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Europe's battle for 2016 ICC World T20 place

Italian cricket team

Six of the continent’s leading teams will meet in the beautiful island of Jersey in May to take the next step on the pathway to the ICC World Twenty20 in India in 2016, with the winner gaining promotion to the ICC World Twenty20 qualifier to be staged in Ireland and Scotland in July. The top six teams from that tournament will book their tickets to India and the global spotlight.

Denmark, France, Guernsey, Italy, Jersey and Norway will compete in a round-robin format with the top team making up the European contingent alongside Ireland, Scotland and The Netherlands at the global qualifier. Denmark and Italy will start as favourites having gained promotion to the global qualifier in previous years and boasting a higher ranking in the World Cricket League than their challengers. But while they seek to re-assert their regional dominance the other four teams will be determined to close the gap and achieve a defining milestone in their development as cricket nations by progressing to the global event. The stakes are high, and the regional rivalries compelling.

Denmark boasts former England quick Amjad Khan in their ranks and his pace is sure to spice up the action while their talisman Freddie Klokker, a county championship centurion, will be in contention for top run-scorer. Italy features a Big Bash star in Carl Sandri and have a wealth of experience and quality in Northcote, Marage, Crowley and Petricola. 
 
The magic ingredient for T20 success is match-winning quality allied to professionalism and endeavour. In Jonty Jenner the hosts possess one of the most exciting young talents in Europe and with the dynamism and big game experience of Gough and Stevens will be confident of gaining promotion, roared on by a passionate and patriotic home crowd. Guernsey has invested in youth after the recent retirement of stalwarts such as Le Provost, Savident and Frith. But the squad is beginning to mature and acquire the experience needed to be a threat at this level. The return of former Hampshire starlet, Tim Ravenscroft should help.
 
France will be looking to build on recent progress and in captain Ayyavooraju have a classy and experienced captain. Norway is freshly promoted from division 2 and will be eager to demonstrate they can compete in this company. They have been dogged by inconsistency but on their day have the boundary clearing power to thrill the crowds.
 
Once again, European cricket will be showcased to a global audience through ICC Europe’s partnership with QTV Sports, with daily highlights and live coverage of the final game and live scoring will be undertaken by Cric HQ.
 
The tournament schedule is:
 
9 May AM – Norway v Jersey (Farmers), Denmark v Guernsey (Grainville), Italy v France (FB Fields)
9 May PM – Italy v Jersey (Farmers) Guernsey v Norway (Grainville), France v Denmark (FB Fields)
10 May – Rest/reserve day
11 May AM – Italy v Norway (Farmers), Denmark v Jersey (Grainville), France v Guernsey (FB Fields)
11 May PM – Italy v Guernsey (Farmers), France v Jersey (Grainville), Norway v Denmark (FB Fields)
12 May – Rest/reserve day
13 May AM – Jersey v Guernsey (Farmers), Italy v Denmark (Grainville), Norway v France (FB Fields)
13 May PM – Reserve session
 
All AM matches are scheduled to start at 1030 local time
All PM matches are scheduled to start at 1530 local time
 
Squads
 
Denmark- Michael Pedersen (captain), Aftab AhmedSaif Ali AhmadMads HenriksenYasir IqbalRaja Basit JavedZahmeer KhanFrederik KlokkerAmjad KhanKamran Tariq MahmoodZishan Mazhar ShahHamid ShahSyed Bashir ShahAnique Uddin
 
France- Arunkumar Ayyavooraju (captain), Zika Ali, Waseem Bhatti, Chetan Chauhan, Rameez Ehsan, Usman Khan, Arslan Khan, Thomas Liddiard, Shahid Malik, Robin Murphy, Hamza Niaz, Kismatullah Surate, Williamdeep Singh, Atif Zahir
 
Guernsey- James Nussbaumer (captain), Alex Bushell, Joshua Butler, Isaac Damarell, Max Ellis, Benjamin (Lee) Ferbrache, David Hooper, Thomas Kimber, Jordon Martel, Jason Martin, Oliver Newey, Oliver Nightingale, TimothyRavenscroft, Matthew Stokes
 
Italy- Damian Crowley (captain), Roshendra Suroshan Abewickrama, Dilan Shameera, Fernando ArsakulasuriyaLuis Di GiglioMuthunama Gonnage Shehan Madup FernandoWarnakulasuriya Tharindu Nimantha FernandoFida HussainDinidu Asanka MarageAndrew NorthcoteBentota Baduge Joy Lenin PereraPeter Anthony Petricola,Michael Gino RasoCarl Stephen SandriRizwan Tanweer
 
Jersey- Peter Gough (captain), Corey BissonDominic BlampiedCornelis Bodenstein Edward John FarleyAnthony Wilfred Hawkins-KayJonty JennerBen KynmanThomas MintyCharles Perchard,Rhys PalmerBenjamin RiveBenjamin StevensNathaniel Watkins
 
Norway- Ali Sufyan Saleem (captain)Shahid AhmadSheheryar AkbarMuhammad Shahbaz Butt,Damon CrawfordSafir HayatSuhail IftikharAnsar IqbalShehraz KhalidMofassar SaeedAli Tafseer,Pratheesh Kumar ThangavadivelEhtsham Ul-HaqShahzad Umran

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