A blog-site about anything and everything to do with cricket, contains a variety of content relating to cricket and is updated on a regular basis. All visitors are welcome to browse, leave comments and spread the word about my blog. If you have any requests you want me to make within my blog-site please leave a comment detailing your request and I will attend to it as soon as possible :)
The Gibraltar national cricket team is the team that represents the British overseas territory of Gibraltar in international cricket. They have been an associate member of the International Cricket Council since 1969. They are currently ranked sixth amongst European non-Test teams.
History:
Early years: Cricket has been played in Gibraltar by British servicemen since the late 18th century. A cricket ground is known to have existed north of the Rock of Gibraltar in 1800. Civilians were playing the game as well as servicemen by 1822. The Gibraltar Cricket Club was formed in 1883, and formed the backbone of civilian cricket until well into the 20th Century.
In 1890, a ship carrying the Australia national cricket team on the way to a tour of England, docked in Gibraltar Harbour after a collision with two other ships. The Australians played a game against a Gibraltar Garrison team. The local side were dismissed for just 25, and the Australians won the game, scoring 150/8.
The game was flourishing in the 1930s, with Gibraltar producing many locally born players. However, the Second World War meant a cut back in the game, with many cricket fields giving way to the military, one even being converted into an airfield. Post-war years: The 1950s saw an increase in clubs, and the Gibraltar Cricket Association was formed in 1960. They were elected to associate membership of the ICC in 1969. Essex County Cricket Club visited after the conclusion of the 1973 English domestic season, and played a Rock XI in a one day game, winning by 178 runs. Visits by English sides of various ability levels have continued ever since.
In 1982, Gibraltar took part in the second ICC Trophy, without winning a match. They improved on this performance in the 1986 tournament, gaining their first international win against Israel. They performed even better in the next tournament, beating East and Central Africa, Singapore and Israel reaching the plate competition. Israel toured Gibraltar in 1992, winning the match they played against the national side.
Gibraltar finished in 20th place in the 1994 ICC Trophy, and played in the first European Championship in Copenhagen in 1996, finishing sixth after losing to Scotland in a play-off. They finished 19th in the following years ICC Trophy and played poorly in the 1998 European Championship, finishing last in the ten team tournament.
In 1999, Gibraltar hosted a quadrangular tournament also involving France, Israel and Italy, losing in the final to Italy. The European Championship was split into two divisions in 2000, with Gibraltar placed in Division Two, which they won. The following year they travelled to Canada to take part in the 2001 ICC Trophy. A withdrawal by Italy and the non-arrival of West Africa left Gibraltar with just three matches to play against Germany, Namibia and Nepal, losing all of them and not progressing beyond the first round.
Tournament History: ICC Trophy:
1979: Did not participate
1982: First round
1986: First round
1990: Plate competition
1994: 20th place
1997: 19th place
2001: First round
2005: Did not qualify
European Championship:
1996: 6th place
1998: 10th place
2000: Division Two winners
2002: Division Two winners
2004: 5th place (Division Two)
2006: 4th place (Division Two)
2008: 3rd place (Division Two)
Gibraltar defended their European Division Two title in 2002, but could not continue this success in 2004, finishing fifth out of six teams. They did not qualify for the 2005 ICC Trophy, and finished fourth in Division Two of the European Championship in 2006 after losing a play-off to Germany.
In 2008, Gibraltar took part in Division Two of the European Championship in Guernsey, playing against the hosts in addition to France, Germany, Jersey and the winner of a play-off between Israel and Croatia. In a recent ICC reshuffle, Gibratar will now play in ICC World Cricket League Division 7.
The Denmark national cricket team is the team that represents the country of Denmark in international cricket matches. They have been an associate member of the International Cricket Council since 1966 and are currently part of the ICC's High Performance Program.
History: Beginnings Cricket has been played in Denmark since the mid 19th century, with the first club being formed in 1865 by English railway engineers. The first organised match was played the following year between two teams of English players, with the first matches involving Danish players taking place in 1866. The game expanded greatly over the following twenty years, with 30 new clubs being formed in 1883.
Several touring sides from England and Scotland visited the country in the early part of the 20th century, including the famous Marylebone Cricket Club. In 1933, an attempt to organise the first international match against the Netherlands failed, and it wasn't until 1954 when the Danish national side played their first match against Oxford University, the year after the current Danish Cricket Federation was formed.
They then began to play against other national sides, primarily the Netherlands, who they first played in 1955. They played their first match against Scotland in 1961. ICC Membership Denmark became an associate member of the ICC in 1966, drawing their international against Scotland that year. They played Bermuda for the first time in 1969 and drew their first match against Ireland in 1970. They finally picked up their first international win against the Netherlands in 1972.
They played their first matches against Canada in 1974, losing a three-day match but winning the limited overs match. They played home internationals against East Africa and Sri Lanka, beating East Africa. They toured East Africa the following year, drawing with both East Africa and Kenya.
They took part in the first ICC Trophy in 1979, reaching the semi final where they lost to Sri Lanka. They did not take part in the 1982 tournament. In 1983, Ole Mortensen became the first Danish player to play county cricket. Denmark returned to the ICC Trophy in 1986 and finished third after beating Bermuda in the third place play off.
In 1989, Denmark hosted Australia for two one-day matches. They lost the first match in Brøndby by 45 runs and lost the second in Copenhagen by 54 runs. They fared better at home against Canada that year, winning twice against them. After playing both home and away against Bangladesh in 1990, they played in the ICC Trophy, reaching the second round.
Denmark again played in the ICC Trophy in 1994, finishing tenth in the tournament after losing to Namibia in the plate final. They played their first matches against France in 1995, and hosted the first European Cricket Championship in 1996, finishing third. They finished fifth in the following years ICC Trophy and were runners up in the European Championship in 1998.
In 1999, Denmark took part in the C & G Trophy for the first time. The following year, they took part in the ICC Emerging Nations Tournament in Zimbabwe, where they finished fourth, and the European Championship, where they finished last, without winning a game. The following year, they took part in the ICC Trophy in Canada, finishing eighth. The MCC toured Denmark in 2002, and Denmark won all three matches. They won just one match at that year's European Championship, finishing fifth ahead of Italy. Present day The Netherlands visited Denmark in 2003, winning both matches. Denmark played a two match series against Ireland later in the year, losing both matches and missing out on qualification for the ICC Intercontinental Cup. They again finished last in the European Championship the following year. In 2005, they played their final match in the C & G Trophy, losing heavily to Northamptonshire before taking part in the 2005 ICC Trophy, where they again finished eighth.
In 2006, Denmark again took part in the European Championship, finishing fourth after winning only against Italy. At the end of that year, it was announced that they would join the ICC's High Performance Program from 1 April 2007.
In August 2007, Denmark registered a win over Bermuda an ODI playing country, and towards the end of October 2007 they played in Kenya against domestic teams and Kenya A. Denmark led by Freddie Klokker who scored consecutive centuries in all their matches clean swept the Kenyan sides and Kenya A. Denmark bowled, batted and fielded exceptionally well.
Records:
ICC Trophy
Highest team total: 284/6 v Hong Kong, 29 June 2001 at Maple Leaf Cricket Club, King City, Ontario, Canada
Highest individual innings: 138 not out by Frederik Klokker v USA, 2 July 2005 at Armagh, Northern Ireland
Best bowling in an innings: 7/19 by Ole Mortensen v Israel, 24 February 1994 at Nairobi, Kenya
The Uganda national cricket team is the team that represents the country of Uganda in international cricket matches. Having previously been part of the combined East African and East and Central African teams, they became an associate member of the International Cricket Council in their own right in 1998. They began to play international cricket in 1951/52 when they first took part in a triangular tournament against regional rivals Kenya and Tanzania (then Tanganyika).
They have competed in the ICC Trophy on two occasions, in 2001 and 2005. They won Division Three of the World Cricket League in Darwin, Australia in 2007, qualifying them for Division Two of the same tournament towards the end of 2007, which also qualified them for a spot on the ICC's High Performance Program. History: East Africa team:
Uganda combined with their regional rivals Kenya and Tanzania to form the East Africa team. The first known match for this team was against a South African "Non-Europeans" team captained by Basil D'Oliveira in September 1958 in Nairobi, with the visitors winning by seven wickets. East Africa became an associate member of the ICC in 1966 and India toured the following year, winning a match against Uganda by 6 wickets before a first-class match against East Africa in Kampala which India won by 8 wickets.
East Africa toured England in 1972 and the Marylebone Cricket Club played a first-class match against East Africa in January 1974, winning by 237 runs. The following year, East Africa played in the 1975 Cricket World Cup in England. After various warm-up games, including a 3 wicket win against Glamorgan, they played New Zealand, India and England in the World Cup itself, losing all three matches. The World Cup was followed by a first-class match against Sri Lanka at the County Cricket Ground, Taunton, which the Sri Lankans won by 115 runs. East Africa played in the ICC Trophies of 1979, 1982 and 1986, without qualifying for the World Cup from any of them.
Uganda continued playing their regular matches against Kenya and Tanzania, despite Kenya leaving the East Africa combination in and the triangular tournament became a quadrangular tournament in 1966 when Zambia joined in. From then until the tournament's end in 1980, Uganda won the tournament just once.
East and Central Africa cricket team: The East Africa team left the ICC in 1989 and was replaced by the East and Central Africa team the same year. This new team was a combination of Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, and they took part in the ICC Trophy for the first time in 1990, also taking part in 1994, 1997 and 2001.
Setting out on their own: Uganda left the East and Central Africa combination and became an associate member of the ICC in their own right in 1998. Their first international tournament was the 2001 ICC Trophy. After winning all five of their first round games, they lost a play-off match against the UAE for the right to enter the second stage of the tournament. The following year, they finished third in their group in the Africa Cup.
In 2004, Uganda played their first first-class matches in the ICC Intercontinental Cup against Kenya and Namibia, winning against Namibia. In August that year, they finished second to Namibia in the Africa Cricket Association Championships in Zambia. This qualified them for the following years ICC Trophy, in which they finished in twelfth and last place after losing to Papua New Guinea in their final play-off match. Earlier in the year, they again played against Namibia and Kenya in the 2005 ICC Intercontinental Cup, losing both games.
Present Day: In January 2007, Uganda faced Bermuda and Canada as those two teams prepared for Division One of the World Cricket League in Nairobi. This also served as preparation for Uganda's visit to Darwin, Australia, for Division Three of the same tournament. They won their games against the Cayman Islands, Hong Kong and Tanzania before beating Papua New Guinea in the semi-final. They then beat Argentina in the final of the tournament.
Uganda's performance in the Division Three tournament means that they have gained a spot in the ICC's High Performance Program, and will now travel to Windhoek, Namibia towards the end of 2007 where they will face Argentina, Denmark, Oman and the UAE in addition to hosts Namibia. A top four finish in this tournament will qualify them for the 2009 ICC World Cup Qualifier, whilst a bottom two finish will mean that they play in Division Three again in 2009.
Uganda took part in a four-team Twenty20 tournament prior to the 2007 Twenty20 World Cup, playing games against Pakistan, Kenya, and Bangladesh in Nairobi. As expected, they lost against Pakistan and Bangladesh, losing but they stunned African rivals Kenya with a two-wicket win.
Their next matches were two one-day games against Bermuda, also in Nairobi, in October 2007. They surprised their more experienced rivals, going down by just seven runs after Nandikishore Patel and Danniel Ruyange scored half-centuries, before winning the second match by 43 runs with Joel Olwenyi scoring a half-century of his own.
The Singapore national cricket team is the team that represents the country of Singapore in international cricket matches. They have been an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) since 1974 and have played in every edition of the ICC World Cup Qualifier (formerly the ICC Trophy) to date with the exception of the 1986 and 2005 tournaments. They have also ruled themselves out of qualification for the 2009 ICC World Cup Qualifier after finishing fifth in Division Five of the World Cricket League in 2008.
They also have played in each edition of the ACC Trophy and its predecessor the South East Asian Tournament. They play annually against Malaysia in the Saudara Cup three-day match and the Stan Nagaiah Trophy one-day series and between 1991 and 2004 played Malaysia, Hong Kong and Thailand in the Tuanku Ja'afar Cup.
History:
Beginnings of cricket in Singapore: The first recorded mention of cricket in Singapore was in 1837 when a "Mr Z" complained, in a letter to the Singapore Free Press, of cricket being played near a church on a Sunday in violation of the Sabbath. This resulted in cricket being banned on Sundays, a prohibition that remained in place until the 1930s.
Cricket was an important recreational activity, with matches often played against the officers of visiting ships. The Singapore Cricket Club was formed in 1852 and played its first match amongst themselves the same year. The quality of cricket in these early years was quite poor, and it wasn't until 1865 before a team total of more than 100 was scored. Louis Glass became the first person in Singapore to record a century two years later.
The Singapore Cricket Club eventually began to play against teams from other parts of British Malaya such as Penang, Perak and Kuala Lumpur and this eventually led to an invitation from Hong Kong to send a team there, which saw the beginning of the long running series of "Interport Matches". Singapore team: (First matches) The Singapore team did play twice during the Straits Settlements team era, playing twice against WAS Oldfield's XI in 1927, losing both matches by an innings. They next played in 1957, drawing at home to Ceylon. Various teams visited Singapore in the 1960s, including Worcestershire.
The Interport Matches resumed in 1968 with Singapore drawing against Hong Kong. These matches were played occasionally until 1987. In 1970, the Saudara Cup match against Malaysia was played for the first time, this continues annually to the present day. Also that year, Singapore played an MCC side captain by Tony Lewis and featuring Geoff Boycott. The match was won by the MCC.
ICC membership: Singapore became an associate member of the ICC in 1974 and three years later won the Saudara Cup for the first time. In 1978, Singapore played India at home, the match ending in a draw. Singapore took part in the first ICC Trophy in England in 1979 but could only finish fourth in their first round group after only beating Argentina. They finished fourth out of eight teams in their first round group in the 1982 tournament and withdrew from the 1986 tournament when several of their players couldn't get leave from work.
Singapore played in the South East Asian Tournament for the first time in 1984, playing in the event again in 1988 and 1992 (when they hosted), though they never reached the final as Bangladesh and Hong Kong finished first and second on each occasion. The final Interport Match took place in Singapore in 1987, with Hong Kong beating the home side. They returned to the ICC Trophy for the 1990 tournament in the Netherlands, beating Malaysia and Israel during the event, and failing to progress past the first round.
Singapore began playing in the Tuanku Ja'afar Cup in 1991, an annual tournament against Malaysia, Hong Kong and Thailand. They won the event just once, in 1994, a year in which they finished 19th out of 20 teams in the ICC Trophy. The Stan Nagaiah Trophy, an annual three match series of one-day matches against Malaysia, began the following year. Singapore played in the first ACC Trophy in 1996, beating the Maldives and Thailand but failing to go past the first round. They finished 14th in the 1997 ICC Trophy and could only beat Papua New Guinea in the 1998 ACC Trophy, again failing to go past the first round.
21st century: The first two major tournaments of the 21st century for Singapore got them off to a bad start as they lost all their first round matches in both the 2000 ACC Trophy in the UAE and the 2001 ICC Trophy in Ontario, their final ICC Trophy to date. They hosted the ACC Trophy in 2002, beating the Maldives and Thailand (by 325 runs) but again failing to progress beyond the first round, a performance they repeated in 2004. The finished fourth in the ACC Fast Track Nations Tournament in 2004 and 2005.
Singapore began to show an improvement in their form in 2006. That year they finished third in the ACC Premier League and finally passed the first round stage in the ACC Trophy, finishing fifth to qualify for Division Five of the World Cricket League in 2008. They didn't progress beyond the first round of the 2007 ACC Twenty20 Cup, beating only Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia, but captain Chaminda Ruwan did make the highest score of the tournament. In the World Cricket League Division Five tournament in Jersey, Singapore finished fifth after beating Botswana in a play-off, though they did beat Afghanistan during the first round, who went on to win the tournament.
Records:
ICC Trophy:
Highest team total: 231/6 v Gibraltar, 25 February 1994 at Ruaraka Sports Club Ground, Nairobi
Highest individual score: 77 by Joshua Dearing v Canada, 28 June 2001 at Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club
Best innings bowling: 5/39 by M. Rajalingam v Fiji, 5 July 1982 at Solihull Cricket Club Ground Overall:
Highest team total: 440/2 v Thailand, 16 July 2002 at Kallang Ground, Singapore
Highest individual score: 191 by K Mendis v Thailand, 16 July 2002 at Kallang Ground, Singapore
Best innings bowling: 8/8 by Mahesh Mehta v Malaysia, 14 September 1979 at The Padang, Malaysia Links to more information on Singapore Cricket:
The Afghan cricket team(Pashto:دافغانستان د کرکټ ملی لوبډله Dari: تیم ملی کریکت افغانستان) is a national cricket team representing Afghanistan. They have been an Affiliate Member of the ICC since 2001, and an Associate Member of the Asian Cricket Council since 2003.
Originally the Taliban regime in Afghanistan had banned cricket as they had banned most other sports, but in early 2000 there was a change of heart and the government wrote to the Pakistan Cricket Board asking for the PCB's support for an Afghan application to the ICC.
Cricket was previously little known in Afghanistan, until civil war drove many Afghans as refugees into Pakistan, where they found the game of cricket common as a leftover from the British Raj; those refugees returning brought it back to Afghanistan. In 2001, the Afghan side took part in a four-match tour of Pakistan, visiting Peshawar and Rawalpindi, and the team also visited in 2003 and 2004. In 2004 Afghanistan played in the ACC Trophy in Kuala Lumpur - the regional qualifying competition for the ICC Trophy - and performed respectably, with the highlight being a surprise win over hosts Malaysia. They finished sixth in that tournament, only just missing out on progression along the qualifying path for the 2007 World Cup by one place.
In 2006 Afghanistan hosted an MCC team led by former England captain Mike Gatting in a 40-over contest, and the Afghans won by 171 runs with Gatting being dismissed for a duck.
Later in 2006 the team competed in the ACC Trophy for the second time and finished in third place, thereby gaining entry to Division Five of the ICC World Cricket League which forms part of the qualification pathway to the 2011 World Cup. In May 2008, Afghanistan reached the final of the Division Five competition to qualify for Division Four. In the final, Afghanistan defeated Jersey, the host nation. Afghanistan defeated Hong Kong in the final of the tournament, which means they both reached WCL Division 3 too. Afghanistan kept its unbeaten record by beating Fiji, Tanzania, Jersey, Hong Kong (2 times) and Italy in the tournament. Now, they are setting for the WCL Division 3 tournament which be held in Argentina in January 2009.
2008 ICC World Cricket League Division Four Champions: Afghanistan made a dramatic victory in Tanzania winning their all 6 played matches and at the end defeating Hong Kong in the Final by 57 runs. Afghanistan team who bat first put a target of 180 to Hong Kong, and by having the best bowlers diminished Hong Kong on just 122. Spin bowler Mohammad Nabi got 4 wickets in 9 overs with just 9 runs and bowled some of the Hong Kong's best batsmen like Butt Hussain, Najib Amar and Moneer Ahmad. Fast bowler Hamid Hassan actually broke the back-bone of Hong Kong Tabarak Dar, he was bowled. Afghanistan Cricket Team chose a new coach Kabir Khan in September 2008 prior to the tournament. Kabir Khan didn't have much time to train the team practically but he actually made the team to be ready for the games mentaly and pyschologically, because Afghanistan have played their previous games very emotionally with less patience. They played with a new tactic under Coach Kabir Khan and the results were outstanding. Afghanistan will play Division 3 in Argentina in January 2009.
2008 ACC Trophy Elite The Afghanistan National Cricket team left the country on 23 July to participate in ACC Trophy Elite 2008. The ACC Trophy started on 25 July and ended on 03 August 2008. The ACC Trophy is the premier tournament in the Asia development region. The finalists of the ACC Trophy Elite qualify for the immediately succeeding Asia Cup where they take on Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in ODIs. Afghanistan finished 3rd in this tournament behind Hong Kong and UAE. 2008 ICC World Cricket League Division Five Champions: Afghanistan overcame Jersey and win a dramatic ICC World Cricket League Division 5 (WCL Div. 5) final in Jersey on 31 May. In a low-scoring match at the Grainville Jersey, Afghanistan completed the target of 81 runs with two wickets to spare. Afghanistan and Jersey join Hong Kong, Fiji, Tanzania and Italy in the six-team ICC WCL Div. 4 set for the Tanzanian capital of Dar Es Salaam from 4 to 11 October. In turn, the top two teams from that tournament will progress to WCL Div. 3 in Argentina next January and hope to finish in the top two to qualify for the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2009 in the UAE, which incorporates Divisions 1 and 2. The top four Associate or Affiliate teams from the ICC World Cup Qualifier will book their places at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 to be staged in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Tour to USA: Compton Cricket Club vs Afghanistan national cricket team: A match with the Afghanistan national cricket team had been organised for June 7th. 2008. Unfortunately the match has had to be postponed due to lack of funding for the National Cricket team from Afghanistan to fly from their home camp to Los Angeles for the historical match.
The 2 clubs are working towards another date fixture for this match.
This will be the first time that a cricket team from Afghanistan has toured to America. The match will help raise money for an orphanage rebuilt by US marines in Afghanistan and continue the CCC's vital work around the world promoting greater peace through 'cricket diplomacy.
The Hong Kong cricket team is a team representing the Chinese Special administrative region of Hong Kong in international cricket. They played their first match in 1866 and have been an associate member of the International Cricket Council since 1969.
They played their first One Day Internationals in the 2004 Asia Cup and have played in every ICC Trophy since the 1982 tournament with the exception of the most recent event. They played in the ICC Intercontinental Cup in the 2005 tournament, and are currently ranked at 25th in the World by the ICC and are the third highest ranked Asian non-Test nation.
The sport was introduced to Hong Kong by the English, with the first recorded game taking place in 1841, and the Hong Kong Cricket Club being founded ten years later. The Cricket Club played a number of interport matches against sides on the Chinese mainland, the first taking place against Shanghai in 1866, and in 1890 played Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) for the first time.
1892 saw disaster when the SS Bokhara, which was carrying the team back from Shanghai, sank in a typhoon with the loss of 125 lives. There were only 23 survivors, which included only 2 of the 13 team members. The other 11 members of the team were lost.
1948 saw the last game against Shanghai. After the communist take-over in 1949, no more games were possible in China. Jack Chegwyn led the first international team to Hong Kong in 1952, and the first tour by an MCC team was in 1966. The MCC, captained by Mike Smith played one match against the national side, winning by 74 runs. In 1969 the Hong Kong Cricket Association became an associate member of the International Cricket Council, cricket's global ruling body.
The year after gaining ICC membership, the Hong Kong national side played against an MCC side captained by Tony Lewis, drawing the game, but it was not until the 1982 ICC Trophy when the Hong Kong team next played. At that tournament the Hong Kong team, which featured future England Test cricketer Dermot Reeve, failed to progress beyond the first round.
Hong Kong took part in the following three ICC Trophy tournaments, again failing to progress beyond the first round in 1986, reaching the plate competition in 1990 and the second round in 1994. They then played in the first ACC Trophy in 1996, failing to progress beyond the first round after finishing third to Bangladesh and Fiji.
In 1997, Hong Kong returned to Chinese control and the year also saw Hong Kong record their best finish in the ICC Trophy, finishing in eighth place. They played in the ACC Trophy again in 1998, losing to Malaysia in the semi-finals.
In 2000, Hong Kong reached the final of the ACC Trophy, qualifying for the 2002 Asia Cup, which was subsequently moved to 2004. They failed to progress beyond the first round of the 2001 ICC Trophy and lost to the UAE in the semi-finals of the ACC Trophy the following year. Their first taste of One-Day International cricket came in the 2004 Asia Cup, where they lost both first round matches to Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Also in 2004, Hong Kong failed to progress beyond the first round of the ACC Trophy after losing in the group stages to Oman and Bahrain, missing out on qualification for the 2005 ICC Trophy in Ireland. They also reached the final of the Fast-track nations tournament, losing to the UAE. Hong Kong played in the Intercontinental Cup for the first time in 2005. They lost to the UAE and drew with Nepal, failing to reach the semi-finals. They finished last in the fast-track nations tournament the same year.
In 2006, Hong Kong again lost to the UAE in the final of the ACC Trophy, and finished fourth in the ACC Premier League. The following year, they travelled to Darwin, Australia to take part in Division Three of the World Cricket League, finishing fifth, relegating them to Division Four for 2008.
In October/November 2007, Hong Kong took part in the inaugural ACC Twenty20 Cup held in Kuwait, where they played in Group B against the UAE, Singapore, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Hong Kong finished 4th in their group and failed to make to the semi-finals stage.
The Namibia national cricket team is the team that represents the country of Namibia in international cricket matches. They have been an associate member of the International Cricket Council since 1992 and became part of the High Performance Program in 2007. They took part in the 2003 Cricket World Cup in South Africa, though they lost all their games. They have played in each edition of the ICC Intercontinental Cup.
HISTORY:
Pre-independence: The first mention of cricket being played in what is now Namibia was a match played between South African soldiers and locals near Otjiwarongo in 1915 shortly after the occupying Germans had surrendered to the South African troops. The outcome of World War I left South Africa as the holder of the League of Nations mandate holder for the region, now renamed South-West Africa.
South Africans moving into the country meant that more and more cricket clubs began to be formed, but it was not until 1954 when the South-West Africa representative side first played, playing Liesbeek Park, a club side from Cape Town. They first played away from home in December 1958 in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. The South-West Africa team, whilst never formally being part of the then South Africa Cricket Union, played at low levels of South Africa domestic cricket for many years until 1989, when in June of that year, in the run up to the first Namibian elections the new Namibian Cricket Board refused an invitation to play in South Africa that season, instead opting to arrange a two match tour of Botswana in December. This team played two matches against Botswana, winning both easily.
Post-independence: The independence celebrations of 21 March 1990 saw Gloucestershire County Cricket Club play the Namibian national side in a series of matches, with the Namibians winning three times against their professional opponents. The Netherlands toured Namibia the following month and were unbeaten on the tour. Namibia toured Zimbabwe later in the year.
The following year saw the Marylebone Cricket Club visit, captained by former England Test player Paul Parker. They won the three-day match against Namibia by an innings and twenty runs, but the main point of the tour was a fact finding mission for the ICC, as the Namibian Cricket Board had applied for associate membership of that organisation, which was achieved in 1992.
In 1994, Namibia competed for the first time in the ICC Trophy, finishing in ninth place after beating Denmark in the plate final. Malaysia visited Namibia in 1995, drawing a three-day match and losing a one-day match. Italy were the visitors the following year, with Namibia winning the three-day match by an innings inside two days after scoring 510/4 in their only innings. They won the one-day match just as easily. Namibia began to play in the second tier of South African domestic cricket again the same year.
Namibia played in the 1997 ICC Trophy in Malaysia, finishing 15th after beating the hosts in the 15th place play-off match. Denmark toured Namibia the following year, losing in the one-day game and drawing the three-day match.
The next major international action was in March 2000, when they visited Bangladesh for a triangular series also involving Malaysia. Namibia were joint winners with Bangladesh of the rain affected event. The MCC toured Namibia the following March, and Namibia won the five match series of one-day games 3-1, with one match abandoned. Scotland toured in April, drawing the two match one-day series.
2003 CRICKET WORLD CUP: The road to the 2003 Cricket World Cup started with the 2001 ICC Trophy in Canada. Namibia reached the final at the Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club, losing to the Netherlands, but still qualifying for their first World Cup. Namibia then hosted the ICC 6 Nations Challenge in April 2002, finishing fourth. They had a disappointing Africa Cup campaign that September, finishing fourth in their group and beating only Tanzania, and lost four matches against Zimbabwe A a few weeks later. A tour of Kenya subsequent to the Zimbabwean tour was more successful, as Namibia beat Kenya in a four match one-day series. Following this, Namibia took part in the top level of South African domestic one-day cricket, the Standard Bank Cup, but lost all five of their games. Bangladesh toured in January 2003, winning the five match one-day series 4-1.
The World Cup itself started on 10 February 2003 in Harare with Zimbabwe beating Namibia by 86 runs. Back in South Africa, they lost to Pakistan by 171 runs, before a 55 run defeat at the hands of England in which Namibia performed with some credit, Jan-Berrie Burger winning the man of the match award for his innings of 85 that almost helped Namibia pull off an unlikely upset. They were then brought crashing back down to earth by a 181 run loss to India and a 256 run defeat against Australia, the eventual winners of the tournament, in what at the time was the biggest winning margin in One Day Internationals, since surpassed by an Indian 257 run win over Bermuda. The tournament finished with a 64 run loss to fellow qualifiers the Netherlands.
BEYOND THE WORLD CUP: In August 2003, Zimbabwe A toured Namibia. Namibia won the one-day series 2-1, but lost both three-day games. A return visit to Zimbabwe the following January saw Namibia win a five match one-day series against Zimbabwe A 4-1, also winning a match against Zimbabwe Under-19s. Bangladesh toured Namibia in February, winning all three one-day games and drawing the three-day game. Following this, Namibia travelled to the United Arab Emirates for the ICC 6 Nations Challenge. They finished third on run rate after beating Canada, the Netherlands and the UAE and losing to Scotland and the USA. Namibia played two ICC Intercontinental Cup matches against Kenya and Uganda in 2004, losing them both. In between the two matches, they took part in an African nations tournament in Zambia which they won. Later in the year they took part in Zimbabwe's national one-day domestic competition, in which they finished as runners-up. Whilst in Zimbabwe, they won two matches against the national side. This was followed by a visit to Namibia by England, who won both matches.
Zimbabwe A again visited Namibia in early 2005, losing both one-day matches that finished. Pakistan A were the next visitors in April, winning all three one-day matches and drawing in the three-day game. This was followed by their two regional group games in the 2005 ICC Intercontinental Cup. Whilst they were unbeaten, winning against Uganda and drawing against Kenya, this was not enough to qualify them for the semi-finals. They then visited Ireland to take part in the 2005 ICC Trophy. They finished 7th after beating Denmark in their final play-off game. Back at home, they hosted New Zealand at the end of July, losing both games, but performing admirably in the first, losing by only 29 runs after conceding 330/6. In October of that year, they hosted the semi-finals of the Intercontinental Cup, despite failing to qualify. While the final was being played, they played a two match one-day series against Bermuda after they had been knocked out of the tournament, winning both games, but the games were tarnished by controversial incidents, with the Bermuda team accusing the Namibian team of racist insults, and walking off in the second game when a flurry of bouncers were unleashed at the lower order Bermuda batsmen. The Namibian Cricket Board denied the allegations of racism.
PRESENT DAY: In March 2006, Namibia met Nepal in a challenge match to decide who got the eighth and final spot in the 2006 ICC Intercontinental Cup. The match was drawn, with Namibia getting a first innings lead, thus qualifying them for the main tournament. The main tournament itself started badly with an innings defeat by Scotland in Aberdeen before a five wicket defeat by Ireland in Dublin, both matches in May. In the 2006-07 South African cricket season, Namibia took part in the second tier of first-class and List A cricket, the South African Airways Challenge. They finished second in their group in the three-day tournament and third in their group in the one-day tournament, missing out on reaching the semi-finals by one win. In the midst of the matches in those tournaments, they played their third and final 2006 Intercontinental Cup match, beating the UAE by an innings. On 1 April 2007, they became part of the ICC's High Performance Program.
TOURNAMENT HISTORY:
World Cup: Namibia were not eligible for the Cricket World Cup between 1975 and 1992 as they were not a member of the ICC at the time.
1996: Did not qualify 1999: Did not qualify 2003: First round 2007: Did not qualify
Intercontinental Cup: 2004: First round 2005: First round 2006: First round
ICC 6 Nations Challenge: 2000: Did not participate 2002: 4th place 2004: 3rd place
ICC Trophy: Namibia did not play in the ICC Trophy between 1979 and 1990 as they were not a member of the ICC at the time.
1994: 9th place - Won Plate competition 1997: 15th place 2001: Runners up 2005: 7th place
THE FUTURE: Namibia are again to take part in the second tier of South African domestic cricket between October 2007 and February 2008. They will play a 2007-08 ICC Intercontinental Cup match against Canada in October 2007, playing the remaining games against Bermuda, Ireland, Kenya, the Netherlands, Scotland and the UAE in 2008. In November/December 2007, they will host Division Two of the World Cricket League where they will play against Argentina, Denmark, Oman, the UAE and Uganda. A top four finish in this tournament will qualify them for the 2009 ICC World Cup Qualifier, whilst finishing in fifth or sixth place will mean that they will play in Division Three of the World Cricket League in 2009.
If you would like to have an advertisement placed on this site contact me by clicking HERE to discuss the different types of advertising avaliable and neccessary terms and conditions.
Make sure you scroll all the way down as there is a big variety of content, such as cricket videos/pictures, links to cricket related sites/shops etc, a visitors map and special translation buttons so you can view this whole entire blog in your specific language :)
Its obvious that from this site that cricket is right up there for one of the passions in my life :) I got hooked it on it when I was knee-high to a grasshopper when in the early 1990's I watched my first test with my dad (New Zealand vs Pakistan), and I can remember at the time I was paying attention that Salim Malik was batting, and since that match I was instantly hooked :) The thrill of getting boundaries or getting wickets sends a huge sense of delight through me and the odd backyard game of cricket with some beers and something to eat on a brilliant summers day is really the life:) Not to mention the gorgous girls watching us play! Have broken many a window and lost many tennis balls and cricket balls and when we couldn't find them we stole spuds out of the vege garden and use them instead! They are brilliant for seaming and very unpredictable hahaha!
Hope you all enjoy browsing through this site and if you want to do a link exchange and be in my blogroll feel free to let me know by leaving a comment or mailing me:)
Cheers, and long live Cricket, the brilliant game!
Posts
