 "Road to ODI World Cup 2023: Know all about the Cricket World Cup Qualifier")
ICC Cricket World Qualifier 2023 (CWC Qualifier 2023) would begin on June 18 where 10 teams would compete for the final two spots in the 10-team World Cup that will be hosted by India in October-November this year.
What is this ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier?
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When the ODI World Cup became a 10-team affair in 2019, the International Cricket Council (ICC) decided that the entry of those 10 teams should be based on a free and fair process.
In 2019 eight top-ranked teams in the ICC rankings and ODI Championship qualified for the World Cup directly while West Indies and Afghanistan made it by finishing in the top two spots of the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018, hosted by Zimbabwe. It is the second edition of that qualifier and once again the hosts are Zimbabwe. By nomenclature, this Qualifier is called ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2023 or simply CWC Qualifier 2023.
Which are the teams participating in CWC Qualifier 2023?
There are in total 10 teams taking part in the CWC Qualifier 2023. Sri Lanka, West Indies, Ireland, Zimbabwe and Netherlands have reached here by being the bottom five in the ICC CWC ODI Super League 2020-23.
Scotland, UAE and Nepal have made it to the Qualifier after finishing in the top three in ICC Cricket World Cup League Two. The United States of America (USA) and United Arab Emirates (UAE) won the CWC Qualifier Playoff held in Namibia in 2023 to reach the CWC Qualifier.
What were the various tournaments that the teams played before reaching the CWC Qualifier 2023?
ODI Super League
The teams for the CWC Qualifier were decided by four years of ODI cricket spread across three leagues. The first tier of those was the ODI Super League. In this, the top 12 ranked teams in ICC ODI rankings, which are also the permanent members of the ICC, alongside the Netherlands, an associate nation that qualified after winning the ICC World Cricket League in 2018, played a total of 156 matches.
Initially, it was decided that each team would play 24 games. Due to Covid-19, not all teams were able to play 24 games. The top seven teams in the league along with the hosts India qualified for the ICC ODI World Cup 2023. The five bottom-placed teams which included Sri Lanka, West Indies, Ireland, Zimbabwe and Netherlands went to the CWC Qualifier 2023.
Cricket World Cup League Two
The second league involved in the process was the ICC Cricket World Cup League Two. In this, three teams- Scotland, UAE, and Nepal, which already had the ODI status after the end of the 2018 World Cup Qualifier, were joined by the top four teams from the ICC World Cricket League Division Two, 2019. These four teams were Namibia, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Oman, and the USA.
Thus, ICC CWC League Two was a seven-member league. A total of 140 matches were played and Scotland, Oman, and Nepal qualified directly for the CWC Qualifier 2023 as the top three teams in this league. The bottom four- Namibia, USA, UAE, and PNG went to the playoff.
Qualifier Play-off 2023
The third league was called Qualifier Play-off 2023. Played in Namibia in March-April 2023, it was a 15-match tournament involving six teams. While four teams were the bottom four of CWC League Two, the other two teams were Jersey and Canada. They made it to the playoffs after topping their respective groups in the 2019–2022 ICC Cricket World Cup Challenge League. These six teams played single-leg, round-robin games against each other and the top two teams- USA and UAE in the points table made it to the CWC Qualifier 2023.
What is the format of the CWC Qualifier 2023?
In the CWC Qualifier, the 10 teams are divided into two groups of five each. The five teams play single-leg, round-robin against the four other teams of the group. At the end of the group stage, the top three teams from each group will move to super six. The bottom two teams from each group will play playoff games against each other to decide the rankings at the end of the tournament.
In super six, all teams will carry their points from the group stage. Here, they will play only the three teams that were not part of their group earlier. At the end of the nine games in super six, the top two teams in the points table will qualify directly for the ICC ODI Cricket World Cup 2023 in India.
What are the two groups of Cricket World Cup Qualifier?
Group A
Netherlands
Nepal
United States
West Indies
Zimbabwe
Group B
Ireland
Oman
Scotland
Sri Lanka
United Arab Emirates
What are the venues for the Cricket World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe?
Four venues have been decided upon by the ICC in consultation with Zimbabwe Cricket for the CWC Qualifier 2023. The four stadiums are spread over two cities. Harare Sports Club and Takashinga Cricket Club are based in Zimbabwe’s capital city of Harare. Queens Sports Club, and Bulawayo Athletic Club are located in the city of Bulawayo.
What is the schedule of the Cricket World Cup Qualifier?
The CWC Qualifier would begin on June 18, 2023, and conclude on July 9, 2023. In between, a total of 34 ODI matches will be played across four venues. The group stage will begin on June 18 with hosts Zimbabwe taking on Nepal in a group A fixture at the Harare Sports Club. On the same day, two-time World Cup winners West Indies will play the USA at the Takashinga Cricket Club, Harare in another group A encounter.
The group stages will last till June 27 with the last set of games being played between group B members Scotland and Sri Lanka and Ireland and UAE at the Queens Sports Club and Bulawayo Athletic Club in Bulawayo respectively.
The bottom two teams from each group will move to Takashinga where they will play a four-game mini-tournament to decide the ranks 7-10 in the CWC Qualifier 2023. These matches will take place on June 30, July 02, July 04, and July 06.
All the matches of the super six stage will be played between June 29 and July 07 at the two venues of Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo and Harare Sports Club in Harare.
The final will be played on July 9 at the Harare Sports Club between the two teams that finish at the top of the super six points table. These two teams also enter the ICC ODI World Cup 2023.