Belgium national cricket team

Belgium
Belgium
ICC membership granted 1991
ICC member status Associate Member
ICC development region Europe
World Cricket League division N/A
Captain Brighton Watambwa
Coach Fazil Mahmoud
First recorded match 1905 v The Netherlands
As of 2 September 2009

The Belgium national cricket team is the team that represents the country of Belgium in international cricket matches. They have been an associate member of the International Cricket Council since 2005 after previously being an affiliate member since 1991.[1] They currently play in Division Three of the European Cricket Championship.[2]

History

Beginnings

The first game of modern cricket in Belgium appears to have been a match played by British soldiers before the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, though research has suggested that cricket may be related to a game exported from Flanders to England in the Sixteenth Century.[3] The first record of organised cricket is a painting dated 1870 that hangs in the pavilion of Lord's Cricket Ground in London that depicts the opening of the Brussels cricket ground in 1866 by mayor Jules Anspach.[4]

The national team first played a match in 1905 when they played against the Netherlands. The match was played almost every year until 1986.[4] Belgium hosted a tournament as part of the 1910 Brussels Exhibition also involving France, the MCC and the Netherlands.[5] Belgium lost their match against the MCC by an innings[6] and lost to the Netherlands by 116 runs.[7]

ICC membership

Belgium became an affiliate member of the ICC in 1991.[1] They began to play in European tournaments, playing in the ECC Trophy for the first time in 1999 when they finished last.[8] They fared better in the next tournament, reaching the semi finals of the 2001 ECC Trophy in Austria.[9]

They finished sixth in the ECC Trophy in 2003,[10] and gained associate membership of the ICC two years later.[1] Belgium finished fourth in the European Affiliates Championship in 2005[11] and both played and hosted Division Three of the newly restructured European Championship in August 2007, they finished fifth.[2]

In 2009 Belgium played in La Manga, again in Division 3. Richard Nash captained the team and finished fourth. In 2011 Belgium hosted the new 2011 ICC European T20 Championship Division Two where they won the championship undefeated.[12] The captain for the T20 squad was André Wagener. Belgium got promoted to Division 1 where they finished a credible 7th out of 12 teams having fielded a weakened team because of visa issues. Their performance qualified them for the WCL 8 qualifier the following year.

In 2012 Belgium played the World Cricket League 8 Qualifier in La Manga where they beat Gibraltar, Austria and France to qualify for the World Cricket league for the first time. Captained by Sheriyar Butt and Simon Newport in this tournament, they will travel to Samoa in September.

Tournament history

European Affiliates Championship

One-Day

T20

Current squad

The following list contains the players in Belgium's squad for the ICC Europe Division III Championship to be played in La Manga, 30 April – 3 May 2014.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Belgium at Cricket Archive
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2007 European Championship Division Three at the official site of the European Cricket Council
  3. ↑ Cricket 'was invented in Belgium' Mason, Chris; BBC News; 2 March 2009
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 History of Belgian Cricket at the official site of the Belgian Cricket Federation
  5. ↑ Brussels Exhibition Tournament 1910 at Cricket Archive
  6. ↑ Scorecard of Belgium v MCC, 20 June 1910 at Cricket Archive
  7. ↑ Scorecard of Belgium v Netherlands, 25 June 1910 at Cricket Archive
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 1999 ECC Trophy at the official site of the European Cricket Council
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 2001 ECC Trophy at the official site of the European Cricket Council
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 2003 ECC Trophy at the official site of the European Cricket Council
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 2005 European Affiliates Championship at the official site of the European Cricket Council
  12. ↑ http://www.cricketeurope4.net/CRICKETEUROPE/DATABASE/2011/TOURNAMENTS/EURODIV2/index.shtml
  13. ↑ 2007 European Affiliates Championship at the official site of the European Cricket Council