Bermuda aiming to get World Cup qualifying campaign back on track
Bermuda will look to get their 2023 ICC World Cup qualifying campaign back on track when the Cricket World Cup Challenge League B resumes in Jersey next year.
The rescheduled tournament, which also features Hong Kong, Italy, Kenya and Uganda, will be held from September 1 to 14.
Bermuda has much to do if they are to keep their hopes of competing at a second World Cup alive. As it stands, the island’s senior national team is rooted to the bottom of the CWC League B standings having lost four and suffered a rain out in their opening five group matches played in Oman last December.
Uganda, the CWC League B leaders, were meant to host the second round of five matches last August before the International Cricket Council suspended the event because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Uganda will now host the third and final round of 15-match League B series in February 2022.
Meanwhile, the World Cup Challenge League A and B comprises two groups of six from divisions three through five of the former World Cricket League, with all matches afforded One-Day International status.
The top team from each group will advance to World Cup Qualifier Play-Off, to be held in 2023 at a venue yet to be determined, where they will be joined by the bottom four teams from the World Cup League 2.
The top two teams from the World Cup Qualifier Play-Off will then compete at the Global Qualifier to be held in Zimbabwe from June 18 to July 9, 2023 that will also feature the top three teams from the World Cup League 2 and five bottom teams from the World Cup Super League that commenced last July with the series between reigning World Champions England and Ireland.
The top two teams from the Global Qualifier, will join hosts India and the top seven teams from the World Cup Super League at the 2023 ICC World Cup.
The World Cup League 2 and World Cup Challenge League have replaced the former World Cricket League which had been a pathway to World Cup qualification from 2007 to 2019.
The final rankings from the World Cricket League were used to determine the places of teams into the two new leagues.
Bermuda’s debut appearance at the ICC World Cup was in 2007 where they were eliminated at the first hurdle.