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Sports Reporter
THE International Cricket Council (ICC) has selected Zimbabwe to host the Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2023 as part of a rescheduled new look calendar after Covid-19 forced the postponement of all series this year.
The qualifying tournament is scheduled to run from June 18 to July 9, 2023 and will feature 10 teams to decide the last two participants for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in India that same year.
The bottom five sides from the 13-team ICC Cricket World Cup Super League, excluding India, and the top three teams from the World Cup League Two as well as the top two teams from the World Cup Qualifier play-off, will participate in the World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe.
The top seven Super League teams will qualify automatically for the pinnacle event.
All matches in the qualifier tournament will have one-day international status.
Zimbabwe successfully hosted the 2018 edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier in Harare, Bulawayo and Kwekwe.
The Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 ODIs will return on March 19, 2021, when Oman host USA and Nepal in the sixth series of League 2.
Six ODIs will be played in the series with Oman currently sitting top of the table on 16 points with the United States four points behind in the standings.
There will be 96 ODIs played across the 14 series that are scheduled to be played in 2021 and 2022 respectively and the remaining two in early 2023.
The Men’s CWC Challenge League A will return between August 15 and 28, 2021, when Canada host Denmark, Malaysia, Qatar, Singapore and Vanuatu and 15 matches will be played in the second of the three Challenge League A events.
Canada lead Singapore on net-run-rate with both teams on eight points in the standings.
Challenge League B will return between September 1 and 14, 2021, with Jersey hosting Bermuda, Hong Kong, Italy, Kenya and Uganda competing in 15 matches.
Uganda sit top of the standings with 10 points followed by Hong Kong with seven.
The final Challenge League B event has been scheduled for February 2022 and League A for September 2022, with 60 List-A matches due to be played.
After the 21 tri-series in League 2 have been completed, the top three teams will confirm their place in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2023.
The bottom four teams will drop into the Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier play-off 2023, which is a repechage event to the global qualifier, and will be joined by the winner of Challenge League A and League B.
The top two teams from the play-off, which has also been rescheduled to 2023, will keep their hopes of participating in India 2023 alive by qualifying for the Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2023.
The two leagues will run simultaneously with the Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League, which started in July 2020.
ICC head of events Chris Tetley said: “When we rescheduled the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 to October and November 2023, it enabled us to extend the window for qualification events to take place and thereby ensure we maximise the opportunity for qualification to be decided on the field of play.
“We have worked very closely with members and stakeholders to reschedule 96 ODIs and 60 List-A matches and will continue to maintain the safety of participants in our events as our highest priority.”
Online Reporter