The Norway national cricket team is the team that represents

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

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 ...

matches. The

Norwegian Cricket Board Norwegian Cricket Board is the official governing body of the sport of cricket in Norway. Its headquarters is located in Oslo, Norway. Norwegian Cricket Board is Norway's representative at the International Cricket Council and is an associate membe ...

became an affiliate 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) in 2000, and the national side played its first international match later that year. Most of the side's matches have been against members of the European Cricket Council (ECC), although in more recent years Norway has fielded sides in the lower divisions 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 ...

(WCL). The team's current head coach is Muhammad Haroon, a former first-class player in Pakistan, who was appointed in early 2014. In 2017, they became an associate member.

History

Norwegian cricket was first organised in the 1960s by a few Asian immigrants and has grown to the current state of 55 clubs playing in five divisions. Norway became a member of the

in 200

and played in their first international tournament – the European Representative Championships in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

– in that same year. They won the tournament without losing a game, but did not play again until 2003, when they took part in the ECC Trophy for the first time. They won this tournament too, again without losing a game. This qualified the team for a place in Division Two of the European Championship in 2004. They finished fourth in the six-team tournament, gaining wins against

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

and

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. In 2005 Norway won the European Affiliates Championship, the equivalent of the ECC Trophy. They once again won the tournament without losing a game, and again qualified for Division Two of the European Championship in 2006. They won the tournament, beating debutants

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...

in the final after losing to them in the group stage. This gave Norway a place in Division One for the first time in 2008 and earned them a place in Division Five of the

. In May 2008, Norway travelled to

to take part in the Division Five tournament. Although they beat

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 ...

in Group A, it was the team's only group stage win and with four loses they failed to make the semi-finals. Norway finished ninth overall after defeating the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

and then

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 ...

in positional playoff matches. With only the top two from this tournament qualifying for Division Four in Tanzania later in the year, Norway missed out on the chance to take their 2011 World Cup dream any further. In July 2008, Norway met the top nations of European cricket when they participated in Division One of the European Championship. The Norwegians finished sixth overall in the six-team tournament, beaten convincingly in four of their matches – against

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

– whilst their match against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

was abandoned owing to rain. In August 2009, Norway travelled to Singapore to compete in Division Six of the

. They won only one of five group matches and finished sixth overall after losing a positional playoff to

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

. As a result, Norway were relegated to Division Seven. In May 2011, Norway travelled to

for Division Seven of the

and their relatively poor performances at ICC events continued as they finished fifth overall, although they did beat Japan in a group match and then a positional playoff. Fifth place saw Norway relegated to Division Eight of the World Cricket League. However, by the end of year 2011 a drastic change in team performance was observed

, mainly due to the inclusion of a number of new, younger, and fitter players. Under the captaincy of Rakesh the team went on to win several qualifying rounds and titles in games against higher or similarly ranked teams, such as Japan. In June 2012, in the

, the team gained the top spot in the shortest format of the game, with amazing reformations in the field. This success won Norway a spot in another ICC qualifier event, potentially securing them a place in the T20 World Cup Competition. In 2013 the team competed in the

2013 ICC European T20 Championship Division One The 2013 ICC European Twenty20 Championship Division One was a cricket tournament that took place from 8–14 July 2013. It formed part of the European Cricket Championship. England hosted the event. Teams Teams that qualified are as follows: G ...

in England where they finished in 8th place, securing wins over Sweden and Gibraltar. In 2014, Norway started their tour with their first game being against Old Southendian and Southchurch cricket club on 21 June. They lost this T20 match by four runs.

2018-Present

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 Norway 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 ...

after 1 January 2019 will be a full T20I. In September 2018, Norway qualified from Group C of the 2018–19 ICC World Twenty20 Europe Qualifier to the Regional Finals of the tournament. The Norwegians played their first T20I match against

on 15 June 2019.

Tournament history

European Championship

*1996 to 2002: Did not participate *2004: Division Two 4th place *2006: Division Two Winners *2008: Division One 6th place *2010: Division Two 5th place

World Cricket League

*2008: Division Five 9th place *2009: Division Six 6th place *2011: Division Seven 5th place *2012: Division Eight 5th place

European Championship T20

*2013: Division One 8th place *2014: Division Two 1st place

Germany Tri-Nation Series

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

: Runners-up

Current squad

''The following is a list of the players included in Norway's squad for the finals of the

2018–19 ICC T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier The 2018–19 ICC T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier was a cricket tournament that formed part of qualification process for the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup. Twelve regional qualifiers were held by the International Cricket Council (ICC), with 62 teamsZambi ...

in Jersey in June 2019.'' * Raza Iqbal *

Pratik Agnihotri Pratik Agnihotri (born 10 January 1994) is a Norwegian cricketer who plays for the national team. He was born in Oslo. In May 2019, he was named in Norway's squad for the Regional Finals of the 2018–19 ICC T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier tourn ...

* Khizer Ahmed (

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

) * Waqas Ahmed * Nazakat Ali * Tafseer Ali * Prithvi Bhart * Walid Ghauri *Henry Glanfield * Ansar Iqbal * Javed Maroofkhail *Faizan Mumtaz * Hayatullah Niazi * Abdullah Sheikh *

Junaid Sheikh Junaid Sheikh (born 31 July 1984) is an Indian actor and an international model. Since 2010, Junaid has starred in many commercially successful films in Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam as an Antagonist. His athletic and muscular physique has made ...

* Ehtsham Ul Haq

Records and Statistics

International match summary — Norway ''Last updated 31 July 2022''

Twenty20 International

* Highest team total: 186/6 v

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

, 25 July 2022 at

Tikkurila Cricket Ground The Finnish national cricket team is the team that represents Finland in international cricket. It is organised by the Cricket Finland. History Cricket was first played in Finland in the 1960s, but didn't become formally organised until the 1970 ...

Vantaa Vantaa (; sv, Vanda, ) is a city and Municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. It is part of the inner core of the Greater Helsinki, Finnish Capital Region along with Helsinki, Espoo, and Kauniainen. With a population of (), Vantaa i ...

* Highest individual score: 70 * by Sher Sahak v

Guernsey Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency. It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...

, 29 April 2022 at

Desert Springs Cricket Ground The Desert Springs Cricket Ground is a sports ground in Cuevas del Almanzora, Almería, Spain. In September 2019, it was selected to host Germany's tour of Spain in March 2020, which included two Twenty20 International (T20I) cricket matches be ...

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of the same name. It lies on southeastern Iberia on the Mediterranean Sea. Caliph Abd al-Rahman III founded the city in 955. The city g ...

* Best individual bowling figures: 5/8, Muhammad Butt v

, 25 July 2022 at

Most T20I runs for Norway Most T20I wickets for Norway T20I record versus other nations ''Records complete to T20I #1714. Last updated 31 July 2022.''

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_ICC_World_Cricket_League_Division_Six

External links

European B Championship 2004
{{National sports teams of Norway Cricket in Norway 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 ...

Norway in international cricket