Cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

is a growing sport in

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

, involving four club teams (Reykjavík Vikings, Kópavogur Puffins, Vesturbær Volcano and Hafnarfjörður Hammers) and the national side.

is not a member of the

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the world governing body of cricket. Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, its members are List of International Cricket Council members, 108 national associations, with 12 List of Internation ...

(ICC), but has ambitions to become an associate member of the ICC by 2024/25.

History

It is likely that cricket was introduced to the country in the 20th century by immigrants and expatriates from cricket-playing nations such as

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, and

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The 1944 edition of ''

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...

'' records two wartime games played between the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

and the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

, with the Air Force winning by 36 runs in the first game and 24 runs in the second. Efforts to grow participation in cricket by Icelanders are ongoing, however, there remains strong competition from more popular and established sports, such as football, handball, swimming, skiing and athletics.

Governing body

Cricket in Iceland is organised by Krikketsamband Íslands (the Icelandic Cricket Association). , they had 102 registered players.

National team

A national team was formed in 2008, and competed at the 2016 Pepsi Cup tournament in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, finishing fifth out of six teams. They played their first (unofficial) international match, a win against

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, in England during July 2018. Members of the r/Cricket forum on

Reddit Reddit (; stylized in all lowercase as reddit) is an American social news aggregation, content rating, and discussion website. Registered users (commonly referred to as "Redditors") submit content to the site such as links, text posts, images ...

had raised money for the team through crowdfunding and became their official sponsors.

Domestic teams

Former teams

The first two domestic cricket teams were Kylfan and

Stykkishólmur Stykkishólmur () is a town and municipality situated in the western part of Iceland, in the northern part of the Snæfellsnes peninsula. It is a center of services and commerce for the area. Most of the people make their living from fishing and ...

, who contested the inaugural Icelandic Cricket Cup in 2000. A third team, from the Tryggingamiðstöðin insurance company, was formed in 2001. In 2008, another works team was formed by employees of Tata. After 2008, only Kylfan survived, changing its name to Reykjavík.

Current teams

Four municipalities regularly field teams in current domestic competitions: *

Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...

, nicknamed the Vikings, and formed by Ragnar Kristinsson in 2000. *

Kópavogur Kópavogur () is a town in Iceland that is the country's second largest municipality by population. It lies immediately south of Reykjavík and is part of the Capital Region. The name literally means ''seal pup inlet''. The town seal contains th ...

, nicknamed the Puffins, and formed by Abhi Chauhan in 2015. *

Hafnarfjörður Hafnarfjörður (), officially Hafnarfjarðarkaupstaður (), is a port town and municipality in Iceland, located about south of Reykjavík. The municipality consists of two non-contiguous areas in the Capital Region, on the southwest coast of t ...

, nicknamed the Hammers, and formed by Muhammad Younas in 2018. *

Vesturbær Vesturbær () is a district in Reykjavík in Iceland, comprising eight neighbourhoods west of the city center: ''Gamli Vesturbær'' , ''Bráðræðisholt'' , ''Grandahverfi'' , ''Hagahverfi'' , ''Melar'' , ''Skjól'' , ''Grímsstaðaholt'' , ''Skil ...

, nicknamed the Volcano, and formed by Kathir Narayanan in 2021. Two other municipalities have occasionally fielded teams in current domestic competitions: *

Garðabær Garðabær () is a municipality in the Capital Region of Iceland. History Garðabær is a growing town in the Capital Region. It is the sixth largest town in Iceland with a population of 13,872 (Sept 1, 2013). The site of Garðabær has been inha ...

, nicknamed the Geysirs, participated in the Summer Solstice Sixes in 2018, 2019 and 2020. *

Seltjarnarnes Seltjarnarnes () is a town in the Capital Region of Iceland. Seltjarnarnes is beside Reykjavik. It took on its current political form shortly after the Second World War and was formally created as a township in 1947. It is the smallest Icelandic ...

, nicknamed the Sunsets, participated in the Summer Solstice Sixes in 2018.

List of honours

* Reykjavík have won eight titles: **Icelandic Cricket Cup (2000, 2001, 2003), Volcanic Ashes (2017, 2019), Summer Solstice Sixes (2019, 2020), Sixty Ball Shootout (2021). * Kópavogur have won eight titles: **Volcanic Ashes (2015, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022), Íslensk Premier League (2020), Sixty Ball Shootout (2020), and Valhalla Cup (2022). * Hafnarfjörður have won five titles: **Summer Solstice Sixes (2018, 2021), Íslensk Premier League (2021, 2022), and Sixty Ball Shootout (2022). *Tryggingamiðstöðin have won one title: **Icelandic Cricket Cup (2002) *Tata have won one title: **Icelandic Cricket Cup (2008) *Vesturbær have won no titles.

Summary of results

Results correct to 31 December 2021.

Domestic competitions

Former competitions

Iceland's first domestic cricket competition was the Icelandic Cricket Cup, played from 2000 to 2003, and revived in 2008 for one season. The results were: * 2000 Reykjavík (Kylfan) beat Stykkishólmur at Stykkishólmur. * 2001 Reykjavík (Kylfan) beat Tryggingamiðstöðin at Tungubakkavellir. * 2002 Tryggingamiðstöðin beat Reykjavík (Kylfan) at Víðistaðatún. * 2003 Reykjavík (Kylfan) beat Stykkishólmur at Stykkishólmur. * 2008 Tata beat Reykjavík (Kylfan) at Klambratún.

Current competitions

There are presently seven domestic cricket competitions in Iceland. The longest-running of these is the Volcanic Ashes, which began in 2015. * The Volcanic Ashes is an

indoor cricket Indoor cricket is a variant of and shares many basic concepts with cricket. The game is most often played between two teams each consisting of six or eight players.Hafnarfjörður Hafnarfjörður (), officially Hafnarfjarðarkaupstaður (), is a port town and municipality in Iceland, located about south of Reykjavík. The municipality consists of two non-contiguous areas in the Capital Region, on the southwest coast of t ...

in May 2019 and was officially inaugurated by

Katrín Jakobsdóttir Katrín Jakobsdóttir (; born 1 February 1976) is an Icelandic politician who has been serving as the prime minister of Iceland since 2017 and a member of the Althing for the Reykjavík North constituency since 2007. A graduate of the Univers ...

, the

Prime Minister of Iceland The prime minister of Iceland ( is, Forsætisráðherra Íslands) is Iceland's head of government. The prime minister is appointed formally by the president and exercises executive authority along with the cabinet subject to parliamentary suppor ...

. Previously the country had no turf wicket, with matches being played on astroturf football pitches.

References

External links

Krikketsamband Íslands
{{National Cricket Articles