Czech Republic
Wikipedia - Czech Republic national cricket team
The Czech national cricket team, nicknamed the Lions, is the team that represents the Czech Republic in international cricket. The team is organised by the Czech Cricket Union which became an affiliate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2000 and an associate member in 2017. The national side did not debut until 2006, when it played a series against Austria. It made its international tournament debut in 2008, at a Twenty20 tournament in Wales, and has since participated regularly in international events, including some organised by the European Cricket Council.
History
2008–2017
In June 2008, an unofficial national team from the Czech Republic came second in an ICC supported Euro Twenty 20 tournament which took place at the Carmel & District Cricket Club in Wales. They were beaten by Estonia with 3 balls remaining in the final over after beating Russia and a Cricket Board of Wales team in the group stage, and a team representing Poland in the semi-final.
In August 2008, the Czech Republic hosted the Prague International Twenty 20 cricket cup at their former Vypich ground. Teams from Russia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria joined a team representing the Czech Republic in this 2-day Twenty 20 event. Unfortunately, the team from Belarus was unable to attend due to visa complications and their place was filled by a Czech B team.
2009: First official tournament
In September 2009, the Czech Republic participated for the first time in the ICC European Division 5 Championship in Corfu, finishing a respectable third (defeating Bulgaria, Turkey and Estonia) behind Sweden and the tournament winners, Greece.
In May 2011, the team took part in the ICC Europe Division 3 Championship in the newly structured format. They lost narrowly to Bulgaria but three wickets apiece from Brigham Smith and Scott Page restricted Estonia to 100 all out, which the Czech team chased down thanks to an unbeaten 33 from wicket-keeper Mik Starý. Turkey and tournament winners Sweden beat the Czech team in the next two matches, but a 23-run victory over tournament hosts Slovenia in the last match helped the Czech team to finish fourth overall.
The highlight of 2012 was a trip to Budapest, Hungary, to face their central European rivals on Hungary's impressive cricket ground. The Czech team were comprehensively beaten in the Saturday 40-over friendly, but they came back well to win the 20-over friendly on Sunday by four runs, with young bowler Damian Kyselý taking three wickets in an impressive display. Captain Scott Page stepped up and bowled an ideal final over to seal the win. In 2013, a plan to host Hungary at the Vinoř Cricket Ground in Vinoř, Prague, was abandoned due to bad weather. The team played one T20 in Vienna, losing by 87 runs to Austria.
2014 saw an increase in fixtures, with trips to Vienna and Dresden as well as hosting the Central Europe Cup, with T20 matches against Poland, Switzerland and Luxembourg. The match in Austria finished in another crushing defeat, this time to Austria's U25s. The trip to Dresden saw the team pick up a two-wicket win in a 50-over friendly against Dresden's 1st XI. Young bowler Oliver Matoušek picked up five wickets in his representative debut for the Lions, and Suditha Udugalage and Rahul Subash batted well to see the team home.
The Central Europe Cup ended with the team finishing bottom of the table, but the Czech team were the only team to beat champions Poland, and the Czech Republic also gave Switzerland a good run for their money before rain affected play, with Switzerland capitalising to take victory. A lacklustre Czech team then lost to a resurgent Luxembourg team on Sunday morning.
The Czech team were awarded the tournament's Spirit of Cricket award for wanting to play out the full match against Switzerland, despite being ahead on the Duckworth–Lewis method at the time. Opening batsmen Sudhir Gladson and Hilal Ahmad received man of the match awards for their performances against Poland and Switzerland, respectively.
2016- Played Central Europe Cup in Prague and traveled to Poland to play one-day tri-series with Poland, Hungary national teams. "Czech National Team Winner OD tri-series cup 2016".
2017- In 2017 a number of reforms regarding Associate Members and pathways to ICC tournaments were announced and due to the progress we have made in our domestic leagues the Czech Republic will return to ICC tournament cricket in August 2018 at the ICC. World T20 Europe Qualifiers in The Netherlands. Czech National Team played CE cup in Czech Republic, Euro T20 cup in Warsaw Poland.
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 Czech Republic and other ICC members after 1 January 2019 will be a full T20I.
Czech Republic played their first T20I match against Austria on 30 August 2019 during the 2019 Continental Cup in Romania.
30 August 2019
09:00 Scorecard |
Czech Republic
125/7 (20 overs) |
v
|
Austria
126/2 (14.4 overs) |
Sudesh Wickramasekara 52 (33)
Abdullah Akbarjan 2/20 (4 overs) |
Bilal Zalmai 45 (23)
Arshad Hayat 2/15 (3 overs) |
- Austria won the toss and elected to field.
- First ever T20I match for Czech Republic.
The team is made up of a mix of experienced players and talented young cricketers, all of whom are passionate about representing their country on the international stage. They have competed in various tournaments and matches, both at home and abroad, and have steadily improved their skills and performance.
The Czech Republic cricket team is known for their strong team spirit, determination, and hard work ethic. They are constantly striving to improve and make a mark in the world of cricket, and have already achieved some notable victories against more established cricketing nations.
With a growing fan base and increasing support for the sport in the Czech Republic, the future looks bright for the Czech Republic cricket team as they continue to develop and make their mark on the international cricket scene.