MUSCAT, may 11 - Oman will be taking part in an international tri-series involving hosts Scotland and PNG as part of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 in August. The International Cricket Council announced on Saturday the first eight series of the League 2 whose top three sides will qualify for the ICC CWC Qualifier 2022 on the road to ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 in India. The League 2 comprises seven countries and will provide more competitive cricket to Oman, Namibia, Nepal, PNG, Scotland, UAE and USA with each side playing a total of 36 One-Day Internationals (ODI) over the next 30 months.
According to the ICC, the League 2 will see 126 ODIs played across 21 tri-series with the first taking place in Scotland between August 14 and 21 in Aberdeen. Oman will then host the next tri-series involving Namibia and UAE from January 6 to 13 before leaving for Nepal to take part in another three-nation competition that also has USA as the third team. “The opportunities that have come out of qualifying for League 2 are huge. We hope to meet the expectations of ICC in terms of performance we put in and in terms of our preparations. For the next 30 months, we will make ODI status something that everyone will be happy about and to see Oman perform at the highest level,” ICC quoted Pankaj Khimji, Oman Cricket Board Member, as saying.
Oman’s next competition will be against UAE and Namibia in December 2020 though ICC has yet to announce the venue of all the tri-series in 2021 and 2022. The next series will see Oman taking on USA and Nepal followed by a three-nation tournament involving PNG, Oman and Scotland. The Sultanate’s Red Brigade will play two more tri-series in August 2021 before taking part in its final three-nation tournament in January 2022.
Shahzad Raza
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