Explained: ICC Cricket World Cup Challenge League

The ICC Cricket World Cup Challenge League will start in Kampala, Uganda this week after a prolonged hiatus brought on by the Covid outbreak.

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The Challenge League involves 12 developing nations from around the world, with each side playing 15 matches over three legs as part of the qualification process for the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 in India.

What are ICC Men¡¯s Cricket World Cup Challenge Leagues?

The ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Challenge Leagues, which come after the League 2 and Super League competitions, are effectively the third tier of One Day International cricket.Twelve teams that are three steps away from the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 compete in the two-and-a-half-year-long ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Challenge Leagues.

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Each of the two Challenge Leagues A and B, each with six teams, will play 15 games over a two-year period. Group A is made up of Canada, Denmark, Malaysia, Singapore, Qatar, and Vanuatu. Group B is made up of Bermuda, Hong Kong, Italy, Jersey, Kenya, and Uganda.

Three League A events and three League B events, respectively, were to be played annually in the Challenge Leagues from 2019 to 2021. The ICC Men's Cricket World Cup League 2 and the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Super League, both of which had a May 2020 start date, were intended to run alongside them.

How would a Challenge League squad earn a spot in India 2023?

Despite the long journey, Challenge League teams are only three stages away from the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup in 2023 to be hosted in India.

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The Cricket World Cup Qualifier Play-off, a six-team competition that also includes the bottom four finishers at Cricket World Cup League 2, is the next step after taking first place in the Challenge League group.

The top two finishers in the Play-off advance to Zimbabwe's Cricket World Cup Qualifier the following year. The Qualifier, a ten-team event, also features the top three teams from League 2 and the bottom five teams from the Super League.

What is the latest update from Kampala?

Jersey and a Uganda A side have traded victories in warm-up action, but Kenya was too strong for Ceylon Lions of Kampala. Hong Kong entered the competition in second place after the first leg of play, but they lost to Namibia in three One Day games played at the United Ground.

As per ICC, Italy have recruited Kevin O'Brien as an assistant coach for the tour, after he was again left out of Ireland's T20 squad to take against India.

The hosts look good to continue their run even in spite of the length gap in the competition, coming off a great tour of Namibia, and with its youthful brigade making an impression at the Under 19 Men's Cricket World Cup, as cited by ICC.

League And League B

League in cricket terminology stands for a group of cricket teams that compete against each other in a cricket season.

In late July, League A will resume in Canada. With four victories out of five, the forthcoming leg's hosts presently lead the table, ahead of Singapore on net run rate, with Qatar (six points) in third. With one victory each, Malaysia and Vanuatu are in last place, followed by Denmark in fourth. Group A's focus shifts to Malaysia for the last leg in December following the Canada leg.

On the other hand, the schedule for League B which starts on Friday, are as follows,

Uganda v Jersey: 17 June

Hong Kong v Italy: 18 June

Kenya v Bermuda: 18 June

Kenya v Jersey: 20 June

Hong Kong v Uganda: 20 June

Uganda v Bermuda: 21 June

Jersey v Italy: 21 June

Kenya v Italy: 23 June

Hong Kong v Bermuda: 23 June

Hong Kong v Jersey: 24 June

Uganda v Italy: 24 June

Kenya v Uganda: 26 June

Jersey v Bermuda: 26 June

Bermuda v Italy: 27 June

Kenya v Hong Kong: 27 June