The ICC World Cricket League (WCL) was a series of international one-day cricket tournaments for national teams without Test status (i.e., teams of Associate status) administered by the International Cricket Council. All Associate Members of the ICC were eligible to compete in the league system, which featured a promotion and relegation structure between divisions. The league system had two main aims: to provide a qualification system for the Cricket World Cup that could be accessed by all Associate Members and as an opportunity for these sides to play international one-day matches against teams of similar standards.

World Cricket League
Official logo
AdministratorInternational Cricket Council
FormatOne-Day International
List A
First edition2007
Latest edition2019
Tournament formatLeague system
Number of teams93 nations
Most runsJersey Peter Gough (2006)
Most wicketsNepal Basanta Regmi (118)
WebsiteICC World Cricket League

The league began in 2007, where teams were allocated into divisions based on their performance in the qualification tournaments for the 2007 World Cup; the six initial teams in Division One were the teams that had qualified for the 2007 World Cup. At this stage, there were only five divisions. The WCL expanded to eight divisions at one point.

Nepal national cricket team during 2013 ICC World Cricket League Division Three

The WCL was a pathway to the Cricket World Cup until 2019. Following the conclusion of the 2019 Division Two tournament, the WCL was replaced by the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 and the ICC Cricket World Cup Challenge League. The final rankings from the WCL were used to place teams into the two new leagues.[1][2]

Structure

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The initial league began in 2007 with seven tournaments over five global divisions, based upon previous world rankings.[3][4] This was expanded into eight separate divisions by 2010. In the first cycle, the number of teams in each tournament varied from six to twelve. With the advent of the second cycle, the number of teams was regularised to six for each tournament, with the exception of the lowest division, Division 8, in which eight teams played. As from 2015, the number of divisions was again reduced to just five.

When most of the divisions are played, two teams will be promoted, two relegated and two remain for the next instalment (normally two years later). At the end of each cycle, a World Cup Qualifier is played. In 2018, this featured the four lowest teams of those holding 'Full' (senior) status, together with six 'Associate' nations – namely the four who were still in Division One, plus the top two from Division Two. The two last-placed teams in that World Cup Qualifier lost their ODI status and were relegated into Division Two.

Regional tournaments, which act as qualifiers for the lowest division of the World League, are administered by the five development regions of the International Cricket Council: Africa, Americas, Asia, East Asia-Pacific, and Europe.[5][3]

Results

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Summary

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Cycle Pre-qualification for Divisions World Cup qualification tournament(s)
2007–09[6] 2011 Cricket World Cup 5 2009 Cricket World Cup Qualifier
2009–14[7] 2015 Cricket World Cup 8 2011–13 ICC World Cricket League Championship, 2014 Cricket World Cup Qualifier
2012–18[citation needed] 2019 Cricket World Cup 8 2018 Cricket World Cup Qualifier
2017–19[citation needed] League 2, Challenge League2023 Cricket World Cup 5 2023 Cricket World Cup Qualifier

Division results

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Details Host nation(s) Final venue Final
Winner Result Runner-up
2007–09 ICC World Cricket League – Pathway to the 2011 Cricket World Cup
2007
Division Three
  Australia Gardens Oval, Darwin   Uganda
241/8 (50 overs)
Uganda won by 91 runs
scorecard
  Argentina
150 all out (46.3 overs)
2007
Division Two
  Namibia Wanderers Cricket Ground, Windhoek   United Arab Emirates
347/8 (50 overs)
United Arab Emirates won by 67 runs
scorecard
  Oman
280 all out (43.2 overs)
2007
Division One
  Kenya Nairobi Gymkhana Club, Nairobi   Kenya
158/2 (37.5 overs)
Kenya won by 8 wickets
Scorecard
  Scotland
155 all out (47 overs)
2008
Division Five
  Jersey Grainville, St Saviour   Afghanistan
81/8 (37.4 overs)
Afghanistan won by 2 wickets
Scorecard
  Jersey
80 all out (39.5 overs)
2008
Division Four
  Tanzania Kinondoni Ground, Dar es Salaam   Afghanistan
179 all out (49.4 overs)
Afghanistan won by 57 runs
Scorecard
  Hong Kong
122 all out (45.0 overs)
2009
Division Three
  Argentina Belgrano Athletic Club, Buenos Aires   Afghanistan
8 points, +0.971(NRR)
League
Table Archived 24 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  Uganda
8 points, +0.768(NRR)
2009
WC Qualifier
  South Africa SuperSport Park, Centurion, Gauteng   Ireland
188/1 (42.3 overs)
Ireland won by 9 wickets
(scorecard)
  Canada
185 all out (48 overs)
2009–14 ICC World Cricket League – Pathway to the 2015 Cricket World Cup
2009
Division Seven
  Guernsey King George V Sports Ground, Castel   Bahrain
207/7 (46.1 overs)
Bahrain won by 3 wickets
(scorecard) Archived 22 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  Guernsey
204/9 (50.0 overs)
2009
Division Six
  Singapore Kallang Cricket Ground, Singapore   Singapore
242/8 (50.0 overs)
Singapore won by 68 runs
(scorecard) Archived 5 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  Bahrain
174 all out (48.4 overs)
2010
Division Five
    Nepal TU Cricket Ground, Kathmandu     Nepal
173/5 (46.5 overs)
Nepal won by 5 wickets
(Match report)
  United States
172 (47.2 overs)
2010
Division Four
  Italy Centro Sportivo Dozza, Pianoro   United States
188/2 (21.4 overs)
United States won by 8 wickets
(Match report)
  Italy
185/9 (50.0 overs)
2010
Division Eight
  Kuwait Kuwait Oil Company Hubara Ground, Ahmadi City   Kuwait
164/4 (33.1 overs)
Kuwait won by 6 wickets
(Match report)
  Germany
163/8 (50.0 overs)
2010
Division One
  Netherlands VRA Cricket Ground, Amstelveen   Ireland
233/4 (44.5 overs)
Ireland won by 6 wickets
(scorecard)
  Scotland
232 (44.5 overs)
2011
Division Seven
  Botswana Botswana Cricket Association Oval 1, Gaborone   Kuwait
219/9 (50 overs)
Kuwait won by 72 runs
(Match report)
  Nigeria
147 (36.5 overs)
2011
Division Six
  Malaysia Kinrara Academy Oval, Kuala Lumpur   Guernsey
211/8 (49.3 overs)
Guernsey won by 2 wickets
(Match report)
  Malaysia
208/9 (50 overs)
2011
Division Three
  Hong Kong Kowloon Cricket Club, Hong Kong   Hong Kong
207/6 (47.1 overs)
Hong Kong won by 4 wickets
(Match report)
  Papua New Guinea
202/9 (50 overs)
2011
Division Two
  UAE DSC Cricket Stadium, Dubai   United Arab Emirates
201/5 (45.3 overs)
United Arab Emirates won by 5 wickets
(Match report)
  Namibia
200 (49.3 overs)
2012
Division Five
  Singapore Kallang Ground, Singapore   Singapore
164/1 (26.4 overs)
Singapore won by 9 wickets
(Match report)
  Malaysia
159 (47 overs)
2012
Division Four
  Malaysia Kinrara Academy Oval, Kuala Lumpur     Nepal
147/2 (28 overs)
Nepal won by 8 wickets
(Match Report)
  United States
145 (48.1 overs)
2013
Division Three
  Bermuda National Stadium, Hamilton     Nepal
153/5 (39.2 overs)
Nepal won by 5 wickets
Scorecard
  Uganda
151/8 (50.0 overs)
2011–13
Championship
Various No final   Ireland
24 points
League
Table
  Afghanistan
19 points
2014
WC Qualifier
  New Zealand Bert Sutcliffe Oval, Lincoln   Scotland
285/5 (50 overs)
Scotland won by 41 runs
Scorecard

  United Arab Emirates
244/9 (50.0 overs)

2012–18 ICC World Cricket League – Pathway to the 2019 Cricket World Cup
2012
Division Eight
  Samoa Faleata Oval No 1, Apia   Vanuatu
222/9 (50 overs)
Vanuatu won by 39 runs
(Match report)
  Ghana
183 (42.5 overs)
2013
Division Seven
  Botswana Botswana Cricket Association Oval 1, Gaborone   Nigeria
134/4 (32.1 overs)
Nigeria won by 6 wickets
Scorecard
  Vanuatu
133 (38.4 overs)
2013
Division Six
  Jersey   Jersey Playoffs cancelled [1] Archived 12 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine   Nigeria
2014
Division Five
  Malaysia Kinrara Academy Oval, Kuala Lumpur   Jersey
247/8 (50 overs)
Jersey won by 71 runs
Scorecard
  Malaysia
176 (44.4 overs)
2014
Division Four
  Singapore Kallang, Singapore   Malaysia
235/7 (50 overs)
Malaysia won by 57 runs
Scorecard
  Singapore
178 (46.1 overs)
2014
Division Three
  Malaysia Kinrara Academy Oval, Kuala Lumpur     Nepal
223/10 (49.5 overs)
Nepal won by 62 runs
Scorecard
  Uganda
161 (44.1 overs)
2015
Division Two
  Namibia Wanderers Cricket Ground, Windhoek   Netherlands
213/2 (41 overs)
Netherlands won by 8 wickets
Scorecard
  Namibia
212 (49.2 overs)
2015
Division Six
  England County Cricket Ground, Chelmsford   Suriname
239/4 (45.1 overs)
Suriname won by 6 wickets
Scorecard
  Guernsey
237 (49.5 overs)
2016
Division Five
  Jersey Grainville Cricket Ground, Saint Savior   Jersey
194/7 (50 overs)
Jersey won by 44 runs
Scorecard
  Oman
150 (45.3 overs)
2016
Division Four
  United States Leo Magnus Cricket Complex, Los Angeles   United States
208 (49.4 overs)
United States won by 13 runs
Scorecard
  Oman
195/9 (50 overs)
2017
Division Three
  Uganda Entebbe Cricket Oval   Oman
50/2 (4.3 overs)
No result
Scorecard
(Oman declared winner by virtue of finishing league at top)
  Canada
176/3 (38 Overs)
2015–17
Championship
Various No final   Netherlands
22 points
League
Points Table
  Scotland
19 points
2018
Division Two
  Namibia Wanderers Cricket Ground, Windhoek   United Arab Emirates
277/4 (50 Overs)
United Arab Emirates won by 7 runs
Scorecard
    Nepal
270/8 (50 Overs)
2018
WC Qualifier
  Zimbabwe Harare Sports Club, Harare   Afghanistan
206/3 (40.4 overs)
Afghanistan won by 7 wickets
Scorecard
  West Indies
204 (46.5 overs)
2017–19 ICC World Cricket League – Pathway to the 2023 Cricket World Cup
2017
Division Five
  South Africa Willowmoore Park, Benoni   Jersey
255 (48 Overs)
Jersey won by 120 runs
Scorecard
  Vanuatu
135 (36.5 Overs)
2018
Division Four
  Malaysia No final   Uganda
8 points
League
Points Table
  Denmark
6 points
2018
Division Three
  Oman No final   Oman
10 points
League
Points Table
  United States
8 points
2019
Division Two
  Namibia Wanderers Cricket Ground, Windhoek   Namibia
226/7 (50 overs)
Namibia won by 145 runs
Scorecard
  Oman
81 (29 overs)

Associate one-day rankings

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In late 2005, the International Cricket Council ranked the top non-Test nations from 11–30 to complement the Test nations' rankings in the ICC ODI Championship. The ICC used the results from the 2005 ICC Trophy and WCQS Division 2 competition (i.e. the primary qualification mechanisms for the 2007 Cricket World Cup) to rank the nations.

These rankings were used to seed the initial stage of the global World Cricket League. Teams ranked 11–16 were placed into Division 1; teams 17–20 were placed into Division 2; teams 21–24 were placed into Division 3; the remaining teams were placed into the upper divisions of their respective regional qualifiers.

In 2005, six associates were assigned One Day International status, based on their performance at the preceding World Cup Qualifier. In 2017, Afghanistan and Ireland were both promoted to "Full" (test-match) status, leaving only four associate nations with ODI-status: after mid-March 2018 these were Scotland, Netherlands, UAE, and Nepal. Netherlands, as winners of the 2015–17 ICC World Cricket League Championship, have qualified for a place in the 2020–22 ICC Cricket World Cup Super League. In May 2009, the ICC added a rankings table for the associate and affiliate members containing both global and regional placings. In 2016 this changed to maintain a global list only for the top teams and a set of regional lists for the remaining teams.

Rankings

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The global rankings of associate teams according to ICC are published in the table below.[8][9] Teams that have One Day International status are now included on the main ICC ODI Championship and are listed in the order they appear on that table. The other teams are ranked by their finishing position in the most recent qualifying tournament.

The rankings at the end of the WCL (27 April 2019):[8]

Division[a] Rank Nation Region Regional rank
ODI Status 13   Scotland Europe 1
14     Nepal Asia 1
15   United Arab Emirates Asia 2
16   Netherlands Europe 2
17   Namibia Africa 1
18   Oman Asia 3
19   Papua New Guinea EAP 1
20   United States Americas 1
Division 2 21   Canada Americas 2
22   Hong Kong Asia 4
Division 3 23   Singapore Asia 5
24   Kenya Africa 2
25   Denmark Europe 3
26   Uganda Africa 3
Division 4 27   Malaysia Asia 6
28   Jersey Europe 4
29   Vanuatu EAP 2
30   Bermuda Americas 3
Division 5 31   Qatar Asia 7
32   Italy Europe 5
33   Germany Europe 6
34   Guernsey Europe 7
35   Ghana Africa 4
36   Cayman Islands Americas 4
  1. ^ Division means the league the team is either currently competing in or will next compete in

Regional rankings

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Teams that do not participate in (or have been relegated from) the World Cricket League are ranked by their finishing positions in their respective regional leagues:

** Not member of ICC, but member of Asian Cricket Council.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "New qualification pathway for ICC Men's Cricket World Cup approved". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
  2. ^ "Associates pathway to 2023 World Cup undergoes major revamp". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
  3. ^ a b "ICC World Cricket League – About the Event". ICC. Archived from the original on 2 June 2009. Retrieved 18 May 2009.
  4. ^ Lyall, Rob (10 September 2006). "Opportunities for Europe as WCL expands". CricketEurope. Archived from the original on 6 September 2008. Retrieved 18 May 2009.
  5. ^ "ICC World Cricket League Division 1–5 Structure for 2006–2009". ICC. Retrieved 18 May 2009.
  6. ^ "Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Structure for 2006-2009" (PDF). CricketEurope. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  7. ^ "Pepsi ICC World Cricket League – Structure for 2009 – 2013" (PDF). CricketEurope. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  8. ^ a b "Associate ODI Ranking Table". icc-cricket.com. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  9. ^ "ICC AM RANKINGS". ICC. 15 November 2016. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
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