Belgium national cricket team explained

Belgium
Association:Belgian Cricket Federation
Icc Status:Associate member
Icc Member Year:2005
Icc Status2:Affiliate member
Icc Member Year2:1991
Icc Region:Europe
T20i Rank:44th
T20i Rank Best:37th (2 May 2023)
Coach:Abhijit Khan
Captain:Ali Raza
First Match:v at Brussels; 19 June 1910
First T20i:v at Royal Brussels Cricket Club, Waterloo; 11 May 2019
Most Recent T20i:v at Bayer Uerdingen Cricket Ground, Krefeld; 12 July 2024
Num T20is:44
Num T20is This Year:17
T20i Record:25/18 (1 tie, 0 no results)
T20i Record This Year:9/7 (1 tie, 0 no results)
Asofdate:12 July 2024

The Belgium national cricket team is the team that represents Belgium in international cricket. The team is organised by the Belgian Cricket Federation, which has been an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) since 2005 (and previously an affiliate member, from 1991).[1] Belgium played its first international match in 1910, in an exhibition tournament in Brussels that also featured France, the Netherlands, and the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). Since the 1990s, the team has regularly competed in European Cricket Council (ECC) tournaments, usually in the lower divisions.[2]

History

Beginnings

The first game of modern cricket in Belgium appears to have been a match played by British soldiers before the Battle of Waterloo in 1815,[3] though research has suggested that cricket may be related to a game exported from Flanders to England in the Sixteenth Century.[4] The first record of organised cricket is a painting dated 1870 that hangs in the pavilion of Lord's Cricket Ground in London that depicts the opening of the Brussels cricket ground in 1866 by mayor Jules Anspach.[5]

The national team first played a match in 1905 when they played against the Netherlands. The match was played almost every year until 1986. Belgium hosted a tournament as part of the 1910 Brussels Exhibition also involving France, the MCC and the Netherlands.[6] Belgium lost their match against the MCC by an innings[7] and lost to the Netherlands by 116 runs.[8]

ICC membership

Belgium became an affiliate member of the ICC in 1991. They began to play in European tournaments, playing in the ECC Trophy for the first time in 1999 when they finished last.[9] They fared better in the next tournament, reaching the semi-finals of the 2001 ECC Trophy in Austria.[10]

They finished sixth in the ECC Trophy in 2003,[11] and gained associate membership of the ICC two years later. Belgium finished fourth in the European Affiliates Championship in 2005[12] and both played and hosted Division Three of the newly restructured European Championship in August 2007, they finished fifth.[13]

In 2009 Belgium played in La Manga Club Ground, again in Division 3. Richard Nash captained the team and finished fourth. In 2011 Belgium hosted the new 2011 ICC European T20 Championship Division Two where they won the championship undefeated.[14] The captain for the T20 squad was André Wagener.Belgium got promoted to Division 1 where they finished a credible 7th out of 12 teams having fielded a weakened team because of visa issues. Their performance qualified them for the WCL 8 qualifier the following year.

In 2012 Belgium played the World Cricket League 8 Qualifier in La Manga Club Ground where they beat Gibraltar, Austria and France to qualify for the World Cricket league for the first time. Captained by Sheriyar Butt and Simon Newport in this tournament, they will travel to Samoa in September. On July 31, the Under-19 Belgium Cricket Team (Aadit Sheth, Aaryan Mehta, Raj Sanghvi, Sabhya Jain, Burhan Niaz, Shaan Shah, Dev Jogani, Aarjav Jain, Alex Uzupris, Theodore Develodore, Aamad Ali Rehman, Rehaan Shah, and Zeeshan Diwan Ali), travelled to Essex to participate in the U19 Cricket World Cup Qualifier Europe Division 2.

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 Belgium and other ICC members after 1 January 2019 will be a full T20I.[15] Belgium played their first Twenty20 International on 11 May 2019 against Germany.[16]

In August 2020, Belgium won the 2020 Luxembourg T20I Trophy tournament, after winning all four matches they played in.[17]

Current squad

Updated as of 26 May 2024

This lists all the players who have played for Belgium in the past 12 months or has been part of the latest T20I squad.

NameAgeBatting styleBowling styleNotes
Batters
Shaheryar Butt Right-handed
Muhammad Muneeb Left-handed
Manzoor Malangzai Right-handed
All-rounders
Saber Zakhil Right-handed
Burhan Niaz Right-handed
Sheraz Sheikh Right-handed Vice-captain
Faisal Khaliq Right-handed
Dumon Dewald Right-handed
Wicket-keepers
Ali Raza Right-handed Captain
Omid Rahimi Right-handed
Spin Bowler
Ravi Thapliyal Left-handed
Pace Bowlers
Khalid Ahmadi Right-handed
Sajad Ahmadzai Right-handed
Adnan Razzaq Right-handed
Zaki Shah Right-handed
Abduljabar Jabarkhail Right-handed

Tournament history

European Affiliates Championship

One-Day

T20

Records and statistics

International Match Summary — Belgium[19] Last updated 12 July 2024

Playing Record
Format M W L T NR Inaugural Match
Twenty20 Internationals 44 25 18 1 0 11 May 2019

Twenty20 International

Most T20I runs for Belgium [23]

PlayerRunsAverageCareer span
Saber Zakhil 873 28.16 2019–2024
Shaheryer Butt 815 29.10 2019–2024
Muhammad Muneeb 717 23.90 2020–2024
Burhan Niaz 452 23.78 2021–2024
Aziz Mohammad 408 22.66 2019–2024
Most T20I wickets for Belgium [24]
PlayerWicketsAverageCareer span
Khalid Ahmadi 50 16.32 2020–2024
Murid Ekrami 20 27.55 2019–2024
Shagharai Sefat 19 13.00 2021–2023
Sajad Ahmadzai 18 21.33 2022–2024
Ashiqullah Said 17 14.76 2019–2021

T20I record versus other nations[19]

Records complete to T20I #2755. Last updated 12 July 2024.

Opponent M W L T NR First match First win
vs Associate Members
7 4 3 0 0 24 July 2021 24 July 2021
1 0 1 0 0 8 July 2024
2 2 0 0 0 29 August 2020 29 August 2020
1 1 0 0 0 1 July 2022 1 July 2022
3 1 1 1 0 10 May 2024 12 May 2024
7 0 7 0 0 11 May 2019
1 1 0 0 0 28 June 2022 28 June 2022
4 2 2 0 0 8 June 2024 8 June 2024
1 1 0 0 0 29 June 2022 29 June 2022
1 0 1 0 0 10 July 2024
2 2 0 0 0 29 August 2020 29 August 2020
10 8 2 0 0 8 July 2021 8 July 2021
1 0 1 0 0 2 July 2022
1 1 0 0 0 12 July 2024 12 July 2024
1 1 0 0 0 4 July 2022 4 July 2022
1 1 0 0 0 7 July 2024 7 July 2024

See also

Notes and References

  1. http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Countries/39.html Belgium
  2. https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Teams/3/3144/Other_Matches.html Other matches played by Belgium
  3. Web site: Belgium: Back on track and aiming high . Emerging Cricket . 3 September 2020 . 3 September 2020.
  4. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7919429.stm Cricket 'was invented in Belgium'
  5. http://www.cricketeurope.net/BELGIUM/DATABASE/ADMIN/history.shtml History of Belgian Cricket
  6. http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Seasons/BELGIUM/1910_BELGIUM_Brussels_Exhibition_Tournament_1910.html Brussels Exhibition Tournament 1910
  7. http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Scorecards/103/103066.html Scorecard
  8. http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Scorecards/103/103065.html Scorecard
  9. http://www.cricketeurope.net/ECC/DATABASE/1999/TOURNAMENTS/ECCTROPHY/about.shtml 1999 ECC Trophy
  10. http://www.cricketeurope.net/ECC/DATABASE/2001/TOURNAMENTS/ECCTROPHY/about.shtml 2001 ECC Trophy
  11. http://www.cricketeurope.net/ECC/DATABASE/2003/TOURNAMENTS/ECCTROPHY/about.shtml 2003 ECC Trophy
  12. http://www.cricketeurope.net/ECC/DATABASE/2005/TOURNAMENTS/EUROAFFILIATES/about.shtml 2005 European Affiliates Championship
  13. http://www.cricketeurope.net/ECC/DATABASE/2007/TOURNAMENTS/EURODIV3/about.shtml 2007 European Championship Division Three
  14. Web site: ICC European Division 2 Championship 2011 . 2011-06-05 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110604182611/http://www.cricketeurope4.net/CRICKETEUROPE/DATABASE/2011/TOURNAMENTS/EURODIV2/index.shtml . 4 June 2011 . dmy .
  15. Web site: All T20 matches between ICC members to get international status. International Cricket Council. 26 April 2018. 1 September 2018.
  16. Web site: Germany announce dates for first T20Is. Cricket Europe. 30 January 2019. 20 March 2019. 20 March 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190320191645/https://www.cricketeurope.com/DATABASE/ARTICLES2019/articles/000001/000176.shtml. dead.
  17. Web site: Belgium dominate to claim clean sweep of Luxembourg T20I Trophy . Emerging Cricket . 31 August 2020 . 31 August 2020.
  18. http://www.cricketeurope.net/ECC/DATABASE/2007/TOURNAMENTS/EUROAFFILIATES/about.shtml 2007 European Affiliates Championship
  19. Web site: Records / Belgium / Twenty20 Internationals / Result summary . . 4 July 2022.
  20. Web site: Records / Belgium / Twenty20 Internationals / Highest totals . . 30 August 2020.
  21. Web site: Records / Belgium / Twenty20 Internationals / High scores . . 30 August 2020.
  22. Web site: Records / Belgium / Twenty20 Internationals / Best bowling figures . . 30 August 2020.
  23. Web site: Records / Belgium / Twenty20 Internationals / Most runs . . 30 August 2020.
  24. Web site: Records / Belgium / Twenty20 Internationals / Most wickets . . 30 August 2020.