The Finnish national cricket team is the team that represents

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

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 ...

. 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 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. They 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) the following year. The CricketFinland logo/flag was designed by Jesse Karjalainen. In 2017, they became an associate member of the ICC. 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. 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 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 Finland and other ICC members after 1 January 2019 will be a full T20I. Finland's first T20I matches were played against Denmark on 13 July 2019, followed by a series against Spain the following month.

International grounds

Tournament history

European Cricket Championship

*2006: 1st place (Division Four) *2007: 8th place (Division Three) *2009: 5th place (Division Four)

Finnish Cricket Association

The

Finnish Cricket Association Cricket Finland ( fi, Suomen krikettiliito) is the official governing body of the sport of cricket in Finland. Its current headquarters and National Cricket Ground are located in Kerava, Finland. Cricket Finland is Finland's representative at th ...

(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 Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

, and the cities of

Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...

and

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

. *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 Oulu ( , ; sv, Uleåborg ) is a city, municipality and a seaside resort of about 210,000 inhabitants in the region of North Ostrobothnia, Finland. It is the most populous city in northern Finland and the fifth most populous in the country after: ...

, Jyväskylä and

Lahti Lahti (; sv, Lahtis) is a city and municipality in Finland. It is the capital of the region of Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme) and its growing region is one of the main economic hubs of Finland. Lahti is situated on a bay at the southern e ...

form the basis of the expansion of this programme. *Umpiring: Each Finnish league game is officiated by ACUS/ ECC qualified umpires. *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
*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 ''Last updated 19 July 2022''

Twenty20 International

* Highest team total: 185/8 v.

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

on 17 August 2019 at Kerava National Cricket Ground,

Kerava Kerava (; sv, Kervo) is a town and municipality within the Uusimaa region of Finland. The municipalities of Vantaa, Sipoo and Tuusula are adjacent to Kerava, which is part of the Helsinki metropolitan area. The town has a population of () an ...

* Highest individual score: 79, Nathan Collins v.

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

on 19 June 2022 at Kerava National Cricket Ground,

* Best individual bowling figures: 3/11, Md Nurul Huda v.

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 ...

on 13 July 2019 at

Svanholm Park Svanholm Park is a cricket ground in Brøndby, Denmark. The ground was constructed following the need for Svanholm Cricket Klub to move from their ground next to the Brøndby Stadium due to Brøndby IF needing to build a new stand which would ...

, Brøndby T20I record versus other nations ''Records complete to T20I #1675. Last updated 19 July 2022.''

References

External links

Helsinki Cricket Club - Oldest cricket club in Finland , since 1972

Tampere Cricket Club, Winner of 2006 Finnish league

Empire Cricket Club, Helsinki

Nepal Cricket Club Ry, Finland - Everest 8848, Helsinki
{{National cricket teams Cricket in Finland 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 ...

Finland in international cricket