Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) will host the triangular series comprising of Bhutan, the Maldives and Nepal in early March this year.
The tournament is a part of Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Development Programme, said Tarak Mani Dixit, the spokesperson of CAN here today. Similar tournaments involving Associate and Affiliate members of International Cricket Council (ICC) will also be organised in Kuwait and Hong Kong.
The tournament in Kuwait, the first of the series, will consist Baharain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman and the host while the last of the series in Hong Kong will be participated by Hong Kong, Thailand and Brunei, informed Dixit.
The tournament in Nepal will be five-day long and will either start on March 4 or on 5. CAN is negotiating with Nepal Television for the live transmission of the tournament, said Dixit, but no agreement has been reached yet.
Both the visiting nations will compete in the curtain raiser of the tournament in Tribhuvan University Cricket Stadium while Nepal will play with Bhutan on the second day and the Maldives on the third. The final between the two top teams will be held on March 8 or 9.
All the matches will one-day with 50-over innings and will be counted as international matches said Dixit adding that the guest teams will arrive Kathmandu on March 3.
The purpose of the tournament is to promote cricket among the affiliated ICC members, ACC Development Manager Zakir Syed Hussain wrote on his letter to CAN. Nepal is a promising Asian nation while the Maldives is also trying establishing itself in cricket with immense investment, according to the letter, while Bhutan is a new member of ICC.
The players of the national squad for the tournament will be selected after the Birendra Memorial National League, which will be finished by the end of February, said Dixit. The same squad will also play against Marelybone Cricket Club (MCC), England’s oldest club, which will be touring Nepal in mid-March.