The ICC 6 Nations Challenge was a

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

tournament played every two years between 2000 and 2004. It was a tournament involving the best associate members of the

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the global Sports governing body, governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from Australia, England, and South Africa. In 1965, the body wa ...

, who were joined in the first two tournaments by A teams from Zimbabwe (2000+2002) and Sri Lanka (2002 only). Its place has been taken in the international cricket calendar by the

ICC World Cricket League Championship The ICC World Cricket League Championship was the top division of the World Cricket League (WCL). It formed the qualification process for the Cricket World Cup. The WCL Championship was originally known as World Cricket League Division One, and ...

(initially known as World Cricket League Division One), which performs the same function.

2000 Tournament

The 2000 tournament was played in

Harare Harare ( ), formerly Salisbury, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of , a population of 1,849,600 as of the 2022 Zimbabwe census, 2022 census and an estimated 2,487,209 people in its metrop ...

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

, the hosts being represented by Zimbabwe A. They were joined by

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

, and four European teams;

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

The Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. It was then known as the ICC Emerging Nations tournament, and was won by Kenya.

2002 Tournament

The 2002 tournament was held in

Windhoek Windhoek (; ; ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek, which ...

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

in April. Its purpose was to prepare the four associate teams for the

2003 Cricket World Cup The 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup was the eighth Cricket World Cup, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya from 9 February to 23 March 2003. This edition of the World Cup was the ...

. To this end, those four teams (

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, Kenya,

and the Netherlands) were joined by A teams from Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka. The tournament was again won by Kenya, who beat Sri Lanka A in the final.

Points Table

Final

The final between Sri Lanka A and Kenya was played on 14 April 2002. Kenya won the toss and elected to field first. Sri Lanka were dismissed for 211.

Jehan Mubarak Jehan Mubarak (; born 10 January 1981) is an American-born former professional Sri Lankan cricketer, who played all formats of the game. He is a left-handed batsman and a right-arm offbreak bowler. Personal life The son of Azeez Mohamed Mubar ...

top scored with 82, and

Steve Tikolo Stephen Ogonji Tikolo (born 25 June 1971) is a former Kenya international cricketer, and a former One Day International captain. Widely regarded as the greatest Kenyan cricketer ever, Tikolo has scored the most runs and taken the second most wi ...

was the pick of the Kenyan bowlers with 3/29. Kenya lost seven wickets in pursuit of their target, but still reached it in the 48th over for the three wicket win. The Final was Umpired by Rudi Koertzen of South Africa and Zimbabwean Duncan Frost with Jeff Luck of Namibia serving as 3rd Umpire.

2004 Tournament

The 2004 tournament was held in

Sharjah Sharjah (; ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It is the capital of the Emirate of Sharjah and forms part of the D ...

and

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

. It served as a qualification tournament for the

2004 ICC Champions Trophy The 2004 ICC Champions Trophy was held in England in September 2004. Twelve teams competed in 15 matches spread over 16 days at three venues: Edgbaston Cricket Ground, Edgbaston, Rose Bowl (cricket ground), The Rose Bowl and The Oval. The nation ...

. With Kenya busy on a tour of the West Indies, the top five teams from the

2001 ICC Trophy The 2001 ICC Trophy was a cricket tournament played in Ontario, Canada in 2001. It was the Cricket World Cup qualification tournament for the 2003 Cricket World Cup. Three spots in the World Cup were on offer and the Netherlands, host nation Cana ...

(Canada, Namibia, Netherlands, Scotland and the

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a federal elective monarchy made up of seven emirates, with Abu Dhabi serving as i ...

were joined by the

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

. The USA went on to win the tournament and qualify for the Champions Trophy. It was a close tournament, with five teams all winning three games and losing two, the USA topped the table on net run rate by a tiny margin of 0.028.

References

External links

Cricket Archive page on 2000 tournament

{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319061124/http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Seasons/NAMIB/2001-02_NAMIB_ICC_Six_Nations_Challenge_2001-02.html , date=2012-03-19

One Day International cricket competitions Defunct cricket competitions International Cricket Council events Recurring sporting events established in 2000 Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2004 Biennial sporting events