Finland national cricket team

The Finnish national cricket team is the team that represents Finland in international cricket. It is organised by the Cricket Finland.

This article is about the men's team. For The women's team, see Finland women's national cricket team.

Finland
Flag of Finland
Nickname(s)Bears
AssociationCricket Finland
Personnel
CaptainNathan Collins
CoachMatthew Jenkinson
International Cricket Council
ICC statusAssociate member[1] (2017)
Affiliate member (2000)
ICC regionEurope
ICC Rankings Current[2] Best-ever
T20I 45th 45th (2 May 2023)
International cricket
First internationalv  Austria at Seebarn Cricket Centre; 21 August 2000
Twenty20 Internationals
First T20Iv  Denmark at Svanholm Park, Brøndby; 13 July 2019
Last T20Iv  Sweden at Solvangs Park, Glostrup; 21 May 2023
T20Is Played Won/Lost
Total[3] 25 11/13 (1 tie, 0 no results)
This year[4] 6 1/4 (1 tie, 0 no results)
As of 21 May 2023

History

Cricket was first played in Finland in the 1960s, but didn't become formally organised until the 1970s, under the auspices of the Helsinki Cricket Club. More clubs were founded in the 1990s, and the Finnish Cricket Association was founded in 1999.[5] They became an affiliate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) the following year.[6] The CricketFinland logo/flag was designed by Jesse Karjalainen. In 2017, they became an associate member of the ICC.[1]

Cricket is growing in the country, and there are currently 10 teams contesting the national league, over 300 male players, 30 female players, 20 ECB qualified coaches, and over 30 qualified umpires.[5]

The Finnish national team has participated at various levels in European regional tournaments, their first coming in 2000, when they finished last in the ECC Representative Championship. They won the same tournament 2 years later, and were runners-up in 2004. They also competed in the ECC Affiliates Championship from 2001 to 2005, their best performance coming in their first year, when they finished in seventh place. They came last in 2005, placing them in Division Four of the newly expanded European Championship. They won that tournament in August 2006, giving them a spot in Division Three in 2007. In that tournament they were relegated to Division Four where they currently play.

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 Finland and other ICC members after 1 January 2019 will be a full T20I.[7]

Finland's first T20I matches were played against Denmark on 13 July 2019, followed by a series against Spain the following month.[8][9][10]

13 July 2019
11:00
Scorecard
Denmark 
117 (18.3 overs)
v
 Finland
116/7 (20 overs)
Hamid Shah 36 (18)
Md Nurul Huda 3/11 (2.3 overs)
Nathan Collins 53 (62)
Delawar Khan 2/21 (4 overs)
Denmark won by 1 run
Svanholm Park, Brøndby
Umpires: Jesper Jensen (Den) and Sriharsha Kuchimanchi (Fin)
Player of the match: Md Nurul Huda (Fin)
  • Finland won the toss and elected to field.
  • First ever T20I match for Finland.

International grounds
Locations of all stadiums which have hosted international cricket matches within Finland

Tournament history

European Cricket Championship
  • 2006: 1st place (Division Four)[11]
  • 2007: 8th place (Division Three)[12]
  • 2009: 5th place (Division Four)[13]

Finnish Cricket Association

The Finnish Cricket Association (Suomen Krikettiliitto ry) was set up in 1999 to develop and organise the game of cricket in Finland. The Finnish Cricket Association is currently responsible for the following areas:

  • Finnish national league (Suomen mestaruussarja), an 11 team league with clubs from the national capital Helsinki, and the cities of Turku and Tampere.
  • Youth development: An introductory level schools programme in the capital area, aided by developing club youth programmes.
  • National team: The national team won the 2006 European Championship Division 4, enabling them to move up to Division 3 in 2007, from which they were relegated back to Division 4.
  • Regional Development: Tampere and Turku are already thriving regional centres of cricket development. Oulu, Jyväskylä[14] and Lahti form the basis of the expansion of this programme.
  • Umpiring: Each Finnish league game is officiated by ACUS/ ECC qualified umpires.[15]
  • The Finnish Cricket Championships

Domestic structure

Cricket in Finland has been expanding, here is the current list of teams playing in SM50 (the first division), SM40 (the second division), Developmental T20 League, Open T20 League and Indoor League.

  • Arctic Wolves Cricket Club
  • Bengal Tigers Cricket Club
  • Ekenäs Cricket Club Archived 30 January 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  • Empire Cricket Club (also social team: Empiricists)
  • Espoo Cricket Club
  • Finnish Pakistani Club
  • FinnAsia Cricket Club
  • Helsinki Cricket Club
  • Merisotakoulun Krikettiklubi – Naval Academy Cricket Club
  • Men's Thinking Society
  • Stadin Krikettikerho (also social team: Socialists)
  • Tampere Cricket Club
  • Tampere Eagles Cricket Club
  • Turku Cricket Club
  • Vaasa Cricket Club
  • Vantaa Cricket Club
  • Jyväskylä Cricket Club
  • Finnish National Team
  • Finnish Youth National Team
  • Phoenix – The Ladies Team
  • Everest 8848 CC
  • Oulu Cricket Club
  • Saimaa Cricket Club

Records

International Match Summary — Finland[16]

Last updated 21 May 2023

Playing Record
FormatMWLTNRInaugural Match
Twenty20 Internationals2511131013 July 2019

Twenty20 International

T20I record versus other nations[16]

Records complete to T20I #2076. Last updated 21 May 2023.

OpponentMWLTNRFirst matchFirst win
vs Associate Members
 Croatia1100018 July 202218 July 2022
 Cyprus1100019 July 202219 July 2022
 Denmark7160013 July 20197 May 2022
 Estonia2200019 June 2022
 Greece1100016 July 202216 July 2022
 Italy1010013 July 2022
 Norway2020019 May 2023
 Spain3120017 August 201917 August 2019
 Sweden7421021 August 202121 August 2021

See also

References
  1. "Ireland and Afghanistan ICC newest full members amid wide-ranging governance reform". International Cricket Council. 22 June 2017. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  2. "ICC Rankings". International Cricket Council.
  3. "T20I matches - Team records". ESPNcricinfo.
  4. "T20I matches - 2023 Team records". ESPNcricinfo.
  5. "Finnish Cricket Association FCA - Suomen Krikettiliitto". www.cricketfinland.com. Archived from the original on 8 May 2006.
  6. The Home of CricketArchive. Cricketarchive.co.uk.
  7. "All T20 matches between ICC members to get international status". International Cricket Council. 26 April 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  8. "Squads named for T20 Elite challenge matches on June 15th". Cricket Finland. 31 May 2019. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
  9. "Finland to host Spain in a T20I series; Spain will reciprocate in 2020". CricketEurope. 3 February 2019. Archived from the original on 8 April 2019. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
  10. "Finland and Spain agree reciprocal T20 series". CricketEurope. 6 February 2019. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
  11. European 4th Division Championships 2006 Archived 26 August 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Cricketeurope4.net.
  12. European 3rd Division Championships 2007 Archived 27 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Cricketeurope4.net.
  13. ICC European Division 4 Championship 2009 Archived 27 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Cricketeurope4.net (13 September 2009).
  14. "JYVÄSKYLÄ CRICKET CLUB". www.cricketjyvaskyla.com.
  15. "Cricket Finland". www.cricketfinland.com. Archived from the original on 1 February 2009.
  16. "Records / Finland / Twenty20 Internationals / Result summary". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  17. "Records / Finland / Twenty20 Internationals / Highest totals". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  18. "Records / Finland / Twenty20 Internationals / High scores". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  19. "Records / Finland / Twenty20 Internationals / Best bowling figures". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
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