THE senior national men's cricket squad has begun gunning up for a successful outing in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Challenge League B, to be played in Hong Kong in February 2025, by featuring in a series of trial games.

A Tanzania Cricket Association (TCA) official stated the trial games, termed TCA 50 Overs Trials Tournament, are played in Dar es Salaam- bringing together selected competent junior cricketers and their senior counterparts.

The official said hosting the TCA 50 Overs Trials Tournament is an idea recommended by the senior national team's head coach, Pushpa Kumar, to ensure his players are in great shape ahead of the ICC tournament.

The players selected for the TCA 50 Overs Trials Tournament, the official said, are part of the national U-19 squad and several prospective senior cricketers.

The official added the showdown would hardly be an annual feature, saying it was designed by Kumar to give his players sufficient practice sessions.

Tanzania Blue, Tanzania Yellow, and Tanzania Green are the squads participating in the TCA 50 Overs Trials Tournament.

He disclosed that there will further be a Super League held in a 50-over format, slated to take place in Dar es Salaam in January next year.

The showdown, according to the official, would equally serve as a chance for the prospective senior national cricketers to keep on shaping up for the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Challenge League B.

The ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Challenge League is a cricket competition contested in the List A format, and the bottom level of the three-league Cricket World Cup qualification system, which was introduced in 2019. 

Twelve teams participate in two groups, with the top team of each group advancing to the World Cup Qualifier Play-off, which is a pathway to qualification for the next Cricket World Cup.

The Challenge League replaced Divisions Three, Four and Five from the World Cricket League in determining World Cup qualification. The first edition was in 2019–2022.

The 2024–2026 ICC Cricket World Cup Challenge League is the second edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup Challenge League and a cricket tournament which forms part of the 2027 Cricket World Cup qualification process.

The league features 12 teams - those finishing second–fourth in their respective league in the 2019–2022 ICC Cricket World Cup Challenge League, the top four finishers from the 2024 ICC Cricket World Cup Challenge League Play-off, and two teams from the 2023 Cricket World Cup Qualifier Play-off.

That tournament saw Canada, winner of League A in the previous Challenge League being promoted to League 2 status, while Papua New Guinea was relegated.

The other Challenge League winner, Jersey, was not successful in obtaining promotion. 

The top two teams from both groups, A and B, will secure a spot at the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Qualifier Playoff.

Each group in the ICC Cricket World Cup Challenge League is scheduled to play three times in a single round-robin tournament format, once each year from 2024 to 2026.

This amounts to 15 matches per team and a total of 90 matches.