2011 World Cup qualifying hots up

In case you haven't picked up on it as yet, the Division 4 round of the World Cup qualifiers is happening in Tanzania. You can read a little about the background to Tanzanian cricket here.

It seems Hong Kong are the favourites, particularly having beaten Italy in the first round of matches. Also taking part are Afganistan and Jersey - the finalists from Division 5 - who still have their chance to pull off the most unlikely of qualifications into the World Cup proper. The next round - Division 3 - takes place in Argentina in January with the two finalists from this round taking their rightful place there, and the finalists in Argentina will then compete to get into the World Cup in the Division 2 stage. It all seems a long way from The Ashes or the upcoming India v Australia clash, but the ICC have pledged 6% of broadcast revenue to the lower echelons of the game and it would be great to see the quality and quantity of competing nations increase.

One blast from the past who is coaching Hong Kong in this competition is Aftab Habib, formerly of Reading, Middlesex, Leicestershire, Essex and England. It doesn't feel like long ago (although sadly it was) that I was playing club cricket against him in the Thames Valley League when he played for Reading - he scored a slow but valuable 70odd I remember - but only a couple of years after that he was playing for England. He certainly didn't seem that good when we played him. He now harbours ambitions of coaching at County level and why not? I dare say that the sort of player he was who bounced around a few non-pro teams, he's probably done more coaching during his playing days that most others. And the Hong Kong players certainly seem to hold him in high regard judging by this photo.