ICC Intercontinental Cup
AdministratorInternational Cricket Council
FormatFirst-class cricket
First edition2004
Latest edition2015–17
Tournament formatRound-robin and knockout
Number of teamsVaries
(Highest 14)
(Recently 8)
Current champion Afghanistan (2nd title)
Most successful Ireland (4 titles)
Most runsKenya Steve Tikolo (1,918)[1]
Most wicketsIreland Trent Johnston (81)[2]

The ICC Intercontinental Cup was a first-class cricket tournament organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC) as part of its cricket development programme. It was designed to allow Associate Members of the ICC the chance to play first-class cricket matches over four days against teams of similar skill in a competition environment and prepare them for eventual promotion to Test cricket status. First run in 2004, two of the most successful teams in the history of the tournament, Ireland and Afghanistan were promoted to Full Member and Test status, in 2017.

In October 2018, the ICC issued a media release asking for an expression of interest from teams who have competed in previous editions of the tournament.[3] However, since no further news regarding a new edition have emerged since then, the future of the tournament was put into doubt.[4][5] In April 2021, the ICC looked at the possibility of multi-day matches between Associate Members with One Day International (ODI) status, and Test teams who are not part of the ICC World Test Championship.[6]

Tournament history

2004 ICC Intercontinental Cup

The inaugural ICC Intercontinental Cup was completed on 22 November 2004 when Scotland won the title in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.[7] Scotland beat Canada by an innings and 84 runs in the final. The competition included 12 teams, divided by geographical region into four groups of three. Each team played the other two teams in its group once each. The top team in each group then progresses to the semi-finals, and the winners of those to the final. In order to encourage competitive play and avoid deadlocks, a point system including bonus points was used.

2005 ICC Intercontinental Cup

Hong Kong came in to replace Malaysia, and the Cayman Islands replaced the United States who were ejected from the competition by the ICC because of then ongoing political problems within cricket in the US.[8] The points system was also modified so that teams could score unlimited batting points in the first innings and a maximum of 4 points in the second innings.

The tournament was won by Ireland who defeated Kenya in the final.[9]

2006–2007 ICC Intercontinental Cup

The tournament was cut from 12 to eight teams, with Hong Kong, the Cayman Islands and Uganda losing the right to participate, while Namibia knocked out Nepal in a play off for the eighth place. The match length was extended from three to four days, and each team was scheduled to play at least three matches. The teams were divided into two groups of four, with each team playing the other once and the top two teams qualifying for the final, and the points system has also been changed: 14 points are now awarded for a win, and six for a first-innings lead. Due to preparations for the 2007 World Cup and the longer tournament, the final was played in May 2007, where Ireland defeated Canada to defend their title.

2007–2008 ICC Intercontinental Cup

The 2007–08 tournament was played as a single round-robin league of eight teams, so that each team played seven matches.[10] The teams ranked first and second at the end of the pool stage contested the final.

Namibia finished on top at the pool stage, but lost the final against second placed Ireland in late October in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Ireland thus completed a hat-trick of Intercontinental Cup victories, having been undefeated in the competition, and having won three consecutive make-or-break away fixtures in Africa (against Namibia, Kenya and Namibia again) to clinch the title.

2009–10 ICC Intercontinental Cup

The 2009–10 tournament was expanded to two divisions and 11 teams.[11] Ireland, the Netherlands, Scotland, Canada, Kenya, and Afghanistan played in the top division, joined by Zimbabwe A. Meanwhile, United Arab Emirates, Namibia, Bermuda and Uganda played in the Intercontinental Shield. Afghanistan won their first title, beating Scotland in the final.

2011–13 ICC Intercontinental Cup

In December 2010, the ICC announced that the 2011–13 tournament would revert to the 8 team, single division format of the 2007–08 season and that the Intercontinental Shield would be scrapped. The sixth staging of the Cup ran from June 2011 to October 2013. and included the top six associate and affiliate teams with One Day International status (ICC World Cricket League Division 1); Afghanistan, Canada, Ireland, Kenya, Netherlands and Scotland. The remaining two places were allotted to UAE and Namibia who finished in the top two of the ICC Intercontinental Shield and ICC World Cricket League Division 2.[12] Later the ICC Development Committee decided to select the 3rd and 4th placed teams from the ICC World Cricket League Division 2 (Bermuda and Uganda) and two qualifiers to proceed from WCL Division 3 (Hong Kong and Papua New Guinea) bringing the total to 12 teams.[13] A 50-over tournament was run alongside the re-expanded Intercontinental Cup.[12]

The final of the 2011-13 competition was held in December 2013 between Ireland and Afghanistan, with Ireland winning their 4th Intercontinental Cup title.

2015–17 ICC Intercontinental Cup

In the wake of changes announced by ICC following its revamp in January 2014 when India, Australia and England Cricket Boards gained more control it was declared that the next winner of the Intercontinental Cup would get an opportunity to play 4 tests (2 home and 2 away) against the bottom ranked test nation and if the associate nation wins that series they would then gain Test status until the next Intercontinental Cup.[14] However, with Ireland and Afghanistan gaining test status in June 2017 the Test challenge was not held.[15][16][17] Ireland, Afghanistan, Scotland, United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, PNG, The Netherlands and Namibia qualified based on the results from 2011–13 ICC World Cricket League Championship, 2014 Cricket World Cup Qualifier and the 2015 ICC World Cricket League Division Two. It ran in parallel with the 2015–17 ICC World Cricket League Championship but with slightly different teams. As Ireland and Afghanistan had qualified for the ICC One-Day International Championship ranking qualification process, they were replaced by Kenya and Nepal in the limited over event; however they continued to play the four-day event. Afghanistan won the tournament after defeating UAE during the final round.[18]

Team records

Overall Record
Year Winner Runner-Up
2004  Scotland  Canada
2005  Ireland  Kenya
2006–07  Ireland  Canada
2007–08  Ireland  Namibia
2009–10  Afghanistan  Scotland
2011–13  Ireland  Afghanistan
2015–17  Afghanistan  Ireland

Teams' performances

An overview of the teams' performances in every Intercontinental Cup:

Team 2004 2005 2006–07 2007–08 2009–10 2011–13 2015–17
 Afghanistan DNC DNC DNC DNC W RU W
 Bermuda GS SF GS 8th 11th DNC DNC
 Canada RU GS RU 7th 7th 6th DNC
 Cayman Islands DNC GS DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC
 Hong Kong DNC GS DNC DNC DNC DNC 4th
 Ireland GS W W W 4th W RU
 Kenya SF RU GS 3rd 5th 7th DNC
 Malaysia GS DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC
 Namibia GS GS GS RU 8th 5th 8th
 Netherlands GS GS GS 5th 6th 8th 3rd
   Nepal GS GS PO DNC DNC DNC DNC
 Papua New Guinea DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC 7th
 Scotland W GS GS 4th RU 3rd 6th
 Uganda GS GS DNC DNC 10th DNC DNC
 United Arab Emirates SF SF GS 6th 9th 4th 5th
 United States GS DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC
 Zimbabwe XI DNC DNC DNC DNC 3rd DNC DNC

All time table

The abandoned match between Scotland and Kenya in 2008, the forfeited match between Zimbabwe and Scotland in 2010 and the abandoned match between Hong Kong and Scotland in 2016 are not included. Complete up to the end of 2017.[19]

Team TP TW M W L D Win%
 Ireland 74392531164.1%
 Scotland 71331181433.3%
 Netherlands 7337161021.2%
 Namibia 6341514544.1%
 Kenya 628912732.1%
 United Arab Emirates 6349141126.5%
 Canada 629618520.7%
 Bermuda 415311416.7%
 Afghanistan 3222171477.3%
   Nepal 2520340.0%
 Uganda 2724128.6%
 Hong Kong 2824225.0%
 Zimbabwe XI 1530260.0%
 United States 1211050.0%
 Papua New Guinea 1724128.6%
 Malaysia 120200.0%
 Cayman Islands 120200.0%

Key: TP/TW=Tournaments participated/won, M=Matches played, W/L/D=wins/losses/draws, Win%=percentage of games won.

Intercontinental Shield Record
Year Winner Runner-Up
2009–10  Namibia  United Arab Emirates

In 2009 a second competition, the Intercontinental Shield, was introduced for the four teams placing 7th through 10th in the 2009 World Cup Qualifier. The matches are also first-class and the rules and points system are the same as for the Intercontinental Cup. The current teams in the Intercontinental Shield are Bermuda, Namibia, Uganda and United Arab Emirates. In December 2010 after the end of the Intercontinental Shield the ICC announced that it would be scrapping the Shield competition and returning to the 8 team Intercontinental Cup format of the 2007–08 season.[13]

Complete up to the 2010 final between the UAE and Namibia.

Team TP TW M W L D Win%
 Namibia 11431075.0%
 United Arab Emirates 1421162.5%
 Uganda 1311150.0%
 Bermuda 130300.0%

Key: TP/TW=Tournaments participated/won, M=Matches played, W/L/D=wins/losses/draws, Win%=percentage of games won, a draw counts as half of a win.

Records and statistics

Team records

Highest totals
TeamTotalOpponentYear
 Namibia630/7 Kenya2012
 Bermuda620 Netherlands2006
 Namibia609 Uganda2010
 Zimbabwe XI590 Ireland2010
 Ireland589/7 UAE2013

Source: ESPNcricinfo. Last updated 3 June 2015.

Lowest totals
TeamTotalOpponentYear
 Bermuda56 UAE2010
 Ireland69 Namibia2008
 Ireland75 Kenya2012
 UAE76   Nepal2005
 Canada79 Scotland2008
 UAE Namibia2010

Source: ESPNcricinfo. Last updated 3 June 2015.

Largest winning margins (by Innings)
TeamMarginOpponentYear
 Canadainnings and 228 runs UAE2007
 Namibiainnings and 185 runs Bermuda2010
 Afghanistaninnings and 173 runs Hong Kong2017
 Afghanistaninnings and 172 runs Ireland2017
 Irelandinnings and 170 runs UAE2007

Source: ESPNcricinfo. Last updated 3 June 2015.

Largest winning margins (by Runs)
TeamMarginOpponentYear
 Ireland279 runs Netherlands2013
 Hong Kong276 runs United Arab Emirates2015
 United Arab Emirates266 runs Kenya2011
 Kenya247 runs Canada2009
 Netherlands231 runs Namibia2017

Source: ESPNcricinfo. Last updated 3 June 2015.

Largest winning margins (by Wickets)
TeamMarginOpponentYear
 Namibia10 wickets Uganda2010
 Afghanistan Namibia2013
 United Arab Emirates2017
9 wickets Canada2011
 Canada Bermuda2006
 Ireland United Arab Emirates2008
 Namibia
 Kenya Canada2007
   Nepal Malaysia2004
 United Arab Emirates Bermuda2010
 Namibia2013
 Papua New Guinea2017

Source: ESPNcricinfo. Last updated 22 March 2018.

Individual records

Most runs
PlayerTeamSpanMatInnsRunsAvgHighest100s50s
Steve Tikolo Kenya2004–201019321,91863.9322067
Arshad Ali UAE2004–201324461,75639.9018549
William Porterfield Ireland2006–201724391,74347.1018658
Khurram Khan UAE2004–201524431,73043.25121*410
Saqib Ali UAE2006–201518341,62054.0019566

Source: ESPNcricinfo. Last updated 27 October 2015.

Highest scores
PlayerScoreTeamOpponentYear
Ryan ten Doeschate259* Netherlands Canada2006
David Hemp247* Bermuda Netherlands2006
Ed Joyce231 Ireland UAE2015
Gerrie Snyman230 Namibia Kenya2008
Steve Tikolo220 Kenya Bermuda2005

Source: ESPNcricinfo. Last updated 3 June 2015.

Highest partnerships
No.RunsPlayersForAgainstYear
1st374Raymond van Schoor & Ewald Steenkamp Namibia Bermuda2010
2nd326William Porterfield & Ed Joyce Ireland Namibia2015
3rd360Eoin Morgan & Andre Botha Ireland UAE2007
4th267Steve Tikolo & Hitesh Modi Kenya Ireland2005
5th214*Kevin O'Brien & Andrew White Ireland Kenya2008
6th288*Ben Cooper & Pieter Seelaar Netherlands Hong Kong2017
7th219David Hemp & Saleem Mukuddem Bermuda Netherlands2006
8th161Vusi Sibanda & Regis Chakabva Zimbabwe XI Kenya2009
9th180Sunil Dhaniram & Kevin Sandher Canada UAE2007
10th71Khurram Chohan & Hiral Patel Canada Afghanistan2010

Source: ESPNcricinfo. Last updated 22 March 2018.

Most wickets
PlayerTeamSpanMatOversWktsAvgBest510
Trent Johnston Ireland2004–201325577.19116.356/2330
Umar Bhatti Canada2004–201018491.07820.568/4072
Hiren Varaiya Kenya2006–201318566.47721.666/2272
Louis Klazinga Namibia2006–201318491.47421.145/2030
Dwayne Leverock Bermuda2004–200815685.57126.477/5762

Source: ESPNcricinfo. Last updated 3 June 2015.

Best bowling figures
PlayerFiguresTeamOpponentYear
Ali Asad9/74 UAE   Nepal2004
John Davison9/76 Canada United States2004
Ian van Zyl8/34 Namibia Ireland2006
Umar Bhatti8/40 Canada Bermuda2005
John Davison8/61 Canada United States2004

Source: ESPNcricinfo. Last updated 3 June 2015.

References

  1. ↑ "Records / ICC Intercontinental Cup / Most runs". ESPNcricinfo.
  2. ↑ "Records / ICC Intercontinental Cup / Most wickets". ESPNcricinfo.
  3. ↑ "New qualification pathway for ICC Men's Cricket World Cup approved". International Cricket Council. Archived from the original on 7 February 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  4. ↑ "New qualification pathway for ICC Men's Cricket World Cup approved". cricbuzz.com. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  5. ↑ "Whatever happened to the Intercontinental Cup?". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  6. ↑ "ICC mulls regular Test matches for non-WTC Full Members and Associates in next FTP cycle". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  7. ↑ "Scotland cruise to innings victory". ESPNcricinfo. 22 November 2004.
  8. ↑ "ICC expels USA from Intercontinental Cup". ESPNcricinfo. 8 August 2005.
  9. ↑ "Ireland secure Intercontinental glory". ESPNcricinfo. 29 October 2005.
  10. ↑ "New-look Intercontinental Cup schedule unveiled". ESPNcricinfo. 27 April 2007.
  11. ↑ "ICC Intercontinental Cup to be expanded to two divisions for 2009–10". ICC Europe. 19 May 2009. Archived from the original on 28 May 2009. Retrieved 21 May 2009.
  12. 1 2 "UAE and Namibia join Intercontinental Cup". ESPNcricinfo. 17 May 2011.
  13. 1 2 "ICC revamps Intercontinental Cup and scraps Shield". ESPNcricinfo. 6 December 2010.
  14. ↑ "An 11th Test country?". ESPNcricinfo. 30 January 2014.
  15. ↑ "Ireland and Afghanistan ICC newest full members amid wide-ranging governance reform". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  16. ↑ "Afghanistan, Ireland get Test status". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  17. ↑ "'I think this sets a terrific example' – Ireland CEO Deutrom". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  18. ↑ "Afghanistan crowned Intercontinental Cup champs". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
  19. ↑ "Records / ICC Intercontinental Cup / Result summary". ESPNcricinfo.
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