The last competitive international match of the 2009 summer takes place at the Hrvatski Sokol ground in Budenec, Zagreb on Sunday, when Croatia play Israel for the final place in next season’s European Division 2 tournament.
Croatia finished bottom in the 2008 Division 2 event, while Israel (who had been relegated after losing to the Croatians in another play-off two years ago) bounced back by winning this season’s Division 3 competition in La Manga and earning themselves the chance for revenge.
Israel’s twelve-man squad, led by Herschel Gutman, is understandably based on the side which took that title, and includes promising teenagers Gabi Schachat, Nir Dokarkar and Safania Nagavkar.
The Israelis will be looking to Gutman and his vice-captain, Raymond Aston, to anchor the middle-order, while the captain, along with their leading wicket-taker in Spain, Eliezer Samson, is likely also to play a key role with the ball.
The hosts introduce four new players into their side, including all-rounder Craig Wear, who made a hard-hitting 61 against a strong MCC team in August. The other newcomers are Australian-born Ante Nazor, Vivek Sharma, and an exciting teenage prospect in fast bowler Nikola Davidovic, who won the bowling award at this year’s Carmel Twenty20 tournament, where Croatia won the plate competition.
Although the Croatians will be without several of their key players of recent years, such as New Zealand-born brothers John and Paul Vujnovich, Phil Siljeg and Chris Pivac, they will still have a useful side. Craig Sinovich takes over the captaincy, and he will be hoping that the combination of experience and new blood will give his team the edge.
Live updates from the match, which starts at 08:00 GMT (10:00 local time), will be carried on CricketEurope.
Full squads:
Croatia: Craig Sinovich (captain), Ivan Bilic, Jasen Butkovic, Nikola Davidovic, Jeff Grzinic, Mate Jukic, Pero Kastelan, Zdenko Leko, Paul Musin, Ante Nazor, Vivek Sharma and Craig Wear.
Israel: Herschel Gutman (captain), Raymond Aston, Shailesh Bangerra, Nir Dokarkar, David Massil, Safania Nagavkar, Yaniv Razpurker, Eliezer Samson, Gabi Schachat, Steven Shein, Isaac Talkar and Adrian Vard.
