Oman national cricket team

Oman
ICC membership granted 2000 (affiliate)
2014 (associate)
ICC member status Associate member
ICC development region Asia
World Cricket League division Division Five (2016)
Captain Sultan Ahmed
Coach Duleep Mendis
First recorded match 10 July 2002 v UAE at The Padang, Singapore (Note: under-17 team played in 2001)
ICC World Cup Qualifier
Appearances 2 (First in 2005)
Best result 9th place, 2005
As of 1 February 2015

The Oman national cricket team represents the Sultanate of Oman in international cricket matches. The Oman Cricket Board became an affiliate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2000, and gained associate status in 2014. The national side has played matches at both list-A and twenty20 level.

Oman's first competitive matches came at the 2002 ACC Trophy, and the side has since participated in most non-Test-level Asian Cricket Council tournaments, finishing runner-up in the 2004 ACC Trophy and twice winning the ACC Twenty20 Cup. Oman has twice participated in the final qualification process for the World Cup without qualifying for the final tournament, placing ninth at the 2005 ICC Trophy and eleventh at the 2009 World Cup Qualifier. Oman has also participated in the qualification process for the World Twenty20, without success, placing fifteenth at the 2012 World Twenty20 Qualifier.

Most cricket in Oman is played by expatriate Indians and Pakistanis (and their descendants), rather than by native Omanis – in 2010, only 100 of the 780 players in the national league were Arabs, or around 13 percent.[1] The composition of the Omani national side has generally reflected this, although several Arabs have appeared for the team. Quotas of Arab players have been introduced for both club teams and the national side, in order to boost cricket's popularity amongst the Arab population.

History

ICC membership

Oman became an affiliate member of the ICC in 2000. Their senior international debut came at the 2002 ACC Trophy where they failed to progress beyond the first round, with their only win coming against Qatar. A huge improvement was shown in the 2004 tournament when they reached the final, where they lost against the United Arab Emirates. This qualified them for the 2005 ICC Trophy, the final qualification stage for the 2007 World Cup. It also qualified them for the Asia Cup in 2006. Later in 2004, they won the Middle East Cup after a tied game against Bahrain. They won the tournament as they beat Bahrain in the group stage.Oman is qualified for 2014 ACC Premier League going to held in Malaysia between 4th – 10 May 2014 .

Cricket in 2005/06

In 2005 Oman became the first affiliate member of the ICC to compete in the ICC Trophy. They lost all their group games, but then won their play-off games against Uganda and the USA, the latter when they successfully chased down a mammoth target of 345, featuring an unbroken 127-run partnership for the eighth wicket. This gave them ninth place out of the twelve teams in the competition, enough to earn a place in Division Two of the ICC World Cricket League in 2007.

2006 saw a drop in form for Oman, as they were eliminated in the first round of the ACC Trophy, with their only win coming against the Maldives. As mentioned above, they were originally scheduled to participate in the Asia Cup in 2006, playing their first ODIs against Pakistan and India. However this tournament was postponed until 2008, and the ACC decided to use the 2006 ACC Trophy as a qualification tournament, meaning that Oman's place was taken by Hong Kong.

2007–present

In October/November 2007, Oman took part in the inaugural ACC Twenty20 Cup held in Kuwait, where they played in Group A against; Afghanistan, Malaysia, Nepal and Qatar. Oman finished in the top two of their group and qualified for the semi-final stage. Oman beat Kuwait in their semi-final, then shared the tournament after the final match against Afghanistan was tied.

In November 2007, Oman travelled to Namibia to take part in Division Two of the ICC World Cricket League. They played Denmark, the hosts and the UAE in addition to the two qualifiers from Division Three; Uganda and Argentina. Although Oman won all their group matches, they lost to the UAE in the final. On the basis of their top four finish in this tournament, Oman qualified for the ICC World Cup Qualifier in 2009, the final tournament in qualification for the 2011 World Cup.

In January 2009, Oman participated in the ACC Cup, Challenge tournament in Chiang Mai, Thailand. They came first with ease, defeating the Maldives and Bhutan in the Semi finals and finals respectively. The fourth favourites to win the cup were hosts, Thailand who ended up in fourth place.

In April 2009, Oman travelled to South Africa to participate in the ICC World Cup Qualifier, the final tournament in qualification for the 2011 World Cup. During the tournament Oman finished last in their group and in the 11th place playoff they beat Denmark by 5 wickets.

In the 2009 ACC Twenty20 Cup Oman were drawn in Group B. In the group stages of the competition it won all five of its games, finishing top of the group and qualifying for the semi-finals. In the semi-finals it lost to the United Arab Emirates, therefore missing out on a chance to win back-to-back titles. In the third place playoff it defeated Kuwait. This victory enabled Oman to claim the final qualifying spot for the cricket tournament at the 2010 Asian Games. They played in 2011 ICC World Cricket League Division Three, where they came 3rd to remain in 2013 ICC World Cricket League Division Three.

Tournament history

World Cricket League

ICC Trophy/World Cup Qualifier

ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier

ACC Trophy

ACC Twenty20 Cup

Asian Games

Current squad

Oman's squad at their most recent tournament, the 2015 ACC Twenty20 Cup, was as follows:[2]

References

  1. ↑ (27 July 2011). "More men in Oman" – Asian Cricket Council. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  2. ↑ "Oman Squad". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 1 February 2015.