Nepal has wound up its preparations for next week's Asian Cricket Council Trophy in Dubai and Sharjah, with practice matches in Kathmandu against Indian club teams.

National team coach, former Pakistan batsman, Haroon Rashid, said the matches against teams including Ranji Trophy players, had provided the squad with the opportunity to consolidate skills learnt in a training camp which commenced on October 15.

"I have organised practice matches in order to improve temperaments for [next week's] matches," Haroon said.

"At the moment the team is doing a good job and learning things quickly."

The batting has been particularly strong in the matches, averaging over six runs per over in the first game and five runs per over in the second.

He is also pleased with the overall composition of the squad.

"It is probably one of the most balanced outfits in the competition - we have both a left arm and right arm leg spinner, off-spinner, and a good all-rounder who can both bat and bowl well. Additionally, we have two good wicket-keepers in case anything should happen."

While confident in his team, Haroon avoided making any predictions.

"One day cricket being what it is, anything can happen."

Haroon was enthusiastic about the ACC Trophy.

"As a whole, it should be a good standard tournament - most of the teams have foreign coaches."

Haroon cited specialist batsman, Dipendra Chaudhary, as a key.

Nepal plays its first match in the tournament against the United Arab Emirates at the Dubai Cricket Council No. 2 Ground, while fellow Group B teams, Japan and the Maldives have a first day bye, clashing on Thursday at the Sharjah Stadium.

Malaysian captain, Suresh Navaratnam, said his team's three match visit to Dubai and Sharjah last month was valuable.

"It was a good tour - from it we knew we needed to take another spinner after playing on the Sharjah track."

The squad has been bolstered by the inclusion of batsman, Matthew William, who has been playing club cricket while studying in Canberra, Australia.

"It's a good batting side which can bat down to number 11," Navaratnam said.

Malaysia goes into the tournament having beaten two of its Group A counterparts, Hong Kong and Singapore, in the Tuanku Ja'Afar Trophy in Singapore in May.

International debutante, Kuwait, is the other team in the group. Malaysia plays its first match of the tournament at the Sharjah Stadium next Wednesday against Hong Kong, while in the other match, Singapore plays Kuwait at the Dubai Cricket Council No. 1 Ground.

Meanwhile, Singaporean national coach, Bruce Yardley, has expressed confidence his team can shine at next week's tournament despite a less than ideal preparation.

"We are looking to qualify for next year's Asia Cup in Pakistan," Yardley said.

"We go away as underdogs but are planning to do some damage," he added.

Like Hong Kong, the entire squad will meet for the first time in Sharjah, where its preparation to date will be fine-tuned through three days of intensive practice sessions.

Australian-based Andrew Scott (Adelaide) and Joshua Dearing (Brisbane) are Singaporean-born and join the Singapore residents in Sharjah for the tournament.

Scott has been playing first grade cricket in Adelaide while Dearing last week scored a century in Brisbane second grade.

Yardley is pleased with number of all-rounders in the squad and said the recent qualification of Kapila Mendis through the ICC's residential rules would boost the squad.

"He adds a new dimension with his batting and right arm medium pace."

Look out for CricInfo's coverage of the ACC Trophy in Sharjah and Dubai, from where I will be submitting reports on each day's play plus all the behind-the-scenes news.

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