Next month’s ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 series involving Scotland, Namibia and Nepal has been postponed due to the worsening situation in Namibia, where rising COVID-19 cases have impacted training preparations and the tightening of restrictions have reduced travel options. This series – which forms part of League 2 which is two steps away from the Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 – has been postponed to July 2022, after exploring options to also stage the event in Spain this summer which became infeasible.
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ICC Head of Events, Chris Tetley said: “Whilst it is disappointing that Denmark and Guernsey will not be able to participate in the U19 Regional Qualifier, we are grateful for the efforts of everyone involved to enable these events to be rescheduled and give us the best possible chance of restarting ICC pathway events in Europe. The relocation of both events from Scotland to Spain will hopefully provide us with the first ICC pathway events since February last year.
“The sixth series of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 between Scotland, Nepal and Namibia is now postponed to July 2022. We tried our best to play the series, but the tightening of restrictions in Namibia left us with no alternative but to postpone the event.”
Cricket Scotland Chief Executive, Gus Mackay said: “It is disappointing that the Men’s CWC League 2 series has not been able to go ahead. We know that it is possible to create safe environments where cricket can be played but moving teams around the world within the constantly changing landscape of COVID-19 travel restrictions is challenging.
“I’d like to thank everyone at the ICC, Nepal, Namibia, Cricket Espana and Cricket Scotland who have worked hard behind the scenes to give these matches the best chance of going ahead. I’m also grateful to Desert Springs which is a fantastic facility, for all their hard work in obtaining the required approvals from local authorities and we are looking forward to the events taking place in La Manga.
“While Scottish Government regulations on travel mean that we were unable to host any international ICC events in 2021, I hope that those regulations will be reviewed soon to allow international cricket to restart in this country.”
Cricked Espana Chief Executive John Howden said: “Cricket Espana are delighted to have the opportunity to host these two prestigious ICC pathway events.
“We feel the frustration of Cricket Scotland for not being able to host the matches, as also Cricket Finland and Cricket Belgium, who also have been denied Men’s T20 World Cup pathway event hosting opportunities this year through no fault of their own. Cricket Espana will endeavor to champion all their efforts to make both tournaments wonderful successes.”
