The Fiji national cricket team is the men's team that represents the

Republic of Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

international cricket International cricket matches are played between teams representing their nations, normally organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The main forms are Test matches, One-Day matches and Twenty20 matches. Most games are played ...

. Fiji has been an associate 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) since 1965,Fiji
at CricketArchive although the team's history goes back to the late 19th century. In April 2018, the ICC decided to grant full

Twenty20 International A Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces a maximum of twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are the ...

(T20I) status to all its members. Therefore, all

Twenty20 Twenty20 (T20) is a shortened game format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have a single innin ...

matches played between Fiji and other

ICC members The International Cricket Council (ICC) was founded at Lord's on 15 June 1909 as the Imperial Cricket Conference, with Australia, England, and South Africa as its founding members. In the beginning, only countries within the Commonwealth could ...

since 1 January 2019 have been a full T20I.

History

Early days

Cricket was introduced to Fiji by European settlers in 1874, and the native population began taking up the game in 1878. The governor of Fiji at the time listed introducing cricket to the native Fijians as one of the achievements of his tenure in his memoirs.

Early tours

Fiji was playing

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

just 21 years after cricket was introduced to the country, when they toured

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in early 1895.Fiji in New Zealand, 1894/95
at Cricket Archive

1895 tour of New Zealand

Fiji's team on the tour in 1895 was captained by John Udal, whose great-grandson

Shaun Shaun is an anglicized spelling of the Irish name Seán. Alternative spellings include Shawn, Sean and Shawne. Notable persons with the given name include: People *Shaun (musician) (born 1990), South Korean musician *Shaun (YouTuber), British vi ...

would eventually play

Test cricket Test cricket is a form of first-class cricket played at international level between teams representing full member countries of the International Cricket Council (ICC). A match consists of four innings (two per team) and is scheduled to last fo ...

for

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 ...

. The first match of the tour was a two-day match against

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, which Fiji lost by an

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). Innings, in cricket, and rounders, is bot ...

. A low scoring second match against

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

was drawn after rain washed out the first of the two days. The third match against

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

was also lost by an innings, before a draw against

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

. The final two matches of the tour went much better for the Fijians, winning against

Hawke's Bay Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region is ...

by an innings after a

century A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A centennial or ...

from John Collins, and beating

Taranaki Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth Dist ...

by two wickets.

1907–08 tour of Australia

In 1907–08, Fiji toured Australia, playing 26 matches against state, university and district sides between 11 December 1907 and 30 March 1908. In the drawn two-day match against

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Pope Cakobau took 7 for 105 and 3 for 56. The Fijian team also played a two-day match against

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

and two against

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. All four of these matches were drawn.

1923–24 New Zealand tour of Fiji

A New Zealand team captained by Walter Harvie, and consisting mostly of players from

, toured Fiji in March and April 1924, playing five matches, including two three-day matches against Fiji. None of the matches were first-class.

1935–36 New Zealand tour of Fiji

A young New Zealand team captained by

Bruce Massey Harold Bruce Massey (13 April 1906 – 9 July 1994) was a New Zealand cricketer who played first-class cricket for Wellington cricket team, Wellington from 1927 to 1932. Bruce Massey made his debut in representative cricket in 1923 while still ...

, known as the Maorilanders, toured Fiji in December 1935 and January 1936, playing nine matches, including two three-day matches against Fiji. None of the matches were first-class.

Post War period

Fiji toured New Zealand twice more, in 1948 and 1954.Fiji in New Zealand, 1953/54
at Cricket Archive Fiji's first match against a Test-playing nation came in 1956, when the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

visited. Fiji won the match against a team featuring the likes of

Garfield Sobers Sir Garfield St Aubrun Sobers, (born 28 July 1936), also known as Sir Gary or Sir Garry Sobers, is a former cricketer who played for the West Indies between 1954 and 1974. A highly skilled bowler, an aggressive batsman and an excellent fielder, ...

by 28 runs despite being bowled out for 91, largely thanks to a six wicket haul from John Gosling.

1948 tour of New Zealand

Like the tour in 1895, the 1948 tour started with a defeat to Auckland, by 168 runs. Fiji won their next match against Wellington by one wicket, before losing to Canterbury by 36 runs. The tour continued with a 46 run defeat by Otago and concluded with a 115 run win against Auckland. One notable player for Fiji on this tour was IL Bula, who scored the most runs and the only century on the tour. Bula's full name is Ilikena Lasarusa Talebulamainavaleniveivakabulaimainakulalakebalau, and his name is thought to be the longest of any

first class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

er.

1954 tour of New Zealand

Just four matches were played on the 1954 tour, which started with a two wicket defeat to Otago. The tour continued with another two wicket defeat, this time to Canterbury, before a 117 run defeat to Wellington. The tour ended with a seven wicket win against Auckland. The team included

Ratu Kamisese Mara Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, (6 May 1920 – 18 April 2004) was a Fijian politician, who served as Chief Minister from 1967 to 1970, when Fiji gained its independence from the United Kingdom, and, apart from one brief interruption in 1987, the fi ...

who would go on to become the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

and

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

of Fiji.

1983–84 England visit to Fiji

An England XI played two limited-over matches against the Fiji Cricket Association President's XI in 1984. Basically this was the full England squad of the day on its way to tour New Zealand. The England side won both matches although they were given a serious scare in the second, the Fijian side losing by only 18 runs.

ICC membership

Fiji gained

associate membership of the ICC The International Cricket Council (ICC) was founded at Lord's on 15 June 1909 as the Imperial Cricket Conference, with Australia, England, and South Africa as its founding members. In the beginning, only countries within the Commonwealth could ...

in 1965. They played in the first ICC Trophy tournament in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, and played in every one until

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

.ICC Trophy matches played by Fiji
at Cricket Archive They also played in the first

ACC Trophy The ACC Trophy was a limited-overs cricket tournament organised by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC). Open only to associate and affiliate members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), it was contested biennially between 1996 and 2012, but ha ...

in 1996, losing in the semi-final to the

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

.1996 ACC Trophy results summary
at Cricinfo In 2001, Fiji played in the first

Pacifica Cup The Pacifica Cup was an international cricket tournament contested in 2001 and 2002 by teams from the Pacific Islands. 2001 tournament The 2001 tournament was played in Auckland, New Zealand. Qualifying match Eighth ranked vs Ninth ranked. F ...

, reaching the final where they lost to the New Zealand Māori by three wickets. They played in the 2002 tournament in

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

, finishing third after beating the

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

in a play-off. In 2003, Fiji hosted the

South Pacific Games The Pacific Games (French: Jeux du Pacifique), is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from Oceania. The inaugural Games took place in 1963 in Suva, Fiji, and most recently in 2019 in Apia, Samoa. The Games were ...

. The cricket tournament saw the hosts lose to

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

in the final.Report from final of the 2003 South Pacific Games
/ref> The following year, they took part in the EAP Challenge in Fuji City, Japan, winning after beating

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

in the final. This qualified them for the repêchage tournament for the

2005 ICC Trophy The 2005 ICC Trophy was a cricket tournament held in Ireland between 1 July and 13 July 2005. It was an international one-day tournament played over 50 overs per side between 12 Associate Members of the International Cricket Council. It served a ...

. At that tournament in

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, they reached the final, where they lost to Papua New Guinea by 30 runs, thus missing out on the 2005 ICC Trophy. In 2006, Fiji played in the

2006 ICC EAP Cricket Trophy The 2006 ICC EAP Cricket Trophy was held in Brisbane, Australia from 27 June – 2 July 2006, functioning as the East Asia-Pacific regional final for the 2011 Cricket World Cup and World Cricket League EAP region, EAP qualification tournament fo ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, Australia. They won the tournament winning all of their matches against the Cook Islands and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, qualifying them for

Division Three The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the ...

of the

World Cricket League The ICC World Cricket League (WCL) was a series of international one-day cricket tournaments for national teams without Test status (i.e., teams of Associate status) administered by the International Cricket Council. All Associate Members of t ...

in Darwin, Australia. They warmed up for the tournament with a three match series at home against

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...

, winning all three matches, but were unsuccessful in the tournament itself, losing all five games they played, thus meaning they will have to take part in

Division Four The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Whilst the division disappeared in name ...

in 2008. Later in 2007, they took part in the cricket tournament at the

2007 South Pacific Games The 2007 South Pacific Games were held in Apia, Samoa, from 25 August to 8 September 2007. The Games were the thirteenth to be held since the inception of the South Pacific Games in 1963, and included traditional multi-sport event disciplines, su ...

, losing to Papua New Guinea in the final group game, meaning that they went home with the silver medal.Papua New Guinea take home the gold
by Andrew Nixon, 2 September 2007 at CricketEurope Fiji took part in the

2010 ICC World Cricket League Division Five The 2010 ICC World Cricket League Division Five was a cricket tournament that took place in February 2010 in Nepal. It formed part of the World Cricket League competition administered by the International Cricket Council, the international gover ...

in Nepal, where they finished sixth and last and in doing so failed to win a single match in the tournament. Fiji then played in the

2011 ICC World Cricket League Division Six The 2011 ICC World Cricket League Division Six was a cricket tournament that took place from 17 to 24 September 2011. It formed part of the ICC World Cricket League and qualifying for the 2015 Cricket World Cup. The host country for this tourna ...

and finished sixth and last and in doing so were relegated to

2013 ICC World Cricket League Division Seven The 2013 ICC World Cricket League Division Seven was a cricket tournament that took place from 6 to 13 April 2013. It formed part of the ICC World Cricket League and qualifying for the 2019 Cricket World Cup. Botswana hosted the event. Teams The t ...

Tournament history

World Cricket League

* 2007:

– 8th place * 2008:

– 5th place * 2010: Division Five – 6th place * 2011: Division Six – 6th place * 2013: Division Seven – 3rd place * 2015: Division Six – 5th place

ICC Trophy

: First round *

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

: First round *

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

: First round *

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

: Plate competition *

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

: Plate competition *

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

: 11th place *

: First round *

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

: Did not qualify

ACC Trophy

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

: Semi-finals

South Pacific Games

*1979: Bronze medal *1987: Silver medal *1991: Silver medal *

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

: Silver medal *

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

: Silver medal *

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

: Silver medal

ICC T20 World Cup East Asia-Pacific Qualifier

* 2018-19: 4th place (Group A Subregional Qualifier) * 2022-23: TBC (Group A Subregional Qualifier)

Records

International Match Summary — Fiji ''Last updated 15 September 2022''

Twenty20 International

T20I record versus other nations ''Records complete to T20I #1774. Last updated 15 September 2022.''

Other records

For a list of selected international matches played by Fiji, se
Cricket Archive

Players

Fiji's most famous player is Neil Maxwell, who played first-class cricket for

and

in Australia, and for

in New Zealand in addition to representing Australia A. Nat Uluiviti is the other Fijian to have played first-class cricket for a team other than Fiji, playing for

in the 1950s.Nat Uluiviti
at Cricket Archive

Current squad

The Fiji squad at the

2015 ICC World Cricket League Division Six The 2015 ICC World Cricket League Division Six was a limited-overs international cricket tournament that took place in England from 7 to 13 September 2015. The majority of matches were played at grounds in Essex, although two matches took place ...

tournament was as follows: *

Josefa Rika Josefa Falani Rika (9 November 1987 – 3 February 2020) was a Fijian cricketer who made his debut for the Fijian national side in June 2006. Beginning in 2010, he captained the side in several international tournaments, and also worked for Cric ...

( c) * Metuisela Beitaki * Sakiusa Dokosobau * Imran Khan * Riyad Khan * Jikoi Kida * Karan Kumar * Kunaal Kumar * Rabici Lesuma * Viliame Manakitoga * Sekove Ravoka * Giles Smith * Jone Wesele * Viliame Yabaki

References

External links

Cricket Fiji

at

ESPN Cricinfo ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a d ...

{{National cricket teams 1895 establishments in Fiji Cricket in Fiji National cricket teams

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 ...

Fiji in international cricket

History

Early days

Early tours

1895 tour of New Zealand

1907–08 tour of Australia

1923–24 New Zealand tour of Fiji

1935–36 New Zealand tour of Fiji

Post War period

1948 tour of New Zealand

1954 tour of New Zealand

1983–84 England visit to Fiji

ICC membership

Tournament history

World Cricket League

ICC Trophy

ACC Trophy

South Pacific Games

ICC T20 World Cup East Asia-Pacific Qualifier

Records

Twenty20 International

Other records

Players

Current squad

See also

References

External links