The United States Virgin Islands cricket team has represented the United States unincorporated territory of the

United States Virgin Islands The United States Virgin Islands,. Also called the ''American Virgin Islands'' and the ''U.S. Virgin Islands''. officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and an unincorporated and organized territory ...

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 st ...

. The team 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 108 national associations, with 12 Full Members and 96 Associate Members. Founded in 1909 as the '' ...

, but is a member of the

Leeward Islands Cricket Association The Leeward Islands Cricket Association, also known as the Leeward Islands Cricket Board (more often since 2015), is the ruling body for cricket in the following Caribbean islands: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda (founding member in 1913), the Briti ...

, which itself is a member association of the

West Indies Cricket Board Cricket West Indies (CWI) is the governing body for cricket in the West Indies (a sporting confederation of over a dozen mainly Commonwealth Caribbean, English-speaking Caribbean countries and dependencies that once formed the British West Ind ...

, and players from the United States Virgin Islands generally represent the

Leeward Islands cricket team The Leeward Islands cricket team is a first class cricket team representing the member countries of the Leeward Islands Cricket Association, an associate of the West Indies Cricket Board. Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Kitts, Nevis, Anguilla, Monts ...

at domestic level and 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 Greate ...

at international level. The United States Virgin Islands have however played as a separate entity in matches which held

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 inn ...

status, but has not appeared in first-class or

List A cricket List A cricket is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competitions in which the numb ...

History

A United States Virgin Islands cricket team first appeared in West Indian cricket in the 1991 Leeward Islands Tournament against the

British Virgin Islands ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = Territorial song , song = "Oh, Beautiful Virgin Islands" , image_map = File:British Virgin Islands on the globe (Americas centered).svg , map_caption = , mapsize = 290px , image_map2 = Brit ...

at the Lionel Roberts Stadium, Charlotte Amalie. Prior to that a Combined Virgin Islands team had taken part in the 1988 Leeward Islands Tournament. The following season the team played against a touring

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influe ...

side and throughout the 1990s it participated in the Leeward Islands One-Day tournament. Its participation in that tournament continued until 1998 after which its place was taken by a reconstituted Combined Virgin Islands team before the USVI again started participating separately for the one-day tournaments in 2003 and 2004 while a Combined Virgin Islands team participated in the Leeward Islands 3-day tournament. It was in February 2003 that the islands first hosted first-class cricket, with West Indies B playing

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

at the Paul E. Joseph Stadium, Frederiksted. In March of that same year, the Leeward Islands played their first-class cricket on the islands for the first time when they played

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

in the 2002/03

Carib Beer Cup The Regional Four Day Competition, formerly known as Shell Shield and Carib Beer Cup, is the first-class cricket competition in the West Indies. It is administered by the Cricket West Indies. In the 2013-2014 season the winner of the tourname ...

, with the ground having held five further first-class matches since. In 2005 the USVI and BVI again ceased to participate separately in all Leeward Islands tournaments (one day and three-day tournaments) and their places were taken by the Combined Virgin Islands until 2008 after which they participated separately again in all Leeward Islands tournaments. As part of

Allen Stanford Robert Allen Stanford (born March 24, 1950) is an American financial fraudster, former financier, and sponsor of professional sports. He is serving a 110-year federal prison sentence, having been convicted in 2012 of fraud, on charges that his i ...

's vision for cricket in the West Indies, the United States Virgin Islands were invited to take part in the 2006 Stanford 20/20, whose matches held official

status. Stanford gave US$100,000 for their participation. They played two matches in the tournament, defeating

Sint Maarten Sint Maarten () is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean. With a population of 41,486 as of January 2019 on an area of , it encompasses the southern 44% of the divided island of Saint Martin, while the northe ...

by 47 runs in their preliminary round match, before losing in the first round to

St Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines () is an island country in the Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea wh ...

by 5 wickets. Two years later, they were invited to take part in the 2008 Stanford 20/20, where the team was trained by

Desmond Haynes Desmond Leo Haynes (born 15 February 1956) is a former Barbadian cricketer and cricket coach who played for the West Indies cricket team between 1978 and 1994. Haynes favoured a more measured approach to batting and scored 7,487 runs in 116 Te ...

and coached by former Leeward Islands cricketer

Livingston Harris Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American customs ...

. They won their preliminary round match against

St Kitts Saint Kitts, officially the Saint Christopher Island, is an island in the West Indies. The west side of the island borders the Caribbean Sea, and the eastern coast faces the Atlantic Ocean. Saint Kitts and the neighbouring island of Nevis cons ...

by 4 wickets, before losing in the first round to

Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda (, ) is a sovereign country in the West Indies. It lies at the juncture of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean in the Leeward Islands part of the Lesser Antilles, at 17°N latitude. The country consists of two majo ...

by 24 runs. Following the reorganisation of domestic Twenty20 cricket in the West Indies in the aftermath of the fraud convictions against Allen Stanford, the United States Virgin Islands were excluded from the revamped regional tournament. The team's last appearance in the Leeward Islands One-Day Tournament came against

Montserrat Montserrat ( ) is a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about long and wide, with roughly of coastline. It is n ...

in 2009.

Notable players

:''See List of United States Virgin Islands Twenty20 players and :United States Virgin Islands cricketers''

References

External links

United States Virgin Islands
at CricketArchive {{DEFAULTSORT:United States Virgin Islands cricket team Cricket in the United States Virgin Islands 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 st ...

1991 establishments in the United States Virgin Islands Cricket clubs established in 1991