2021 Men's T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier
The 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier was a cricket tournament that was played as part of qualification process for the 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. The sub regional tournaments were scheduled to take place in June and July 2021 in Finland and Belgium, with the regional final taking place in October 2021 in Spain.[1] In April 2018, the International Cricket Council (ICC) granted full international status to Twenty20 men's matches played between member sides from 1 January 2019 onwards. Therefore, all the matches in the Regional Qualifiers were played as Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is).[2]
However, in May 2021, after several postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the sub-regional qualifiers were cancelled.[3] As a result of the sub-regional qualifiers being cancelled, Italy, Germany and Denmark qualified from Groups A, B and C respectively, based on their positions in the ICC Men's T20I Team Rankings as of 30 April 2020.[4][5] Jersey won the Regional Final, with Germany finishing in second place on net run rate, with both teams advancing to the 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Global Qualifier A or 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Global Qualifier B.[6]
Background
[edit]The top team in each sub regional qualifier would have progressed to the Regional Final,[7] with the top two teams from the final progressing to one of the two Global Qualifiers.[8] Jersey, the highest ranked team as of 1 January 2020, progressed directly to the Regional Final.[9] On 28 January 2020, the ICC confirmed the teams and locations of the participants in the Europe Qualifier, with Finland hosting its first ever ICC event.[10]
Originally the qualifiers were scheduled to be played between May and November 2020, in Belgium, Finland and Spain.[11][12][13] However, on 24 March 2020, the International Cricket Council (ICC) confirmed that all ICC qualifying events scheduled to take place before 30 June 2020 had been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[14] The European groups were originally scheduled to take place at the La Manga Club in Spain in late August 2020, with the Regional Final also taking place at La Manga, possibly as late as November 2020.[15] However, due to the impact of the pandemic, the qualifiers were planned to take place in 2021, with two events in Finland and one in Belgium.[16]
Teams
[edit]The teams were placed into the following groups:[17][18][19]
| Qualifier A | Qualifier B | Qualifier C |
|---|---|---|
Qualifier A
[edit]| Dates | 8 – 13 July 2021 |
|---|---|
| Administrator(s) | European Cricket Council |
| Cricket format | T20I |
| Host(s) |  Finland |
| Participants | 8 |
Qualifier A was originally scheduled to take place from 16 to 22 May 2020 at the La Manga Club in Spain.[17][18] The event was rescheduled to take place at the end of August 2020, but was later postponed again.[20] In December 2020, ICC announced that the 8 team tournament would have been played between 8 and 13 July 2021. Finland were named as the hosts of this tournament.[16] The group stage would have seen Bulgaria, Cyprus, France and Israel in one group, with Italy, Malta, Norway and Spain in the other.[21]
Qualifier B
[edit]| Dates | 24 – 30 June 2021 |
|---|---|
| Administrator(s) | European Cricket Council |
| Cricket format | T20I |
| Host(s) | Finland |
| Participants | 8 |
Group B was originally scheduled to take place from 24 to 30 June 2020 at the Kerava National Cricket Ground in Kerava and Tikkurila Cricket Ground and in Vantaa in Finland.[17][18][22] The event was rescheduled to take place at the end of August 2020, but was later postponed again.[20] In December 2020, ICC announced that the 8 team tournament would have been played between 30 June and 5 July 2021, with Finland hosting the event.[16]
Qualifier C
[edit]| Dates | 5 – 10 July 2021 |
|---|---|
| Administrator(s) | European Cricket Council |
| Cricket format | T20I |
| Host(s) |  Belgium |
| Participants | 8 |
Qualifier C was originally scheduled to take place from 10 to 16 June 2020 in Belgium at the Royal Brussels Cricket Club in Waterloo and the Belgian Oval in Ghent.[17][18][23] The event was rescheduled to take place at the end of August 2020, but was later postponed again.[20] The event was rescheduled to take place at the end of August 2020, but was later postponed again.[20] In December 2020, ICC announced that the 8 team tournament would have been played between 5 and 10 July 2021. Belgium would have hosted the tournament.[16] The group stage would have seen Czech Republic, Denmark, Isle of Man and Romania in one group, with Austria, Belgium, Portugal and Serbia in the other.[24]
Regional Final
[edit]| Dates | 15 – 21 October 2021 |
|---|---|
| Administrator(s) | European Cricket Council |
| Cricket format | T20I |
| Host(s) |  Spain |
| Champions |  Jersey |
| Participants | 4 |
| Matches | 12 |
| Most runs | Jonty Jenner (175) |
| Most wickets | Charles Perchard (10) Benjamin Ward (10) |
In December 2020, the ICC announced that the four-team tournament would be played in Spain between 15 and 21 October 2021, with two teams moving on to the next round.[4][16] The schedule was announced in early October.[25]
At the halfway stage, Jersey were on top of the table after winning their opening three games.[26] Jersey then won their next match to confirm their progression to the Global Qualifiers.[27] Germany finished in second place, ahead of Italy on net run rate, to also advance to the Global Qualifiers.[28]
Squads
[edit] Denmark[29]
|
 Germany[30]
|
 Italy[31]
|
Jersey[32]
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
On 20 September 2021, Italy named former England international bowler Jade Dernbach in their squad, as well as Australian-born Kent bowler Grant Stewart, both of whom qualify via their Italian mothers.[33] Gareth Berg of Northamptonshire was named as captain and coach, with former England international Owais Shah as assistant coach.[34] Germany were boosted by a return to the national squad for Leicestershire bowler Dieter Klein, and a return from retirement for former Somerset and Glamorgan all-rounder Craig Meschede.[35] Fayaz Khan and Faisal Mubashir were added to the German squad as reserves in October 2021.[36] A dispute between the Danish association and its players following a proposed change to the selected squad, resulted in a number of players making themselves unavailable for selection.[29] The Danish squad included former England international bowler Amjad Khan.[37]
Points table
[edit]| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | NR | Pts | NRR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jersey
|
6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0.752 |
| 2 | Germany
|
6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0.085 |
| 3 | Italy
|
6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | −0.339 |
| 4 | Denmark
|
6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | −0.503 |
advanced to the global qualifier
Fixtures
[edit]v
|
||
- Germany won the toss and elected to field.
- Faisal Mubashir (Ger), Asa Tribe and Zak Tribe (Jer) all made their T20I debuts.
v
|
||
Surya Anand 31 (24)
Jaspreet Singh 2/10 (3 overs) |
- Denmark won the toss and elected to bat.
- Shakerullah Safi, Shangeev Thanikaithasan (Den), Gareth Berg, Madupa Fernando, Jamie Grassi, Damith Kosala, Nikolai Smith and Grant Stewart (Ita) all made their T20I debuts.
- Amjad Khan also made his T20I debut for Denmark and Jade Dernbach made his T20I debut for Italy, after they previously played 1 and 34 T20Is, respectively, for England. They became the eleventh and twelfth cricketers to represent two international teams in T20Is.[39]
v
|
||
- Jersey won the toss and elected to bat.
v
|
||
- Italy won the toss and elected to bat.
- Amir Sharif (Ita) made his T20I debut.
v
|
||
Surya Anand 36 (26)
Gian-Piero Meade 3/18 (4 overs) |
- Denmark won the toss and elected to field.
- Bilal Aftab (Den) made his T20I debut.
v
|
||
Zak Tribe 25 (23)
Sahir Naqash 2/9 (2 overs) |
- Germany won the toss and elected to bat.
- Charlie Brennan (Jer) made his T20I debut.
v
|
||
- Jersey won the toss and elected to field.
v
|
||
- Denmark won the toss and elected to field.
- Absar Khan (Den) made his T20I debut.
v
|
||
- Germany won the toss and elected to field.
- Dylan Blignaut became the first bowler for Germany to take a hat-trick in T20Is.[40]
v
|
||
- Denmark won the toss and elected to bat.
References
[edit]- ^ "Qualification to Men's T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia confirmed". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
- ^ "All T20I matches to get international status". International Cricket Council. 26 April 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
- ^ "Three men's T20 World Cup 2022 qualifying events called off because of Covid-19". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
- ^ a b "Three ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022 European Qualifiers cancelled due to COVID-19". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
- ^ "Guernsey and Isle of Man's World T20 hopes ended by Covid-19". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
- ^ "The Andrew Nixon Column: 24 October". Cricket Europe. Archived from the original on 24 October 2021. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
- ^ "ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021 qualification process confirmed". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
- ^ "Guernsey to face Finland qualifier after path to 2021 T20 World Cup confirmed". ITV News. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
- ^ "'Pleasing' news for Jersey cricket". Jersey Evening Post. 28 January 2020. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
- ^ "Cricket Finland to host first ever ICC pathway event". Cricket Finland. Archived from the original on 29 January 2020. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
- ^ "ICC expands qualifiers for 2021 T20 World Cup to 16 teams". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
- ^ "T20 World Cup Qualification set for overhaul from 2021". Cricbuzz. 23 January 2020. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
- ^ "Coronavirus: What's at stake for cricket in 2020?". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
- ^ "COVID-19 update – ICC qualifying events". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
- ^ "Cricket resuming across Europe". Cricket Europe. Archived from the original on 7 June 2020. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
- ^ a b c d e "2022 T20 World Cup qualification pathway". Cricket Europe. 14 December 2020. Archived from the original on 2 March 2021. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
- ^ a b c d "24 teams to compete in first step of Europe qualification for ICC Men's T20 world Cup 2021". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
- ^ a b c d "ICC introduces expanded 24-team European qualifier schedule for 2021 Men's T20 World Cup". The Cricketer. Archived from the original on 28 January 2020. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
- ^ "Belgium announce busy warm-up plans for T20 qualifiers". Cricket Europe. Archived from the original on 27 October 2020. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
- ^ a b c d "Turneringsstart – hvornår og hvordan?". Dansk Cricket Forbund. 21 April 2020. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
- ^ "ICC Men's T20 World Cup Sub Regional Europe 2021". France Cricket (in French). 2 January 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
- ^ "Kerava and Vantaa became the world championship cities in the cricket world qualifying block". Cricket Finland (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 18 February 2020. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
- ^ "Breaking news!". Cricket Belgium Official (via Facebook). 29 January 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
- ^ "Pathway to the 2022 World Cup Announced by the ICC". Isle of Man Cricket. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
- ^ "Denmark, Germany, Italy and Jersey begin road to ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
- ^ "Jersey Cricket win third game in a row in T20 European qualifiers". ITV News. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
- ^ "Jersey progress in T20 qualifying". Cricket Europe. Archived from the original on 19 October 2021. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
- ^ "T20 cricket: Germany's men make history and take a step closer to the World Cup". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
- ^ a b "Ready to depart for the T20 World Cup". Dansk Cricket. 11 October 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
- ^ @Cricket_Germany (16 September 2021). "Our squad for the men's T20 World Cup European Finals" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "Dopo due anni di stop torna in campo (e si sdoppia) la nazionale maschile di cricket" [After two years of hiatus, the men's national cricket team returns to the field]. Federazione Cricket Italiana (in Italian). 20 September 2021. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
- ^ "Jersey Cricket announce squad for T20 World Cup qualifying tournament". ITV. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
- ^ "Jade Dernbach set to play for Italy". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
- ^ "Jade Dernbach on course for international return with Italy". The Cricketer. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
- ^ "Jade Dernbach named in Italian squad". Emerging Cricket. 21 September 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
- ^ "Germany men's squad announced for T20 World Cup Europe qualifiers in Spain". Czarsportz. 22 September 2021. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
- ^ "Europe Qualifier – Four Associates in search of T20WC glory". Emerging Cricket. 13 October 2021. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
- ^ "ICC Men's T20 World Cup Europe Region Qualifier 2021 Table". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
- ^ "Records: Combined Test, ODI and T20I records. Individual records (captains, players, umpires), Representing two countries". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
- ^ "Dieter Klein onslaught takes Germany into a global qualifier". Emerging Cricket. 24 October 2021. Retrieved 24 October 2021.