From Romford Recorder

Essex prepares to host ICC World League Division Six

The ICC World Cricket League Division Six competition will see eight teams locking horns in Essex, with Group B rivals Chris Palmer (Cayman Islands), Andrew Mansale (Vanuatu) and Raza Iqbal (Norway) prepared for competitive cricket.

During the seven-day tournament that commences on 7 September, the likes of Botswana, Fiji, Guernsey, Suriname, Cayman Islands, Norway, Saudi Arabia and Vanuatu will compete for the top two positions that will see promotion to Division Five and the start of the pathway to the 2019 World Cup which is to be held in England.

Cayman Islands’ captain Palmer is looking forward to playing on the international stage and said: “We can’t wait to play against the other nations from all around, seeing how they play and approach the game.

“We have been training for roughly three months, trying to simulate the conditions that we are going to come up against as best as possible. Like some of the other teams, adapting to the cooler temperatures is very important.”

Palmer is positive about the chances of Cayman Islands ahead of the tournament, adding: “Our ultimate goal is to be promoted to Division Five and we would like to do that by playing good cricket in the right spirit.”

Vanuatu have been preparing well for the tournament according to skipper Mansale, who said: “Our preparation began with a two-week camp in April, following that in July we competed in the Pacific Games which gave us some good match practice, we performed well and won the gold medal.”

The Vanuatu squad is looking forward to the tournament starting, with Mansale adding: “We are excited about the opportunity to represent Vanuatu with pride and passion and play some good entertaining cricket against teams from all over the world.

“We look forward to making new friends and continuing the success of Vanuatu Cricket.”

Norway skipper Iqbal will be leading the team in an ICC World Cricket League event for the first time and said: “It will be the first time a lot of the team are participating in a tournament like this, so we are preparing as best we can. I am hoping we can be very competitive and perform to the highest level.”

The opening day of the tournament will see Cayman Islands take on Vanuatu at Frinton and Norway lock horns with Saudi Arabia at Coggeshall.

The tournament schedule is:

7 September – Suriname v Botswana (Kelvedon), Guernsey v Fiji (Colchester), Cayman Islands v Vanuatu (Frinton), Norway v Saudi Arabia (Coggeshall)

8 September – Cayman Islands v Saudi Arabia (Kelvedon), Vanuatu v Norway (West Mersea), Fiji v Suriname (Colchester), Guernsey v Botswana (Frinton)

10 September – Fiji v Botswana (Coggeshall), Guernsey v Suriname (Halstead), Cayman Islands v Norway (Kelvedon), Vanuatu v Saudi Arabia (Colchester)

11 September – A3rd v B4th (Kelvedon), B3rd v A4th (Maldon), A1st v B2nd (Frinton), B1st v A2nd (Coggeshall)

13 September – Final (County Ground, Chelmsford), 3rd v 4th Play off (Colchester), 5th v 6th Play off (Bishops Stortford 1), 7th v 8th Play off (Bishops Stortford 2).

All matches are scheduled to start at 1030 local time.

IMAGE: Conroy Wright in action for the Cayman Islands