By a Staff Reporter
Kathmandu – Nepal’s national cricket team will tour Australia in September for practice matches when playing cricket in the country is not possible due to monsoon. General Manager of Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN), Britanta Khanal, confirmed that Nepal will tour Australia in September later this year.
He however said that Nepal’s opponents during the visit has not yet been confirmed.
“The teams and the date have not been fixed yet,” said Khanal, adding, “The main purpose of the tour is to give exposure to the players during off season when playing matches is not possible in Nepal due to rainfall.”
Khanal said that CAN is trying its best to fix matches against Australia’s ‘A’ team.
“However, Australia has said it’s ‘A’ team is busy. Therefore, we will try to play against the best teams of Australia,” added Khanal.
Meanwhile, Nepal’s national cricket team is heading towards Canada to play a practice match followed by two ODI matches. The team will then leave for Scotland to play a triangular ODI series against the hosts and Namibia.
Nepal will have to play all the remaining matches of the ICC World Cup League 2 in order to play the ODI World Cup qualifiers and to maintain its ODI status. Nepal is currently fifth in the standings with 7 wins, 8 losses and a tie from 16 matches in the league.
Nepal will have to finish among the top three in the league in order to play the World Cup global qualifiers. Otherwise, it has to go through the play-off. Among the six teams in the play off, Nepal needs to finish among the top two in order to get selected for the qualifiers. Meanwhile, Nepal needs to finish among the top five in league 2 to maintain its ODI status.
Fixtures for Canada tour
July 1: Nepal Vs Ontario (practice match)
July 4: Nepal vs Canada (1st ODI)
July 5: Nepal Vs Canada (2nd ODI)
Fixtures for Scotland tour
July 11: Nepal Vs Namibia
July 13: Nepal Vs Scotland
July 16: Nepal Vs Namibia
July 17: Nepal Vs Scotland
