Scotland and Holland begin ICC Intercontinental Cup campaign in Aberdeen

ICC Media Release

June 10, 2004

The European leg of the ICC Intercontinental Cup gets underway in Scotland tomorrow (Friday 11 July) with the host nation taking on Holland in a three-day match at Aberdeen - first-class cricket's most northern venue.

Friday's ICC Intercontinental Cup is the first fixture between the sides in the extended version of the game, a match which holds first-class status for the ICC Associate Member countries.

The sides' most recent encounter was a limited-overs match in the ICC Six Nations Challenge in March 2004, which saw Holland prevail by 35 runs.

The ICC Intercontinental Cup is a new 12-match tournament for ICC Associate Members that is being played across four continents between March and November this year.

It is the first time a first-class competition has been staged for countries below Test match level.

The top-ranked team from the matches played in each of the four regions (Asia, Africa, Europe and America) progress to the semi-finals and finals in the UAE in November.

Scotland captain Craig Wright said the chance for teams to play three-day matches was a great opportunity for players to develop and enhance their skills in the longer form of the game.

"The ICC Intercontinental Cup provides an opportunity for us to play the extended version of the game for our country," said Wright.

"The team is really looking forward to employing the different skills that are required in this format of the game.

"The tournament also gives us an opportunity if we perform well to further strengthen our status as one of the ICC's top Associate Member countries."

Scotland and Holland have both named squads boasting players with first-class experience. The teams are:

Scotland: Craig Wright (captain), Cedric English, Gordon Goudie, Majid Haq, Paul Hoffmann, Steve Knox, Bruce Patterson, Colin Smith, Ian Stanger, Ryan Watson, Fraser Watts, Greig Williamson.

Holland: Luuk van Troost (captain), Jeroen Smits (vice-captain, wicket-keeper), Dean van Bunge, Jacob-Jan Esmeijer, Sebastiaan Gokke, Tom de Grooth, Henk Jan Mol, Maurits van Nierop, Adeel Raja, Edgar Schiferli, Chris Smith, Bas Zuiderent.

The ICC Intercontinental Cup features innovative playing conditions including a points system specifically created for the event.

Teams receive 14 points for a win plus any bonus points accumulated, while teams that draw or lose a match receive only their bonus points. Only in the event of a tie will teams pick up seven additional points.

Bonus points can be accumulated in both innings with a maximum of six batting points per innings awarded on the basis of 0.5 points for every 25 runs scored up to 300 runs. A maximum of five bowling points are available per innings allocated at 0.5 points per wicket taken.

To encourage teams to play for a result, the first innings of each side is restricted to 90 overs unless the team batting first does not use its 90 overs in which case the team batting second can bat for its 90 overs plus the overs short of 90 not used by the team batting first.

A minimum of 105 overs must be bowled on the opening two days of the match.

Four matches have been completed to date in the ICC Intercontinental Cup.

Nepal leads the Asia region points table with a total of 42, having drawn its match against the UAE in March, (UAE 18 points, Nepal 14) and then beating Malaysia by nine wickets in April (Nepal 27.5 points, Malaysia 9.5 points).

Uganda (32 points) leads the African regional table after defeating Namibia (16 points) by five wickets in its match at Windhoek, while Canada (30.5 points) heads the Americas table after accounting for the United States of America (15.5) by 104 runs in Florida last month.

The ICC Intercontinental Cup is part of the High Performance arm of the ICC's Development Program launched in 1997 to develop cricket as a global sport.

Since its inception, the ICC Development Program has helped the number of ICC Members increase by over 40 in the past seven years. The ICC now has 89 member countries; 10 Full, 27 Associate and 52 Affiliate Members.

The remaining schedule for the ICC Intercontinental Cup is:

Date             Match                    Venue
====             =====                    =====
11 to 13 June    Scotland v Holland       Scotland
13 to 15 July    Bermuda v USA            Bermuda
13 to 15 July    Holland v Ireland        Holland
23 to 25 July    Uganda v Kenya           Kampala
6 to 8 August    Ireland v Scotland       Ireland
13 to 15 August  Canada v Bermuda         Toronto, Canada
13 to 15 August  Malaysia v UAE           Kuala Lumpur
1 to 3 October   Kenya v Namibia          Nairobi
16-23 November   Semi-Finals and Finals   UAE

For more information on the ICC Intercontinental Cup, including scorecards, averages and points tables, visit the ICC's website at www.icc.cricket.org

© ICC

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