Batting Coach Appointed to Prepare Afghan Team for 2015 World Cup

Afghanistan Batting Coach Appointed for 2015 Cricket World Cup

The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) announced this week the appointment of Andy Moles as a batting coach for the National Team in its preparation for the World Cup 2015.

Moles is a former English first-class cricketer for Warwickshire, England and Griqualand West, South Africa.

Since his retirement as a player, his international coaching career has included positions with Kenya (2003), Scotland (2005), and New Zealand (2008).

“We are pleased to have the services of Andy Moles in our batting preparations for the World Cup,” Dr Noor Mohammad Murad, CEO of the ACB said when announcing the appointment. “He has a broad experience in international cricket both as a player and a coach and he will bring the benefits of this experience to our national players.

Moles was a gritty and determined, right-handed opening batsman. He played from 1986 until his retirement in 1997 for Warwickshire, where he scored 13,316 runs at an average of 38.59.

During the late 1980s he also played domestic cricket in South Africa for Griqualand West and in three seasons managed 1,989 runs and his average was a good 64.16.

Moles will arrive in Kabul this week to undertake a batting coaching programme with the national team.

Source: Khaama.com

Safir Tours Promotes ICC World Cup 2015 Tour Packages in India

Safir Tours Pty. Ltd., a Melbourne-based DMC and inbound tour operator is promoting packages for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, which will be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, in the Indian market.

Nayaz Noor, CEO, Safir Tours, said, “We are promoting tour packages in India, mainly around two important matches: India vs. Pakistan (February 15 at Adelaide) and India vs. South Africa (February 22 at Melbourne). These teams are more popular with the South Asian Sub-Continent visitors and we have designed the itineraries accordingly.”

Safir Tours is offering a three-night Adelaide package for FITs, which includes stay in a five-star hotel with a round trip, airport transfers and full-day tour to the popular wine producing Barossa Valley, on twin sharing basis costing AUD 775.00 per person.

The combination of Adelaide and Melbourne is a six-night package costing AUD 1365.00 per person on twin sharing basis. For cricket enthusiasts, ad hoc packages would also be available for later matches. The match tickets are not included in the tour package and can be purchased online or from the authorised ICC agents in India.

Noor added, “The six-night package gives the traveller three days free time between the matches to visit Sydney, Gold Coast, Cairns or Tasmania, or with a combination of these, the traveller has an option to extend the tour. Extensions can also be made within South Australia to visit Port Lincoln for Shark Cage Diving, etc.”

Also, Safir Tours has designed packages for the semi finals and final matches, which can be customised to suit the traveller. Noor said, “We have sold a few packages and a group of 35 persons is already booked with us for the semi final matches. Our main focus is on the Indian market and we are aggressively promoting these packages through our network of travel agents and also on social media. We will also be participating in the Jaipur edition of the India Travel Mission organised by Tourism Australia in August where we will aim at getting maximum bookings.”

Source: TravelBizMonitor.com

UAE, Scotland Reached to ICC World Cup 2015

Christchurch: Aqib Javed, Paul Collingwood and Craig Wright are well known names in international cricket who have added an extra achievement to their names after steering their sides to the ICC World Cup 2015 in Australia and New Zealand.

The three coaches were at the helm as Scotland and the United Arab Emirates reached the final of the World Cup Qualifier in New Zealand Saturday, sealing the last two berths for the World Cup. An unbeaten century from captain and Man of the Tournament Preston Mommsen saw Scotland defeat the UAE by 41 runs in the final.

Scotland coaches Collingwood and Wright were thrilled with the result.

"I think the players have done a fantastic job and shown real level of consistency of performance, winning seven games in a row after a disappointing result in the first match. They recovered really well from that and pretty much every game after that was a must-win, so we are absolutely delighted," said Wright, who captained Scotland in the 2007 World Cup.

Collingwood, who represented England in three World Cups (2003, 2007 and 2011) and led England to the World Twenty20 title in 2010, agreed this kind of a tournament puts a lot of pressure on players.

"To actually know what it means to an associate team to get to the World Cup through this qualifying tournament, there`s a high amount of pressure there. For them to play under that pressure and go out there and perform, I think that puts you in really good stead for the future," said Collingwood, who played 68 Tests, 197 one-days and 35 T20Is from 2001 to 2011.

"These guys do have the skills. They`ve certainly got that with the batting, the fielding is exceptional, there might be some areas that we`ve got to work on with the bowling but it is amazing how powerful it can be if all the players go into a tournament very confident about their own games, knowing their strengths."

UAE coach Aqib was a member of the Pakistan side that won the 1992 World Cup and also played in the 1996 edition, besides featuring in 22 Tests and 163 one-days 1989-1998. He said that the team will be ready for the challenge of competing against the best.

“Twelve months is a long time. We can make huge progress. I’m excited because they will play against Pakistan and India. They’ll be very excited playing against the players that they’ve always admired. I think by the time 2015 comes, you’ll see huge progress in UAE cricket,” said the Pakistani.

“I’ve played the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. This experience has definitely helped the team already and it will help in their progress to the World Cup. I know the nature of the different venues from Melbourne to Perth.”

Source: ZeeNews

Last chance to book berth at World Cup 2015

Five years worth of fluctuating fortunes in the World Cricket League Championship culminates in the 2014 ICC World Cup Qualifier, beginning in New Zealand on Monday. Teams as low as Division Seven of the ICC's 50-over round-robin tournament structure had the chance to climb the Associate and Affiliate ladder to get within striking distance of a spot at the 2015 ICC World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

Two Associate berths remain available for next year's event after Ireland and Afghanistan snatched a pair of places by virtue of finishing first and second in the ICC World Cricket League. The bottom six teams in the WCL Championship are joined in New Zealand by the third and fourth place teams from WCL Division Two in 2011 - Papua New Guinea and Hong Kong - as well as the first and second place teams from last year's ICC WCL Division Three, Nepal and Uganda.

The 10 teams are split into two groups of five for the initial phase of round-robin play after which the top three from each group will advance to the Super Six stage and remain in the hunt for a World Cup berth. Points gained from the group stage against fellow Super Six participants will carry over while the three teams in Group A will each play three crossover games with the three that advance from Group B. The top two teams after the Super Six stage will advance to the final and gain entry to next year's World Cup.

Group-A: UAE, Scotland, Canada, Hong Kong, Nepal
Group-B: Netherlands, Kenya, Namibia, Papua New Guinea, Uganda

Source: espncricinfo.com