Botswana to host cricket World Cup qualifiers

NELSON DIRENG
Correspondent | Tuesday June 15, 2010 00:00

 

The Botswana Cricket Association (BCA) fixtures and publicity secretary, Sumod Damodar said Botswana beat Japan for the right to host the qualifiers. Botswana, Japan, Nigeria, Norway and two other countries came through from Division Eight to participate in the qualifiers. Teams from Division Eight, namely the Bahamas, Gibraltar, Zambia, Vanuatu, Suriname and Bhutan will participate in a qualifier to be held in Kuwait to determine the two nations that join Division Seven for the qualifiers in Botswana.

The top two teams from the Six Nations tournament will automatically qualify for the 2015 International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup. Damodar said it is an honour for Botswana to host such a prestigious tournament. He added that it was a tough race for Botswana to win the hosting rights as they were up against Japan, which has better facilities. 'I was overwhelmed when I received a phone call from the ICC last week confirming that we will host the tournament,' he said. Damodar stated that the ICC officials inspected Botswana's facilities early this year and were impressed by the newly-built Lobatse Stadium, the BCA Oval and the peace and stability in the country.

The tournament will take place on a date to be decided in March or May 2011, just after the 2011 ICC World Cup in India next February. None of the countries in Botswana's pool have ever qualified for the World Cup. Damodar said this will be a chance for two countries to make history. He is confident that Botswana will use home ground advantage and qualify for the World Cup. Botswana has dominated a mini-World Cup tournament which it has consistently organised over the years.