In the International Spotlight...Japan Cricket

The Japan national cricket team is the team that represents the country of Japan in international cricket matches. They have been an associate member of the International Cricket Council since 2005, having previously been an affiliate member since 1989. They are currently ranked at equal 37th in the world and at fourth amongst non-test teams in their region.

Cricket was first played in Japan in 1868 when a group of English merchants living in Yokohama founded the Yokohama Cricket Club, playing their matches on what eventually became the Yokohama Stadium. The club, now renamed as the Yokohama Country & Athletic Club, still plays cricket today.

Cricket did not become organised until the 1980s, when the Japan Cricket Association was formed. They became an affiliate member of the ICC in 1989, and the national team first played in the 1996 ACC Trophy, losing all their games including a 380 run defeat by Fiji. They continued without success in the 1998 tournament and the 2000 tournament.

After the 2000 ACC Trophy, they left the Asian Cricket Council and became part of the ICC's East Asia/Pacific region. They played in the East Asia Eights tournament in Australia in February 2002, finishing as runners up to an Australian indigenous team. Indonesia and South Korea were the other teams in the tournament. In 2004, they hosted the East Asia Pacific Cricket Challenge tournament as part of qualification for the 2007 World Cup, finishing third after beating Indonesia in a play-off.

In June 2005, Japan were promoted to associate membership of the ICC and that year they played in the 2005 ICC EAP Cricket Cup in Vanuatu, winning the tournament after beating the Cook Islands in the final. The following year they played in the 2006 ICC EAP Cricket Trophy in Brisbane finishing last in the three team tournament that also involved Fiji and the Cook Islands.