The Cricket World Cup Qualifier will determine the final two spots at the 2023 Cricket World Cup, held in India in October and November.
All the team news ahead of the 18 June start.
Ireland
Narrowly missing an automatic Cricket World Cup spot, Ireland come to the Qualifier boasting one of the strongest groups on paper.
The side claimed six wins against five different opponents (including success against World Champions England), while Harry Tector has just been announced as ICC Men’s Player of the Month for May.
It appears the experiment of Andy McBrine at the top of the order will continue, with George Dockrell, also moving up the order, set to play a bigger part on the bat. PJ Moor meanwhile has been instructed to bat at No.5 in Inter-Pro cricket to simulate scenarios for the upcoming tournament.
From the outside it looks like Simi Singh is not currently in Ireland’s international plans, though was also nursing a hand injury in the tournament lead-in.
Squad: Andrew Balbirnie (c), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Graham Hume, Josh Little, Andy McBrine, Barry McCarthy, PJ Moor, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Ben White, Craig Young.
Nepal
There was little surprise in Nepal’s squad, sticking to the group of 14 that won the ACC Premier Cup, before adding backup ‘keeper Arjun Saud and young quick Kishor Mahato.
The group is arguably the strongest squad Nepal has ever put out for Cricket World Cup Qualifier, and could make a press for the Super Six stages providing their batting translates in Zimbabwe.
Squad: Rohit Paudel (c), Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh, Gyanendra Malla, Kushal Malla, Aarif Sheikh, Dipendra Singh Airee, Gulsan Jha, Sompal Kami, Karan KC, Sandeep Lamichhane, Bhim Sharki, Lalit Rajbanshi, Pratish GC, Arjun Saud, Kishor Mahato
Netherlands
The Dutch announced their squad on just minutes after the official schedule release of the tournament by the ICC.
As many speculated, a host of players plying their trade in County cricket were unavailable for the tournament, with the exception of Bas de Leede, who turns out for Ryan Campbell’s Durham.
Wicket-keeper/batter Noah Croes is a new face in the squad, and backs up skipper Scott Edwards in the group. Similarly to Edwards, 23-year-old Croes also turns out in Melbourne first-grade cricket.
Croes’ Voorburg teammate Michael Levitt also makes the squad following a strong start to the local Topklasse season.
Squad: Scott Edwards (c), Max O’Dowd, Logan van Beek, Vikram Singh, Aryan Dutt, Viv Kingma, Bas de Leede, Noah Croes, Ryan Klein, Teja Nidamanuru, Wesley Barresi, Shariz Ahmad, Clayton Floyd, Michael Levitt, Saqib Zulfiqar.
Oman
There was little surprise in Oman’s squad, keeping to a similar group of players from League 2 and other recent white-ball events.
The side’s average age is well over 30, and even a newer face of Samay Shrivastav turns out at 32. Rafiullah features as a 26-year-old, while there is little news from the omission of leg-spinning all-rounder Khawar Ali.
Oman: Zeeshan Maqsood (c), Aqib Ilyas (vc), Jatinder Singh, Kashyap Prajapati, Shoaib Khan, Mohammed Nadeem, Sandeep Goud, Ayaan Khan, Suraj Kumar, Adeel Shafique, Naseem Khushi, Bilal Khan, Kaleemullah, Fayyaz Butt, Jay Odedra, Samay Shrivastav, Rafiullah
Scotland
League 2 champions Scotland feel a similar effect to the Dutch from the standpoint of County commitments, losing the services of Josh Davey, Michael Jones and Brad Wheal. Crucially, Mark Watt is available despite the UK commitments.
It’s been a tricky start to the campaign, losing heavily to both Zimbabwe and Scotland in warm-up action.
Squad: Richie Berrington (c), Matthew Cross, Alasdair Evans, Chris Greaves, Jack Jarvis, Michael Leask, Tom Mackintosh, Chris McBride, Brandon McMullen, George Munsey, Adrian Neill, Safyaan Sharif, Chris Sole, Hamza Tahir, Mark Watt
Sri Lanka
It’s alien territory for Sri Lanka to go via the Qualifier, with the biggest unanswered questions of the team surrounding their ability to perform in pressure situations. The side did falter with a defeat in the First Round of the T20 World Cup, though have the side to go through this competition on the 50-over side almost unchallenged.
Matheesha Pathirana and his all-too-familiar bowling action mimicking Lasith Malinga will be a handful, and they have brought in red-ball specialist Dimuth Karunaratne to shore the batting.
Squad: Dasun Shanaka (c), Kusal Mendis (vc & wk), Dimuth Karunaratne, Pathum Nissanka, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Sadeera Samarawickrama (wk), Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Dushmantha Chameera, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara, Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana, Dushan Hemantha
UAE
UAE were the last to name their official squad, waiting to play out their three-match ODI series with the West Indies at home.
The side have the young talent stepping up and performing, with Ali Naseer the latest to perform, though questions remain of the side still recovering from largely unforced changes from playing perspective.
Squad: Mohammad Waseem (c), Ethan D’Souza, Ali Naseer, Vriitya Aravind, Rameez Shahzad, Jawadullah, Asif Khan, Rohan Mustafa, Aayan Khan, Junaid Siddique, Zahoor Khan, Sanchit Sharma, Aryansh Sharma, Karthik Meiyappan, Basil Hameed
USA
The Americans will be missing Ali Khan for the first two matches of the tournament, a situation that could have been avoided by their governing body not organising a lead-in ODI series.
It means their spearhead is missing matches against the West Indies and Nepal, where two defeats could consign them to an early exit.
Runs are vital in the USA campaign, and the emergence of Sai Mukkamalla to a solid batting line-up could keep them afloat.
Squad: Monank Patel (c), Aaron Jones (vc), Abhishek Paradkar, Ali Khan, Gajanand Singh, Jasdeep Singh, Kyle Philip, Nisarg Patel, Nosthush Kenjige, Saiteja Mukkamalla, Saurabh Netravalkar, Shayan Jahangir, Steven Taylor, Sushant Modani, Usman Rafiq
West Indies
Qualification is the minimum goal for this team that faltered in Super League, and the side welcome a new coach in Daren Sammy, largely off the back of the disaster of the T20 World Cup last year.
The appointment is a bigger news story than the make-up of the playing squad, with Shimron Hetmyer’s absence a point also worth acknowledging.
Shai Hope’s batting and captaincy will be the foundation of the campaign, while Keemo Paul has been thrown a lifeline to help the side on both sides.
Squad: Shai Hope (c), Rovman Powell (vc), Shamarh Brooks, Yannic Cariah, Keacy Carty, Roston Chase, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Gudakesh Motie, Keemo Paul, Nicholas Pooran, Romario Shepherd
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe should be quietly confident on qualifying, and the team are enjoying a period of relative stability, where for too long events off the field affected the form on.
Joylord Gumbie earned a spot in the group off the back of a strong series against the Pakistan touring side in the build-up, while Clive Madande has seemingly snapped up keeping rights off Regis Chakabva.
From No.1 to No.11 the team have match-winners, and the side boast Super League victories over Australia, Pakistan, Ireland, Sri Lanka and the Netherlands.
Squad: Ryan Burl, Tendai Chatara, Craig Ervine, Bradley Evans, Joylord Gumbie, Luke Jongwe, Innocent Kaia, Clive Madande, Wessly Madhevere, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Wellington Masakadza, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava, Sikandar Raza, Sean Williams.
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