2015–2017 ICC Intercontinental Cup
The 2015–2017 ICC Intercontinental Cup was the seventh edition of the ICC Intercontinental Cup, an international first-class cricket tournament between leading associate members of the International Cricket Council (ICC). The tournament took place during 2015 to 2017. It ran in parallel with the 2015–17 ICC World Cricket League Championship, but with slightly different teams. As Ireland and Afghanistan had qualified for the ICC One Day International Championship ranking qualification process, they were replaced by Kenya and Nepal in the limited over event; however they continued to play the four-day event.
| Dates | 10 May 2015 – 2 December 2017 |
|---|---|
| Administrator(s) | International Cricket Council |
| Cricket format | First-class cricket |
| Tournament format(s) | Round-robin |
| Host(s) | Various (home and away) |
| Champions | Afghanistan (2nd title) |
| Participants | 8 |
| Matches | 28 |
| Most runs | Babar Hayat (712) |
| Most wickets | Ahmed Raza (32) |
As a result of changes to the structure of international cricket announced by the ICC in January 2014, the winner of the 2015-17 Intercontinental Cup (and following editions of the tournament) were originally scheduled to play four five-day matches against the bottom ranked Test nation (two home and two away matches), an event known as the 2018 ICC Test Challenge. Should the winner of the Intercontinental Cup go on to win the ICC Test Challenge, they would have become the 11th Test nation.
However, in February 2017 following an ICC Board meeting, changes were agreed in principle to expand the number of Test nations to twelve. Both Afghanistan and Ireland were likely to be granted Test status before the proposed 2018 ICC Test Challenge. In June 2017, the ICC awarded both Afghanistan and Ireland Full Member status, making them eligible to play Test match cricket. As a result, the planned Test Challenge was scrapped.
Afghanistan won the competition, after beating the United Arab Emirates by 10 wickets in their final game. They finished with 121 points, with Ireland as runners-up on 109 points. Rashid Khan, man of the match for Afghanistan in the final fixture, said that winning the Intercontinental Cup was "good preparation for Test cricket for us".