About the participating team

Actually, as pre-tournaments assumption there are four teams USA, Nepal, Afghanistan and Jersey as strong contender for the semifinal spot.

In paper, frankly we have to say that USA is the strongest team, which is actually supposed to play in Division 3 but ICC relegated them to play at Div. 5 for other reason. They are full of expat players from the sub-continent, who has lots of experience in many difficult matches.

I think then it turns to Afghanistan who are playing very good cricket for some year, they have one or two quality batsmen and bowlers in same numbers. Once they have beaten MCC team, from England in India. Their some players are playing abroad regularly.

I don’t have any idea about Jersey but they are the home team and played some good games in European level.

And about NEPAL, it plays from its heart and spirit; obviously some players have talents but could deliver at the time when asked. Always fail to bat against strong opposition; it is always the bowling who gives them victories. They have some wonderful bowlers as far as I believe if given opportunity to play from any ODI teams, they can deliver there. Their association is also not so fully active for cricket, they don’t push to make any opportunity to cashed. They just lose to play against English team for practice prior to this tournament by visas problems. They make this type of mistake time to time, not learning from the past.

About Singapore, they are a good team but they always come after UAE, Nepal, and Afghan etc. in Asian region. They have also some good ex-pat players from the sub-continent.

But, sorry, I don’t have any idea about other team; it is always welcomed if anyone wants to share with us.

I got here something, thanks to www.cricketeurope.com

Group A

Germany

• The team secured its slot in ICC World Cricket League Division 5 after being
  ranked third in the European Championships Division 2.
• Keith Thompson took charge for the first time as national coach for the
  European Championships 2006.
• Since its one appearance in the ICC Trophy in 2001, Germany has not had a
  chance to play teams outside of Europe.
• Captain Graham Sommer is well-known for his excellent tactical awareness.

Mozambique

• Mozambique won the ICC WCL Africa Region Division 3 tournament at Benoni,
  South Africa in April 2006.They were placed third in the ICC WCL Africa Region
  Division Two tournament and thus qualified to play in the Division 5 tournament.
• Mozambique presently holds 37th position in ICC global ranking and 6th in
  ICC regional ranking.
• Skipper Muhammad Shoaib Younus is a charismatic middle order batsman and
  an attacking right arm seamer.
• Other instrumental players are vice captain Chandra S.C. Puspussen, Zainul
  Patel and Md. Sidat. Youngsters Giovanni Florentino and Imran Ikheriya will
  also have a vital role to play.

Nepal

• Roy Luke Dias has been working as the cricket coach of Nepalese Cricket Team
  under the ACC Development Program in Nepal for the last 6 years.
• Captain Binod Kumar Das is a right handed pace bowler and has led his side to
  victory in many international games. He took 15 wickets at an economical rate
  in the recently concluded Springwood National League Cricket Tournament.
• The current team has players who were also part of the ICC U/19 CricketWorld Cup
  2008 squad – Paras Khadka,Gyanendra Malla, Mahesh Chhetri and Amrit Bhattarai.
• All-rounder Basant Regmi was the Man of the Match in the Plate
  Championship Final of the ICC U/19 CWC 2006.

Norway

• Norway became an ICC Affiliate Member in June 2000.
• Since 2007, Norway has lost only four international games out of 47 games
  played. Only two games were played at their home ground.
• Captain of the squad is all-rounder Shahid Ahmad. He was the highest scorer
  and player of the National Cricket League last year.
• Players to watch out for include Muhammad Zeeshan Ali, Zaheer Ashiq, Shahid
  Ahmad and Muhammad Waseem Gill.

USA

• The USA has spent almost two years out of the international game since the
  Americas Championship in 2006, having previously played in the ICC
  Champions Trophy 2004 in England.
• Captain Steve Massiah represented Guyana at cricket in regional tournaments
  at the U/19 level in the Caribbean. In the ICC World Cricket League Americas
  Region Division 1 in 2006, he scored a century against Cayman Islands and 81
  against Bermuda.
• Right handed batsman Sushil Nadkarni scored 171 on the first day of the 2005
  Inter-state tournament and followed up the next day with 214, winning the
  Most Valuable Player award. He made his debut for the USA in 2006 scoring a
  century against Cayman Islands and 83 against Bermuda in the ICC World
  Cricket League ICC Americas Region Championship in Toronto, Canada.

Vanuatu

• Vanuatu qualified for ICC WCL Division 5 by finishing second in the round robin
  section of the East Asia Pacific Trophy tournament in Auckland in December 2007.
• Captain Patrick Haines has led the bowling attack for Vanuatu for over 10 years.
• The Vanuatu junior development program is highly regarded and has won a
  number of regional awards. Every player in the squad is a homegrown local player.
• The team for this tournament has six members of the U/19 team that finished
  runners’up to Papua New Guinea in the U/19 World Cup Regional Qualifiers in 2007.

Group B

Afghanistan

• Afghanistan finished third in the ACC Trophy 2006.
• The team is currently the joint ACC Twenty20 Champions along with Oman,
  after a dramatic tied final in 2007.
• Taj Malik Alam has been the Afghan team coach for the last six years which
  saw Afghanistan winning 49 games out of 55.
• Skipper Nawroz Mangal is an experienced right-handed opening batsman and
  has performed well in recent games.

Bahamas

• The Bahamas qualified for ICC WCL Division 5 by being the number one
  Affiliate in the Americas region.
• The team has been participating in the Americas Affiliate Tournament for the
  last seven years. They have played in the Americas Senior Associate
  Tournament several times and have previously defeated Argentina, an
  Associate country.
• The Bahamas team has a good mix of youth and experience.
• Captain Narendra Ekanayake, originally from Sri Lanka, is a left hand batsman
  and left arm leg spin bowler.

Botswana

• Botswana qualified by coming second in the ICC WCL Tournament Africa
  Region Division Two in Tanzania in 2006.
• Coach Solly Chotia is a Level 3 Coach from South Africa having just retired as
  Director of Development at Easterns Cricket Academy.
• Players to watch in the tournament are skipper Akrum Chand, Omar Ali,
  Manan Barot, Tshepo Mhozya and Karabo Modise.

Japan

• Japan qualified by winning the ICC-EAP Cricket Trophy 2007. They remained
  undefeated throughout the tournament.
• Coach Richard Laidler is a former professional cricketer and counts
  Merv Hughes as one of his close friends.
• Captain Koh Irie lives and plays cricket in Australia. CEO of Japan Cricket
  Association, Naoki Alex Miyaji, is also part of Japan team.
• Japan limits the number of foreign nationals that can play in the team to four.

Jersey

• The tournament hosts joined the ICC in 2005. The team finished second in the
  European Championships Division 2 tournament in Glasgow in August 2006
  and as a result, qualified for WCL Division 5.
• Jersey traveled to Italy in March 2007 and beat Italy twice to fulfill the
  Associate Membership Playing Criteria before being elected as an Associate
  Member in June 2007.
• In July and August 2007, Jersey hosted and won the ECC U/19 Division Two
  Tournament and won the ECC U/23 Division Two Tournament in Guernsey.
• Peter Kirsten, former South African player, will be coaching the current squad.
  Singapore
• Singapore qualified for the ICC World Cricket League after a good performance
  in the ACC Trophy.
• Skipper Chaminda Ruwan leads by example, as he is a key batsman and bowls
  his medium-pacers to good effect.
• Chetan Suryawanshi is a hard-hitting batsman who can finish with a flourish
  once he gets going.
• Young Anish Param, aged 18, is touted to be the star of the future.