CricketEurope's four man team (John Elder, Barry Chambers, Nick Deverill and Rod Lyall) at the World Cricket League First Division tournament in Nairobi met as the competition ended to select its own Team of the Tournament.

It was, disappointingly in some ways, a surprisingly easy task: there have been some fine individual performances during this tournament, but it would have been a more encouraging sign if twenty or so players had demanded serious consideration. As it was, we found that reaching agreement on our twelve was more straightforward than we had expected.

What was more surprising was that some of the players of undoubted quality who might have been expected to dominate had a relatively quiet tournament: Ryan Watson (Scotland), David Hemp (Bermuda), and Steve Tikolo (Kenya) are cases in point.

But that said, our selection committee was able to come up with a team that we think truly reflects the strength of Associates cricket in the eve of the World Cup.

Opening batsmen

Ireland's William Porterfield, with two centuries and another innings of 84, made 332 runs at an average of 110.67, and was the outstanding opener of the tournament. Fraser Watts and Majid Haq of Scotland regularly gave their side a solid start, while Bas Zuiderent of The Netherlands also found an improved level of consistency. Kenya's David Obuya began the competition well, but had a couple of lower scores in subsequent games before making a patient 93 in the final. We finally went for Haq, however, not least because his off spin would add variety to the attack.

Opening bowlers

It was hard to go past the Kenyan pair of Thomas Odoyo and Peter Ongondo - the latter the leading wicket-taker of the competition with 16, at an average of 12.60. They were without doubt the sharpest opening attack, and illustrate splendidly the old adage that fast (or medium-fast) bowlers tend to hunt in pairs. Paul Hoffmann (Scotland) was a strong contender as well, and we quickly decided to include him, on the basis that he would make a formidable first-change bowler.

Top and middle order

Unsurprisingly on Nairobi's wickets, the batsmen were generally on top throughout the tournament, with ten centuries recorded in fifteen matches and many personal bests established. Man of the Tournament Ashish Bagai (Canada) hit two of them and finished with 346 runs at 86.50, and his name was one of the first to go onto the list; the fact that he is also an extremely able wicket-keeper means that he would also occupy that role.

Eoin Morgan and Kevin O'Brien both batted consistently well for Ireland, hitting maiden ODI centuries and ending with aggregates of 261 and 264 respectively. Morgan's batting, on balance, was the more impressive of the pair, and he edged out his compatriot in our selection. The experience of Gavin Hamilton, who made 218 runs for Scotland at 54.20, earned him a specialist batting place, while Ryan ten Doeschate was selected at No. 6, as the leading all-rounder of the competition (182 runs at 60.67, including 105 not out, and 13 wickets at 15.00). One of the most promising of the younger brigade, Kenya's Tanmay Mishra had limited opportunities because his side won three matches easily chasing low totals, but gave a good deal of evidence of his ability; his excellent fielding made him an obvious choice as twelfth man.

Seamers

With Odoyo, Onyango and Hoffmann already selected, there was room for one more seam bowler in the side. André Botha (Ireland) was one of the competition's leading wicket-takers, bowling in an attack which suffered more than most, but his economy rate of 5.79 put him out of contention; Darron Reekers (The Netherlands), at the other extreme, was one of the most economical of the leading bowlers at 3.44, but the fact that he only bowled five or six overs per match worked against him.

One of the outstanding seamers of the tournament, however, was Scotland's Craig Wright, with 10 wickets at 20.90. He is also our captain by virtue of his schievement in steering his side to the final.

Spinners

Three spin bowlers finished with 8 wickets each: Haq, Kyle McCallan (Ireland), and Sunil Dhaniram (Canada). But the outstandng spinner of the tournament was Kenya's young left-armer Hiren Varaiya, who conceded just 3.35 per over and took six wickets into the bargain.

The CricketEurope team of the tournament is therefore:

Porterfield (Ireland), Haq (Scotland), Bagai (Canada, wicket-keeper), Morgan (Ireland), Hamilton (Scotland), ten Doeschate (The Netherlands), Odoyo (Kenya), Wright (Scotland, captain), Ongondo (Kenya), Hoffmann (Scotland), Varaiya (Kenya), Mishra (Kenya, 12th man).