Malta national cricket team

Malta
AssociationMalta Cricket Association
Personnel
CaptainBikram Arora
CoachSubhas Roy [1][2]
International Cricket Council
ICC statusAssociate member[3] (2017)
ICC regionEurope
ICC Rankings Current[4] Best-ever
T20I 61st 51st (8 July 2021)
International cricket
First internationalv  England at the Naval Ground, Malta; 9 October 1891[5]
Twenty20 Internationals
First T20Iv  Spain at La Manga Club, Cartagena; 29 March 2019
Last T20Iv  Romania at Moara Vlasiei Cricket Ground, Moara Vlăsiei; 20 August 2023
T20Is Played Won/Lost
Total[6] 59 25/32 (1 tie, 1 no result)
This year[7] 0 0/0 (0 ties, 0 no results)
As of 1 January 2024

The Malta national cricket team is the team that represents the Republic of Malta in international cricket. The team is organised by the Malta Cricket Association, which became an affiliate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 1998.[8] and an associate member in 2017.[3] A Maltese national team first played as early as 1891, when an XVIII of Malta played an English team on its way to a tour of Australia. The team was not revived until 1990, when it participated in the European Cricketer Cup in Guernsey. Since then, Malta has appeared regularly in European Cricket Council tournaments, generally in the lower divisions.[9]

History

2018-Present

In April 2018, the ICC decided to grant full Twenty20 International (T20I) status to all its members. Therefore, all Twenty20 matches played between Malta and other ICC members after 1 January 2019 will be a full T20I.[10]

Malta played its first official T20I against, Spain, on 29 March 2019 during the 2019 Spain Triangular T20I Series. The match was played at La Manga Club, Murcia, Spain.[11]

29 March 2019
15:30
Scorecard
Malta 
98/9 (20 overs)
v
 Spain
99/3 (12.1 overs)
Bikram Arora 28 (25)
Tom Vine 4/28 (4 overs)
Yasir Ali 57 (40)
Jurg Hirschi 1/15 (2 overs)
Spain won by 7 wickets
La Manga Club, Murcia
Umpires: Adnan Khan (Esp) and Harmit Phull (Esp)
  • Malta won the toss and elected to bat.
  • First ever T20I match for Malta.

International competition

Malta competed in every edition of the European Affiliates Championship from 1999 to 2005, their best result coming in 2001 when they reached the semi-finals. They competed in the tournament predecessor, the European Nations Cup in 1997, and competed in its successor, Division Three of the European Championship in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2012.

In October 2013, Malta hosted an International Tournament, inviting the International Cricket Associations of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Russia. Malta played their games from 4 to 6 October. Khosla captained the side to 3 wins out of 3, culminating in a final day victory over Hungary where the latter could've also won the tournament with a victory. The winning runs were scored on a wide delivery with Haroon Majeed facing the ball.

Malta followed up their success with a second successive International Tournament victory in Budapest, Hungary. Malta defeated the UAE in the final in a tournament compromising of Hungary, Poland, Austria, Czech Republic, UAE and Malta. Bikram Arora hit the winning runs with a drive to the leg-side which made it to the boundary. Malta's Christopher Chellew won the Player of the Tournament and also scored the most runs in tournament.

Malta competed in a third International Tournament along with Sweden, Poland and Czech Republic, hosted by the latter in Prague. Malta had their 7 match unbeaten run ended by Sweden, when Malta fell 5 runs short of the Swedes' first innings target of 198 runs. Heavy rain and poor weather conditions all round caused Malta's game with Czech Republic to first be suspended and then abandoned in the 2nd innings after Malta were bowled out for 122. Malta got their first and only win of the tournament by successfully chasing 140 runs against Poland, who had already wrapped up the Tournament for themselves the previous day. This left Malta third in the table, level on points on Sweden but behind them on net run rate.

In September of the same year, Malta hosted Hungary in a 3-match series. The first two games were T20s with the first game being a decisive Malta victory while the second saw Hungary become the first National Cricket Team to win in Malta. The final game was a 50-Over Match. Hungary batted first and were bowled out for 121 runs. Chellew scored a half-century to inspire Malta to victory and a series win.

Domestic cricket

Malta boasts a climate that enables cricket to be played all year round[12] and encourages visiting teams to come and play on the island.[13] There are two grounds: Marsa Cricket Ground, in existence for over a century[13] and Hal Safi Cricket Ground, which is rarely used. Twelve clubs contested the T20 2020 Summer League: Knight Kings, Super Kings, Southern Crusaders, Power Hitters, Swieqi United, Bugibba Blasters, Marsa, Msida Warriors, Overseas, American University of Malta, Paola Boys and Mater Dei.[14] The 2019–20 Winter League took the form of a 50-overs Marsa Federations Cup, featuring five regional teams: Birkirkara Blues, Mellieha Stars, Rabat Titans, Sliema Riders and Valletta Vikings.[15]

Grounds

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Locations of grounds which have hosted international cricket matches within Malta

Current squad

This lists all the players who have played for Malta in the past 12 months or has been part of the latest T20I squad. Uncapped players are listed in italics.

Name Age Batting style Bowling style Notes
Batters
Zeeshan Khan 35 Right-handed Right-arm leg break
Samuel Stanislaus 43 Right-handed Right-arm off break
Basil George 26 Right-handed Right-arm medium
Jaspal Singh 37 Right-handed Right-arm medium
Darshit Patankar 25 Right-handed
Gopal Thakur 30 Right-handed Right-arm medium
All-rounders
Varun Thamotharan 35 Left-handed Left-arm medium-fast Captain
Alex Hudson 17 Left-handed Right-arm medium
Bikram Arora 41 Right-handed Right-arm leg break Vice-captain
Fanyan Mughal 37 Right-handed Left-arm medium
Imran Ameer 36 Right-handed Right-arm off break
Priyan Pushparajan 32 Right-handed Right-arm medium
Indika Perera 41 Right-handed Right-arm medium
Wicket-keepers
Aaftab Alam Khan 38 Right-handed
Chanjal Sudarsanan 30 Right-handed
John Grima 65 Right-handed
Spin Bowler
Amar Sharma 45 Right-handed Right-arm off break
Pace Bowlers
Waseem Abbas 34 Right-handed Right-arm fast
Waqas Ahmad 29 Right-handed Right-arm medium
Eldhose Mathew 29 Right-handed Right-arm medium
Jaswinder Singh 32 Right-handed Right-arm medium
Muhammad Ajmal 53 Left-handed Left-arm medium

Updated as on 20 August 2023

Records and statistics

International Match Summary — Malta[16]

Last updated 20 August 2023

Playing Record
Format M W L T NR Inaugural Match
Twenty20 Internationals 59 25 32 1 1 29 March 2019

Twenty20 International

T20I record versus other nations[16]

Records complete to T20I #2206. Last updated 20 August 2023.

Opponent M W L T NR First match First win
vs Associate Members
 Belgium 8 2 6 0 0 8 July 2021 8 July 2021
 Bulgaria 6 5 0 0 1 23 September 2020 23 September 2020
 Czech Republic 3 1 2 0 0 18 October 2019 12 May 2022
 France 4 2 2 0 0 10 July 2023 10 July 2023
 Gibraltar 9 6 2 1 0 20 August 2021 20 August 2021
 Hungary 2 1 1 0 0 5 September 2021 10 May 2022
 Israel 1 1 0 0 0 1 July 2022 1 July 2022
 Luxembourg 4 2 2 0 0 2 September 2021 11 July 2023
 Portugal 6 0 6 0 0 19 August 2021
 Romania 9 4 5 0 0 4 September 2021 11 May 2022
 Spain 3 0 3 0 0 29 March 2019
  Switzerland 4 1 3 0 0 23 October 2021 24 October 2021

See also

References

  1. ^ Virat Kohli's childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma appointed head coach of Malta national cricket team
  2. ^ Raj Kumar Sharma to coach Malta cricket team
  3. ^ a b "Ireland and Afghanistan ICC newest full members amid wide-ranging governance reform". International Cricket Council. 22 June 2017. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  4. ^ "ICC Rankings". International Cricket Council.
  5. ^ "The Home of CricketArchive".
  6. ^ "T20I matches - Team records". ESPNcricinfo.
  7. ^ "T20I matches - 2024 Team records". ESPNcricinfo.
  8. ^ Cricket Archive
  9. ^ Other matches played by Malta Archived 28 April 2018 at the Wayback Machine – CricketArchive. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
  10. ^ "All T20 matches between ICC members to get international status". International Cricket Council. 26 April 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  11. ^ "Malta vs Spain, Men's European T20I Tournament (Match-3)". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  12. ^ "Malta Cricket Association". Archived from the original on 14 September 2004. Retrieved 12 September 2006.
  13. ^ a b Info Archived 4 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ "Malta Cricket League (Summer) - Draws - 2020 League". Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  15. ^ "Winter League - Draws - 2019-20 Marsa Federations Cup". Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  16. ^ a b "Records / Malta / Twenty20 Internationals / Result summary". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  17. ^ "Records / Malta / Twenty20 Internationals / Highest totals". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  18. ^ "Records / Malta / Twenty20 Internationals / High scores". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  19. ^ "Records / Malta / Twenty20 Internationals / Best bowling figures". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  20. ^ "Records / Malta / Twenty20 Internationals / Most runs". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  21. ^ "Records / Malta / Twenty20 Internationals / Most wickets". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 23 September 2020.

External links

  • Official website
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