Guernsey’s James Nussbaumer: “It is a real honour to be able to represent your country at international level”
Fiji’s Josefa Rika: “We have had a good year in Cricket Fiji with a string of good performances and we just want to make sure we continue that form”
Botswana’s Karabo Motlhanka: “We are looking forward to playing competitive cricket in the famous 'English’ conditions”
Suriname’s Mohindra Boodram: “We hope to have a good tournament, gain a lot of experience and hopefully qualify for ICC WCL Division 5”
ICC World Cricket League (WCL) Division 6 will see eight teams locking horns in England, Guernsey’s James Nussbaumer, Fiji’s Josefa Rika, Botswana’s Karabo Motlhanka and Suriname’s Mohindra Boodram from Group A say their teams are excited for the tournament to begin.
During the seven-day tournament that commences on 7 September, Botswana, Fiji, Guernsey, Suriname, Cayman Islands, Norway, Saudi Arabia and Vanuatu will compete for the top two positions that will see promotion to ICC World Cricket League Division 5. ICC WCL Division 6 sees the start of the pathway to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 which is to be held in England.
Guernsey’s James Nussbaumer is excited for the tournament to begin: “It is a real honour to be able to represent your country at international level and we all thrive on the extra pressure and responsibility that this brings. The only expectation we have for ourselves is to win the tournament, we are expecting a competitive week and are very much looking forward to the challenge.”
The Guernsey squad have been preparing hard for the tournament, he continued: “We have been training solidly throughout the season and a lot of the national squad have been travelling to the UK to play in Premier League cricket in the Sussex and Hampshire leagues. Most recently we played Jersey in the Inter-Insular 50-over fixture, which we won. We have had good preparation and feel focused ahead of ICC WCL Division 6.”
Fiji skipper, Josefa Rika believes his team have a good chance of qualifying: “Our main aim is no doubt progressing on to the next stage as it is for every other team taking part. We believe if we play to our strengths and do the little things right we will put ourselves in a good position to achieve that.
“We have had a good year in Cricket Fiji with a string of good performances and we just want to make sure we continue that form, the players are looking forward to getting on to the pitch.”
Botswana, the only African team to be competing in the tournament, is looking forward to be playing in England, says captain Karabo Motlhanka. “We are looking forward to playing competitive cricket in the famous 'English’ conditions, most of the team haven’t been to England so everyone is very excited at the prospect.
“We have been training almost every day for the past few months and we've been playing preparation games at home against local teams as well as a visit from the Namibia 'A' side, most recently we have been playing preparation games in South Africa.”
Mohindra Boodram, Suriname’s captain is hopeful of a successful tournament: “The team has been preparing since July, this week all the squad will be at a training camp and we will be playing a preparation match against a team from Guyana. We hope to have a good tournament, gain a lot of experience and hopefully qualify for ICC WCL Division 5.
The opening day of the tournament will see Guernsey take on Fiji at Colchester and Suriname lock horns with Botswana at Kelvedon.
The tournament schedule is:
7 September – Suriname v Botswana (Kelvedon), Guernsey v Fiji (Colchester), Cayman Islands v Vanuatu (Frinton), Norway v Saudi Arabia (Coggeshall)
8 September – Cayman Islands v Saudi Arabia (Kelvedon), Vanuatu v Norway (West Mersea), Fiji v Suriname (Colchester), Guernsey v Botswana (Frinton)
9 September- Rest/ reserve day
10 September – Fiji v Botswana (Coggeshall), Guernsey v Suriname (Halstead), Cayman Islands v Norway (Kelvedon), Vanuatu v Saudi Arabia (Colchester)
11 September – A3rd v B4th (Kelvedon), B3rd v A4th (Maldon), A1st v B2nd (Frinton), B1st v A2nd (Coggeshall)
12 September- Rest/ reserve day
13 September – Final (County Ground, Chelmsford), 3rd v 4th Play off (Colchester), 5th v 6th Play off (Bishops Stortford 1), 7th v 8th Play off (Bishops Stortford 2)
All matches are scheduled to start at 1030 local time
Group A Squads
Botswana – Karabo Motlhanka (captain), Karabo Modise, Waseem Tajbhay, Thatayaone Tshose, Russel Withey, Rashaad Mosweu, Gaolape (John) Mokokwe, Sooraj Kollery, Inzimam Master, Nabil Master, Dhruv Maisura, James Moses, Aaamir Saiyed, Adithiya Rangaswamy
Guernsey– Jamie Nussbaumer (captain), Ben Ferbrache, David Hooper, Matthew Stokes, Tim Ravenscroft, Max Ellis, Jordon Martel, Jason Martin, Lucas Barker, Oliver Newey, James Wilkes-Green, Oliver Nightingale, Tom Nightingale, William Fazakerley
Fiji – Josefa Rika (captain), Jikoi Kida Vanualevu, Giles Smith, Rabici Lesuma, Metuisela Beitaki, Sekove Ravoka, Viliame Yabaki, Sakiusa Dokosobau, Karan Kumar, Imran Khan, Kunaal Kumar, Riyad Khan, Viliame Mana, Jone Wesele
Suriname – Mohindra Boodram (captain), Shazam Ramjohn, Vishwar Shaw, Gavin Singh, Banerd Benjemin Bailey, Yuvraj Paul Dayal, Vejai Hirlal, Mohan Balkaran, Khemraj Jaikaran, Sauid Ahmed Drepaul, Arun Kamesh Gokoel, Hemradj Akash Basropansingh , Muneshwar Chris Patandin, Wasim Akram Haslim
Group B Squads
Cayman Islands – Christopher Palmer (captain), Adrian Wright, Conroy Wright, Corey Cato, Darren Cato, Ramon Sealy, Omar Willis, Ryan Bovell, Alessandro Morris, Ian Rotsey, Neil Coley, Troy Taylor, Kervin Ebanks, Sacha DeAlwis
Norway – Raza Iqbal (captain), Safir Hayat, Vithyeswara Sarma, Amad Sheikh, Waqas Ahmed, Ibrahim Mughal, Rahul Raghunath Shinde, Prateesh Kumar Thangavadivel, Zeeshan S. Siddiqui, Arultheepan Kandasamy, Damon Crawford, Sheraz Khalid, Jawad Mir, Suhail Ifthikar
Saudi Arabia – Shoaib Ali (captain), Mohsin Shabbir Rajput, Abdul Waheed, Shahbaz Rasheed, Imran Azam, Kamran Hadi, Muhammad Waqas Ausaf, Arslan Mushtaq, Muhammad Mazhar Abbasi, Kashif Riaz, Muhammad Afzal, Muhammad Nadeem Javed, Ibrar Ul Haq, Sajid Saeed
Vanuatu - Andrew Mansale (captain), Trevor Langa, Jonathan Dunn, Simpson Hopeman Obed, Joshua Rasu, Wolford Kalworai, Patrick Matautaava, Jelany Chilia, Nalin Nipiko, Ronald Tari, Kenny Tari, Apolinaire Liplip Stephen, Callum Charles Blake, Niko Unavalu
Notes to Editors:
Tournament information
If you are interested in receiving information on the ICC World Cricket League Division 6, please contact Mary Godbeer on mary.godbeer@icc-europe.org.
For more information on the ICC World Cricket League (WCL), including daily match reports, points table, please visit www.icc-cricket.com.
Every match of ICC World Cricket League Division 6 will be live scored at www.icc-cricket.com
