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Winning the ICC trophy ‘saved’ Bangladesh cricket

The 10th edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier, will be played in New Zealand from 13 January to 1 February, and stars who have featured in past editions of the ICC CWCQ have hailed it as one of the most significant opportunities for emerging cricket nations.

Ten leading Associate and Affiliate sides — Canada, Hong Kong, Kenya, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Scotland, the UAE and Uganda — will take part in the CWCQ NZ 2014, and the finalists will join the 10 Full Members as well as Afghanistan and Ireland in the ICC Cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, which will be played from 14 February to 29 March 2015.

Earlier known as the ICC Trophy and renamed in 2009, the ICC CWCQ has served as a stepping stone for emerging stars of the game, as well as offering a ticket to cricket’s most prestigious event, the ICC Cricket World Cup (CWC).

Khaled Mashud, who famously hit a six to level the scores for Bangladesh in the final of the ICC Trophy 1997 against Kenya in Kuala Lumpur, said: “An ICC Cricket World Cup qualification can revolutionise cricket in a country. I can testify to that. The ICC Trophy 1997 success changed the general perception in Bangladesh of cricket as an amateur game.

“If we had failed in 1997, the excitement and buzz and the professional structure that you see around Bangladesh cricket today may never have materialised.”

Mashud’s skipper in that event, Akram Khan, said: “Football was the undisputed number one sport in the country and cricket’s lack of international success meant the game’s standing faced a struggle for survival. It was a collective frustration that was being felt by the country’s cricket fraternity.

“Against this backdrop, the 1997 event arrived and the ICC’s brilliant decision to award three spots from associate countries made us believe that we had a genuine chance to progress. Doing so changed the face of cricket in Bangladesh.”

Aminul Islam, the top-scorer for Bangladesh in that 1997 final, added: “It will be no exaggeration to say that we had reached a situation where there was the prospect of cricket dying in Bangladesh if we hadn’t qualified. So our ICC Trophy 1997 success came as a breath of fresh air.” Years before Bangladesh, Zimbabwe had found the ICC Trophy to be a huge springboard for emerging nations.

Former Zimbabwe right-arm fast-medium bowler Eddo Brandes, who was the highest wicket-taker at the 1990 edition in the Netherlands with 18 scalps from eight matches, said: “Our making history by winning three consecutive ICC Trophy tournaments was perhaps the most significant, major milestone in our journey towards eventually gaining Test status in 1992.