The 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier was a

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

tournament that was played as part of qualification process for the 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. The sub regional tournaments were scheduled to take place in June and July 2021 in Finland and Belgium, with the regional final taking place in October 2021 in Spain. In April 2018, the

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the world governing body of cricket. Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, its members are List of International Cricket Council members, 108 national associations, with 12 List of Internation ...

(ICC) granted full international status to

Twenty20 Twenty20 (T20) is a shortened game format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the county cricket, inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have ...

men's matches played between member sides from 1 January 2019 onwards. Therefore, all the matches in the Regional Qualifiers were played as

Twenty20 International A Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces a maximum of twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are the ...

s (T20Is). However, in May 2021, after several postponements due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

, the sub-regional qualifiers were cancelled. As a result of the sub-regional qualifiers being cancelled,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

and

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establishe ...

qualified from Groups A, B and C respectively, based on their positions in the

ICC Men's T20I Team Rankings The ICC Men's T20I Team Rankings is an international Twenty20 cricket rankings system of the International Cricket Council. After every T20I match, the two teams involved receive points based on a mathematical formula. The total of each team's p ...

as of 30 April 2020.

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...

won the Regional Final, with Germany finishing in second place on

net run rate Net run rate (NRR) is a statistical method used in analysing teamwork and/or performance in cricket. It is the most commonly used method of ranking teams with equal points in limited overs league competitions, similar to goal difference in fo ...

, with both teams advancing to the Global Qualifiers.

Background

The top team in each sub regional qualifier would have progressed to the Regional Final, with the top two teams from the final progressing to one of the two Global Qualifiers.

, the highest ranked team as of 1 January 2020, progressed directly to the Regional Final. On 28 January 2020, the ICC confirmed the teams and locations of the participants in the Europe Qualifier, with Finland hosting its first ever ICC event. Originally the qualifiers were scheduled to be played between May and November 2020, in Belgium, Finland and Spain. However, on 24 March 2020, the

(ICC) confirmed that all ICC qualifying events scheduled to take place before 30 June 2020 had been postponed due to the

. The European groups were originally scheduled to take place at the

La Manga Club La Manga Club is a sports and leisure resort located in the south-eastern region of Spain, Murcia, south of La Manga, and bordered by the Mar Menor and Calblanque Regional Park. The resort complex opened in 1972 and covers an area of 1,400 ...

in Spain in late August 2020, with the Regional Final also taking place at La Manga, possibly as late as November 2020. However, due to the impact of the pandemic, the qualifiers were planned to take place in 2021, with two events in Finland and one in Belgium.

Teams

The teams were placed into the following groups:

Qualifier A

Qualifier A was originally scheduled to take place from 16 to 22 May 2020 at the

in Spain. The event was rescheduled to take place at the end of August 2020, but was later postponed again. In December 2020, ICC announced that the 8 team tournament would have been played between 8 and 13 July 2021. Finland were named as the hosts of this tournament. The group stage would have seen Bulgaria, Cyprus, France and Israel in one group, with Italy, Malta, Norway and Spain in the other.

Qualifier B

Group B was originally scheduled to take place from 24 to 30 June 2020 at the Kerava National Cricket Ground in

Kerava Kerava (; sv, Kervo) is a town and municipality within the Uusimaa region of Finland. The municipalities of Vantaa, Sipoo and Tuusula are adjacent to Kerava, which is part of the Helsinki metropolitan area. The town has a population of () ...

and Tikkurila Cricket Ground and in

Vantaa Vantaa (; sv, Vanda, ) is a city and municipality in Finland. It is part of the inner core of the Finnish Capital Region along with Helsinki, Espoo, and Kauniainen. With a population of (), Vantaa is the fourth most populated city in Finland ...

in Finland. The event was rescheduled to take place at the end of August 2020, but was later postponed again. In December 2020, ICC announced that the 8 team tournament would have been played between 30 June and 5 July 2021, with Finland hosting the event.

Qualifier C

Qualifier C was originally scheduled to take place from 10 to 16 June 2020 in Belgium at the Royal Brussels Cricket Club in Waterloo and the Belgian Oval in

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest i ...

. The event was rescheduled to take place at the end of August 2020, but was later postponed again. The event was rescheduled to take place at the end of August 2020, but was later postponed again. In December 2020, ICC announced that the 8 team tournament would have been played between 5 and 10 July 2021. Belgium would have hosted the tournament. The group stage would have seen Czech Republic, Denmark, Isle of Man and Romania in one group, with Austria, Belgium, Portugal and Serbia in the other.

Regional Final

In December 2020, the ICC announced that the four-team tournament would be played in Spain between 15 and 21 October 2021, with two teams moving on to the next round. The schedule was announced in early October. At the halfway stage, Jersey were on top of the table after winning their opening three games. Jersey then won their next match to confirm their progression to the Global Qualifiers. Germany finished in second place, ahead of Italy on

, to also advance to the Global Qualifiers.

Squads

On 20 September 2021, Italy named former

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

international bowler

Jade Dernbach Jade Winston Dernbach (born 3 March 1986) is a former professional cricketer. He represented Surrey (2003–2021), England (2011–2014) and Italy (2021). He made his first-class debut in 2003 and won the NBC Denis Compton Award in 2004 an ...

in their squad, as well as Australian-born

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

bowler Grant Stewart, both of whom qualify via their Italian mothers.

Gareth Berg Gareth Kyle Berg (born 18 January 1981) is a South African-born English-Italian cricketer who plays for Northamptonshire County Cricket Club. Born in South Africa, he attended Edgemead Primary School and then SACS (South African College School) ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

was named as captain and coach, with former England international

Owais Shah Owais Alam Shah (born 22 October 1978) is a former England cricketer. A middle-order batsman, he played for Middlesex from 1995 to 2010 and Essex from 2011 to 2013 before announcing his retirement from first-class cricket. He played Twenty20 ...

as assistant coach. Germany were boosted by a return to the national squad for Leicestershire bowler Dieter Klein, and a return from retirement for former

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lor ...

and Glamorgan all-rounder

Craig Meschede Craig Anthony Joseph Meschede (born 21 November 1991) is a South African-born German cricketer. An all-rounder, he bowls right-arm medium-fast, and bats right-handed. He made his debut for Somerset County Cricket Club in the 2011 Caribbean Twe ...

. Fayaz Khan and

Faisal Mubashir Faisal Bin Mubashir (born 29 September 1986) is a Pakistani cricketer who plays for the Germany national cricket team, Germany cricket team. He played 25 first-class cricket, first-class, 10 List A cricket, List A and 16 Twenty20 matches in Paki ...

were added to the German squad as reserves in October 2021. A dispute between the Danish association and its players following a proposed change to the selected squad, resulted in a number of players making themselves unavailable for selection. The Danish squad included former England international bowler Amjad Khan.

Points table

advanced to the global qualifier

Fixtures

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References

External links

Series home at ESPN Cricinfo
{{DEFAULTSORT:2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier Associate international cricket competitions in 2021 Associate international cricket competitions in 2021–22 Qualifiers ICC Men's T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier ICC International cricket competitions in Spain