Destination 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia — via Spain and Rwanda

PARIS: While the vast majority of cricket eyes are firmly focused on events in the Gulf where the 2021 T20 World Cup is just getting underway, a small minority are locked on events in Spain and Rwanda. The Desert Springs Cricket Ground in Almeria, a verdant cricketing outpost in a parched corner of south-east Spain, is currently hosting the European qualifiers for the next edition of the T20 World Cup, to be held in Australia next year.

Denmark, Germany, Italy and Jersey are the four teams bidding to finish in the top two and progress to the global qualifier. Hardly big names in the world of cricket but each side has its share of players claiming first-class experience.

Italy’s Jade Dernbach, 35, spent 15 years with Surrey and represented England in 35 T20s and 24 ODIs, playing in the 2012 T20 World Cup. The South African-born fast bowler qualifies for Italy through his mother and came on board after being tapped up by captain and head coach Gareth Berg, who plies his trade as an all-rounder for Northamptonshire.

“He (Berg) picked up the phone and he outlined what he was looking to achieve with Italian cricket and where he thought I could fit in on that journey,” Dernbach told The Cricketer. “He gave me some glowing reviews in terms of what it could be like for me, what I could add. It was nice to be wanted by someone.” Dernbach duly made his second international debut 2,757 days after his last international appearance in 2014 when he took 1-17 from his four overs in the six-wicket win over Denmark on Monday. On the other side of the deck that day was another former England player.

Denmark’s Amjad Khan, 41, won a single Test cap against the West Indies in 2009 and played one T20 international but injuries cut short his chances, not just with England but in county cricket as well where he turned out for Kent and Sussex. Already the only Danish cricketer to play Test cricket, the Copenhagenborn Amjad, who is not quite as fast a bowler these days as he was in his pomp, set another record in that game against the Italians on Monday.