Scotland and the United Arab Emirates have qualified for next year’s Cricket World Cup. Both teams finished the round robin phase with eight points posting for wins and one loss.
Scotland have qualified for two previous World Cups in 1999 and 2007 while the UAE have appeared once in the 1996 edition.
Scotland defeated Kenya by three wickets in their final match with just three balls to spare. That loss means that not only do Kenya fail to qualify for the Finals but they will also lose their One Day International status. This will be a big blow to the East African nation. The UAE defeated Namibia by 36 runs to book its place its place in the finals.
This all happened on the same day that the BCCI in India’s secretary Sanjay Patel told Cricinfo that there could soon be an eleventh test playing nation. He advised that the lowest ranked nation will now play the winner of the Intercontinental Cup, played between the top 8 associate countries, and if the Associate country wins they will be allowed to play Test cricket for 3-4 years.
Suddenly the second tier of international cricket have a lot more to play for than just a place at the World Cup, and that has to be good for the game as a whole.
