Cricket World Cup Qualifier: All you need to know...

10 teams are set to battle it out for a place at the 2019 World Cup

What is it again?

This is the scrap for the last two seats at the table. Said table being the 2019 World Cup in England.

Eight Full Members (Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, South Africa and Sri Lanka) have already qualified. Now the Qualifier must whittle down the chasing pack to two.

Nearly 200 countries on planet Earth, but we’re down to 10 competing in the World Cup.

How many teams feature?

10.

Four Full Members ( Afghanistan, Ireland, West Indies and Zimbabwe) will be joined by six Associate nations (Hong Kong, Netherlands, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Scotland and Zimbabwe).

And when does it all kick off?

The Qualifier gets underway on Sunday March 4.

Where is it taking place?

The 10 teams will be battling it out in Zimbabwe.

How does it work?

In a nutshell? 10 teams, 34 matches, two qualify.

Outside of the nutshell…

The 10 teams are split down the middle with the top three in each group progressing to a Super Six stage. There the teams play the three teams they did not face in the group stage. Group-stage points are carried into the Super Six round, but not the points gained against the bottom two group teams.

WORLD CUP QUALIFIER GROUPS

Group A: West Indies, Ireland, Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, UAE

Group B: Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, Scotland, Hong Kong, Nepal 

Following still?

The top two at the end of the Super Six will play a final but regardless of the outcome of that particular contest, those two sides will qualify for the World Cup.

Great, so how do I keep up with the action?

This is the first time that World Cup Qualifiers have been broadcast live.

10 matches will be televised: West Indies v Ireland and West Indies v Netherlands in the group stage, seven Super Six matches and the final. 

There will be further digital content across the ICC's channels.

A full list of where the televised matches will be shown in your country can be found HERE.

Fixtures

Group A

Ireland, Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, United Arab Emirates, Windies

March 4: Papua New Guinea v UAE; Ireland v Netherlands

March 6: Papua New Guinea v Ireland; Windies v UAE

March 8: Netherlands v UAE; Windies v Papua New Guinea

March 10: Windies v Ireland*; Papua New Guinea v Netherlands

March 12: Windies v Netherlands*; Ireland v UAE

READ MORE | A Nepalese wonderkid, Papua New Guinea's star batsman and the Dutch swing king... WCQ players to watch

Group B

Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Nepal, Scotland, Zimbabwe

March 4: Zimbabwe v Nepal; Afghanistan v Scotland

March 6: Zimbabwe v Afghanistan; Scotland v Hong Kong

March 8: Scotland v Nepal; Afghanistan v Hong Kong

March 10: Zimbabwe v Hong Kong; Afghanistan v Nepal

March 12: Hong Kong v Nepal; Zimbabwe v Scotland

READ MORE | Ten into two: Windies join Ireland, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe and Associates to decide who will make the World Cup

Super Six

March 15: A1 v B1

March 15: A3 v B3

March 16: A2 v B2

March 18: A2 v B3

March 19: A1 v B2

March 20: A3 v B1

March 22: A1 v B3

March 22: A3 v B2

March 23: A2 v B1

Final

March 25