The Danish National Team will be back in World Cup action this January when they visit Sri Lanka and China for the forthcoming ICC World Cricket League Division 3 tournament in Hong Kong.

The “Vikings” will stop on route to Asia in Colombo for five days of preparation (15th – 20th January 2011), before further flying on to Hong Kong for the tournament itself (21st – 29th January 2011). Prior to this the DCF has set up a further Development Academy for four selected players from the squad, these players will train and practice in Colombo ahead of the main squad arriving on the 15th January.

The squad itself is a good blend of youth and experience; it has further been selected with the expected conditions in mind. National Coach, Simon Talbot explains.
“I must start by explaining that it has been a difficult decision to whittle the squad down to fourteen players. The initial squad of eighteen could all have played! However, I believe we have assembled the right blend of youth and experience and most importantly, the type of players that will be able to deal with the Asian conditions in January. I believe also that we have managed to select a good blend of styles in both our batting and bowling units, and we now have many different options within the squad. Coupled with our ever improving fitness and fielding levels, we are all looking forward to both Sri Lanka and Hong Kong with great optimism”.

The Danish National team has dropped two divisions since April 2009, International performances have been limited and below par. The team itself has been going through a massive re-building phase, a total of twenty five players have been tested at the top level by National Coach, Simon Talbot. Hong Kong will be a further test on Talbot’s young charges.
“We have made some huge changes within the Danish National Team, both on and off the field” Talbot explains. “The two training camps in Colombo and the WCL in Hong Kong are simply a part of the continued development plan we have in place at the DCF. We are looking at the longer term as well as the present. The number of youngsters and experienced players is evidence of this, and the players that didn’t make the final squad are further evidence about how we are preparing for the future of the game on a world level”.
“I believe we are building a team that will be able to compete at the highest levels of the game and more importantly, compete in the different formats that we will be encountering over the next few years at International levels”. “Our preparation has been perfect this winter, and I can feel from the boys that we are raring to go!”

Coverage of the tour will be carried here on CricketEurope.

The squad itself consists of:-
Frederik Klokker (Wkt) - Excelsior 20,
Michael Pedersen (Capt), Herning,
Carsten Pedersen, Herning,
Jacob Larsen, Herning,
Troels Thøgersen - Herning,
Rizwan Mahmood - Skanderborg,
Martin Pedersen – Kolding,
Bobby Chawla – Svanholm,
Naveed Mughal, – AB
Bashir Shah – AB,
Yasir Iqbal – KB,
Aftab Ahmed, – Glostrup
David Borchersen – Glostrup,
Basit Raja - Ishøj

Reserves for the squad are:
Omar Hayat – AB,
Sair Anjum – Svanholm,
Shehzad Ahmed - Glostrup,
Ihyas Saumy - Herning

Manager: Ole Roland
Coach: Simon Talbot
Assistant Coach: Bret Mulder
Scorer: Injam Kokhar