ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier, UAE 2010

[Scaly piscine]

Shocking how Afghanistan can quality. The comparative difference between, for example, Ireland and Afghanistan is facilities is not even a fair question to ask.

But Ireland clearly the cream of the crop of the associate sides. I hope they gain full Test membership within the next five-ten years. There is no point in having these competitions if you never allow a side to get above the associate level.

I wonder what Ireland would think of hosting or touring the domestic champions of other countries. I'd love to see something like that to help them develop further - I think if you can be on an even keel with a really good domestic side, I reckon you're good enough to start playing Tests. Maybe Ireland can even play as one of the sides in something like the Duleep or Ranji Trophy. It'd be great to have the Indian Duleep winner, or the 'A' team visit Ireland for a full tour of 3-5 FC, 3-5 ODI and a couple T20 matches.

Obviously, I don't know much about the logistics and/or money issues, but that'd be awesome. It'd help everyone - expose young cricketers from the subcontinent to other conditions, and help Ireland develop.

Ireland turned down the chance to continue playing in English domestic cricket citing an overloaded schedule, so they've clearly a fair few things lined up.

Afghanistan cruising this thus far against Ireland's best available bowlers.

 

[silentstriker]

Ireland turned down the chance to continue playing in English domestic cricket citing an overloaded schedule, so they've clearly a fair few things lined up.

That's.....odd.

They gave up the prospect of 4 day matches for...?

I mean unless they were winning every match, that's the closest preparation to Test cricket they can get. And winning in there would send a strong message that they're ready to move up?

 

[Scaly piscine]

That's.....odd.

They gave up the prospect of 4 day matches for...?

I mean unless they were winning every match, that's the closest preparation to Test cricket they can get. And winning in there would send a strong message that they're ready to move up?

No it wasn't 4 day matches, it was limited overs stuff.

 

[Jungle Jumbo]

...and Afghanistan take the whole thing, what a story. The players must have been on such a high during the game knowing they'd done the hard work already.

 

[jeevan]

Was looking through the brief bios of the Afghan team. First thing that jumped out was one province, Nangarhar, contributing a lot of players. Also a surprise was that none of the players seems to be born in Pakistan (though many were born after the large-scale migration - would've thought that to be where Afghans picked up the game) or elsewhere. And only 2 of them played for any major Pakistani teams, and 2 for SL domestic clubs.

So this really seems to be a home-grown team - though it would still have been creditable even if some had picked up their game elsewhere.

 

[elmadrid]

Was looking through the brief bios of the Afghan team. First thing that jumped out was one province, Nangarhar, contributing a lot of players. Also a surprise was that none of the players seems to be born in Pakistan (though many were born after the large-scale migration - would've thought that to be where Afghans picked up the game) or elsewhere. And only 2 of them played for any major Pakistani teams, and 2 for SL domestic clubs.

So this really seems to be a home-grown team - though it would still have been creditable even if some had picked up their game elsewhere.

Noor Ali, our Leading run getter in the T20 qualification, he got 182, average of 36.40. Our leading run getter in Intercontinental cup(first class game) He has scored 396 runs in 6 innings including 2 centuries and 3 fiftees with average of 79.20 is one of those player who has never played in Pakistan.
Cricket Records | ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier, 2009/10 | Records | Most runs | Cricinfo.com
Cricket Records | ICC Intercontinental Cup, 2009/10 | Records | Most runs | Cricinfo.com

Its not a coincidence that majority of the players are from ningarhar - since the game is ver popular in that area of the country.

 

[jeevan]

Its not a coincidence that majority of the players are from ningarhar - since the game is ver popular in that area of the country.

Very impressive considering the province is ~ 1.4M people. The largest urban center, Jalalabad ~ 200K, isn't large by even Afghan standards of Kabul & Kandahar and would be a middling town (let alone city) in India. And this is before you consider the political travails & general impoverishment of the country - from which this province can't have been immune.
(Looked some of this up btw.)

Do you know the ethnic mix of the team, and more broadly, of interest in cricket. These are obviously Pashtuns, but is this something the Tajiks, Uzbeks, Hazaras etc can also break bread over?

 

[irfan]

Congrats to Afghanistan!!

Hopefully qualifying for the T20's will bring some joy to the Afghani people and serve as an inspiration to the next generation of youngsters who have grown up surrounded by war-borne atrocities

 

[laksh_01]

I voted the right candidates even before the tournament started!

 

[Uppercut]

That's.....odd.

They gave up the prospect of 4 day matches for...?

I mean unless they were winning every match, that's the closest preparation to Test cricket they can get. And winning in there would send a strong message that they're ready to move up?

It was just fifty overs stuff. And most of their best players (all of their quality home grown players) were playing for other counties.

 

[elmadrid]

Very impressive considering the province is ~ 1.4M people. The largest urban center, Jalalabad ~ 200K, isn't large by even Afghan standards of Kabul & Kandahar and would be a middling town (let alone city) in India. And this is before you consider the political travails & general impoverishment of the country - from which this province can't have been immune.
(Looked some of this up btw.)

Do you know the ethnic mix of the team, and more broadly, of interest in cricket. These are obviously Pashtuns, but is this something the Tajiks, Uzbeks, Hazaras etc can also break bread over?

Ofcource they can, there was an tajik in the team which played in division 4 and 3 but he is not good enough at this level. The under 19 team contained hazara and tajiks. Recently there was held a domestic tournament(25 overs game) were Tajik/hazarah dominated provinces participated - The tournament was held in Jalalabad and was won by Kandahar.

The President sent some officials to dubai to boost their morale before the important matches and they are promised new car and money to each member of the team - and now when they will be on tv in few month, cricket will become even more popular in our country.

 

[silentstriker]

It was just fifty overs stuff. And most of their best players (all of their quality home grown players) were playing for other counties.

Wonder if they'd refuse an entry into the county championship as a FC side...

 

[Uppercut]

Wonder if they'd refuse an entry into the county championship as a FC side...

Even if you could convince your county players to come back and turn Cricket Ireland into a professional county side, it's far too big a commitment. 64 days every summer where you can't play any international games. Would have ruled them out of the World T20 last year.

The ideal situation would be if touring international sides played FC games against Ireland in warm-up games.

 

[Kweek]

Even if you could convince your county players to come back and turn Cricket Ireland into a professional county side, it's far too big a commitment. 64 days every summer where you can't play any international games. Would have ruled them out of the World T20 last year.

The ideal situation would be if touring international sides played FC games against Ireland in warm-up games.

Yeah well...the last test country that visited Holland was in 2006....which is a farce imho.

 

[jeevan]

Ofcource they can, there was an tajik in the team which played in division 4 and 3 but he is not good enough at this level. The under 19 team contained hazara and tajiks. Recently there was held a domestic tournament(25 overs game) were Tajik/hazarah dominated provinces participated - The tournament was held in Jalalabad and was won by Kandahar.

The President sent some officials to dubai to boost their morale before the important matches and they are promised new car and money to each member of the team - and now when they will be on tv in few month, cricket will become even more popular in our country.

One last question, are there reasonable financial prospects for the national team and for some of the provincial teams? Even a regular job with the employer being a bit lenient probably goes a long way for the latter set. (That's pretty much how cricket was in India, till this influx of money this decade). This sort of economic stability is key in Afghanistan sustaining its momentum.

Someone like Robon Uthappa gets paid $750K for a few weeks of IPL work - it's probably enough to fund a full time team in Nangarhar for the whole year..

 

[elmadrid]

One last question, are there reasonable financial prospects for the national team and for some of the provincial teams? Even a regular job with the employer being a bit lenient probably goes a long way for the latter set. (That's pretty much how cricket was in India, till this influx of money this decade). This sort of economic stability is key in Afghanistan sustaining its momentum.

Someone like Robon Uthappa gets paid $750K for a few weeks of IPL work - it's probably enough to fund a full time team in Nangarhar for the whole year..

The players in the national team(Only some of them) are listed as A-Class player - and are paid 400 Dollers per month. The other B and C are paid less, don't know how much exactly.

The team is run by ICC money(They might get some good sponsors now when they will be on TV), The Afghan cricket board is also created, so they might also get financial help from the government now, especially after their lately achievement.

Don't know about provincial team financial situation.

Let me make one thing clear, if the Afghan player played for money, they would never ever made it sofar. They now they can't earn money from cricket, but are playing to make their country proud.

We get a small salary from the Board, it is more than many in Afghanistan so we do not complain but the Board could do more for the players and cricket.
I have no personal targets, when I do my best for Afghanistan then I am happy

This is a quote from our great allrounder Mohammad Nabi
AFGHAN STAR: MOHAMMAD NABI

 

[Uppercut]

England are getting killed