Spain national cricket team

Cricket is first recorded as being played in Spain in the year 1809 by soldiers of General Lord Wellesley (later the Duke of Wellington). During the Peninsular War the soldiers played the game in and around Ciudad Rodrigo, Lugo and Orense. There are many records of the game being played by visiting British land and sea forces, either among themselves or against local British expatriate communities.

The game entered a new era in Spain with the founding of Madrid Cricket Club in 1975. It was based at first on British and Indian players, but soon West Indian and Spanish members joined.[6]

In June 1989, a National Executive Committee was formed and the first steps were taken to unify all of the cricket playing clubs in Spain.

2018-Present

In April 2018, the ICC decided to grant full Twenty20 International (T20I) status to all its members. Therefore, all Twenty20 matches played between Spain and other ICC members since 1 January 2019 have been full T20I.[5]

Spain played its first ever T20I against Malta on 29 March 2019, during the 2019 Spain Triangular T20I Series. The match was played at La Manga Club, Murcia, Spain.[7]

29 March 2019 15:30 Scorecard

Malta  98/9 (20 overs)	v	Spain 99/3 (12.1 overs)
Bikram Arora 28 (25) Tom Vine 4/28 (4 overs)		Yasir Ali 57 (40) Jurg Hirschi 1/15 (2 overs)

Spain won by 7 wickets La Manga Club, Murcia Umpires: Adnan Khan (Esp) and Harmit Phull (Esp)

• Malta won the toss and elected to bat.
• First ever T20I match for Spain.

Spain played their first tournament in 2001 in Austria. It was the ECC Trophy 2001. They also played their first match of their international cricket history in that tournament. They were in the Seebern Group amongst 2 groups. In their group there were Portugal, Malta, Finland and Sweden. Every match of the tournament was 35 overs. They played their first match at 13 August 2001 match in Seebarn Cricket Centre No 1 Ground, Lower Austria against Portugal. After winning the toss Portugal came down to bat and scored 229/6 in 35 overs. Opener Nadeem Butt scored 69. But due to their slow overrate Spain could play 32 overs. In 32 overs Portugal made 166/7. G Howe made 40 the highest score of Spain's innings. Portuguese bowler Bagvanadaia made 3/19 in 4 overs. So Spain lost their 1st international match against Portugal by 63 runs. Spain's next matches was against Finland. It was on 14 August 2001 at Seebarn Cricket Centre No. 2 Ground, Lower Austria. After winning toss Spain came down to bat. They made 222/3 in 35 overs. Batsman G Howe made 103 which was the highest of Spain's innings. Finish bowler Scott Thurling took 2/36 in 7 overs. In bowling Spain smashed their opponent Finland. Finland could make 141/9 in 35 overs. Scott Thurling made highest 43 in Finland's innings. G Howe took 3/29 in 7 overs. Spain got a victory of 81 runs and got their first win in international cricket.

Archived 19 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine

This lists all the players who have played for Spain in the past 12 months or has been part of the latest T20I squad. Updated as of 26 February 2023.

Corey Leigh Rutgers (born 28 May 1989 in Footscray, Victoria) is a former WA country and grade cricketer who played in Western Australia.[9][10] Rutgers is current coach of the Spanish national cricket team, Assistant Coach for Islamabad United PSL franchise and Pakhtoon T10 franchise.

From 2017 to 2018 he previously worked for the Netherlands team as an Assistant & Analyst coach.

In August 2019, Rutgers was appointed head coach of the Belgium national cricket team.[11]

On 14 December 2019, Rutgers was named as head coach of Falcon Hunters T10 franchise in the inaugural Qatar T10 league. Falcon Hunters went on to lift the championship.  

In November 2021, Rutgers signed with the Espana National cricket federation as head coach.[12]

International Match Summary — Spain[13]

Last updated 26 February 2023

Twenty20 International

• Highest team total: 206/2 v Malta, 30 March 2019 at La Manga Club, Murcia[14]
• Highest individual score: 102*, Awais Ahmed v Malta, 30 March 2019 at La Manga Club, Murcia[15]
• Best individual bowling figures: 5/11, Lorne Burns v Guernsey, 30 April 2022 at Desert Springs Cricket Ground, Almería[16]

Most T20I runs for Spain[17] Player Runs Average Career span Yasir Ali 590 29.50 2019–2022 Daniel Doyle-Calle 367 24.46 2022–2023 Awais Ahmed 364 21.41 2019–2023 Ravi Panchal 299 27.18 2019–2023 Hamza Dar 269 24.45 2019–2022

Most T20I wickets for Spain[18] Player Wickets Average Career span Yasir Ali 28 15.28 2019–2022 Lorne Burns 27 12.07 2022–2023 Atif Mehmood 23 17.34 2019–2023 Charlie Rumistrzewicz 22 13.59 2021–2023 Mohammad Kamran 22 15.95 2022–2023

T20I record versus other nations[13]

Records complete to T20I #2005. Last updated 26 February 2023.

Opponent	M	W	L	T	NR	First match	First win
vs Associate Members
Belgium	1	0	1	0	0	4 July 2022
Denmark	1	0	1	0	0	2 July 2022
Finland	3	2	1	0	0	17 August 2019	17 August 2019
Germany	7	4	3	0	0	8 March 2020	8 March 2020
Gibraltar	2	2	0	0	0	26 October 2019	26 October 2019
Guernsey	2	1	1	0	0	30 April 2022	30 April 2022
Isle of Man	6	5	0	0	1	24 February 2023	24 February 2023
Israel	1	1	0	0	0	29 June 2022	29 June 2022
Italy	2	1	1	0	0	5 November 2022	5 November 2022
Malta	3	3	0	0	0	29 March 2019	29 March 2019
Norway	2	2	0	0	0	30 April 2022	30 April 2022
Portugal	3	3	0	0	0	25 October 2019	25 October 2019

• List of Spain Twenty20 International cricketers

• Spain in ICC's Official Site
• ECC Trophy 2001 Archived 19 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine

• Official website
• ICC profile