Pieter Seelaar, Shane Snater, Ryan ten Doeschate, Timm van der Gugten, Roelof van der Merwe, Paul van Meekeren and Sikander Zulfiqar. Ryan Campbell (coach)

PAPUA NEW GUINEA (total ODI caps – 127): Assadollah Vala (captain), Charles Amini, Sese Bau, Mahuru Dai, Kiplin Doriga, Jason Kila, Vani Morea, Alei Nao, Damien Ravu, John Reva, Lega Siaka, Chad Soper, Tony Ura, Norman Vanua and Jack Vare. Joe Dawes (coach)

SCOTLAND (total ODI caps – 333): Kyle Coetzer (captain), Richie Berrington, Matthew Cross, Ali Evans, Michael Jones, Michael Leask, Calum MacLeod, George Munsey, Safyaan Sharif, Chris Sole, Tom Sole, Craig Wallace, Mark Watt, Brad Wheal and Stuart Whittingham. Grant Bradburn (coach)

THE WINDIES (total ODI caps – 831): Jason Holder (captain), Devendra Bishoo, Carlos Brathwaite, Sheldon Cottrell, Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope, Evin Lewis, Nikita Miller, Jason Mohammed, Ashley Nurse, Rovman Powell, Kemar Roach, Marlon Samuels and Kesrick Williams. Stuart Law (coach)

ZIMBABWE (total ODI caps - 842, before the start of series v Afghanistan): Graeme Cremer (captain), Ryan Burl, Tendai Chatara, Tendai Chisoro, Craig Ervine, Kyle Jarvis, Hamilton Masakadza, Solomon Mire, Peter Moor, Tarisai Musakanda, Blessing Muzarabani, Sikandar Raza, Brendan Taylor, Brian Vitori, Malcolm Waller. Heath Streak (coach)

Teams can make changes to their squads without needing an ICC approval until 25 February. All player replacement requests from 25 February onwards will require the approval of the Event Technical Committee.