Austria national cricket team

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Austria women's national cricket team.
Austria
Austrian Cricket Association logo
AssociationAustrian Cricket Association
Personnel
CaptainAqib Iqbal (2024)
CoachDaniel Eckstein (2023)
International Cricket Council
ICC statusAssociate member[1] (2017)
ICC regionEurope
WCLn/a (regional tournaments)
ICC Rankings Current[2] Best-ever
T20I 46th 36th (2-May-2019)
International cricket
First internationalv  Guernsey at Castel, Guernsey, 21 May 1990
Twenty20 Internationals
First T20Iv  Romania at Moara Vlasiei Cricket Ground, Moara Vlăsiei; 29 August 2019
Last T20Iv  France at Simar Cricket Ground, Rome; 16 June 2024
T20Is Played Won/Lost
Total[3] 48 26/20
(0 ties, 2 no results)
This year[4] 0 0/0
(0 ties, 0 no results)
T20 World Cup Qualifier appearances1[a] (first in 2023)
Best result7th place (2023)
As of 16 June 2024

The Austria national cricket team (German: Österreichische Cricketnationalmannschaft) is the men's team that represents the Republic of Austria in international cricket. The team is organised by the Austrian Cricket Association, which became an affiliate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 1992 and an associate member in 2017.[1]

The Austria national team made its international debut in 1990, at the European Cricketer Cup in Guernsey. It has since regularly competed in European Cricket Council tournaments, usually in the lower divisions, and also often plays bilateral series against other European sides.[5]

History

Having been played by English gardeners, tradesmen and the expat staff of banks working in Vienna at the end of the 19th century - at which time the Vienna Cricket and Football-Club was founded, cricket disappeared in Austria until after the Second World War, when it was played by British occupying troops on a recreational basis.[6]

The modern era as such began in May 1975, when the Australian Kerry Tattersall introduced the game to his pupils at the Vienna Handelsakademie (commercial academy) where he was teaching English, and formed the Vienna Cricket Club. Early opponents came from the United Nations (United Nations CC) and diplomatic services (Five Continents CC) and these founder clubs survive to this day.[6]

Cricket remains predominantly Viennese-based with eleven of the 18 member clubs being based in Vienna. CC Velden '91 is the oldest non-Viennese club, operating since 1991. The latest addition to the ACA is ASKÖ Steyr CC from Upper-Austria.

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 Austria and other ICC members since 1 January 2019 have the full T20I status.[7]

Austria played its first T20I match against Romania on 29 August 2019 during the 2019 Continental Cup in Romania.[8]

29 August 2019
09:00
Scorecard
Romania 
137/7 (20 overs)
v
 Austria
106 (19.4 overs)
Ijaz Hussain 35 (36)
Bilal Zalmai 4/12 (4 overs)
Anthony Lark 30 (41)
Ramesh Satheesan 3/14 (4 overs)
Romania won by 31 runs
Moara Vlasiei Cricket Ground, Ilfov County
Umpires: Mark Jameson (Ger) and Thomas Kentorp (Den)
  • Austria won the toss and elected to field.
  • First ever T20I match for Austria.

International competition

The Austria national team has participated in a considerable number of international tournaments, including hosting three tournaments since 2000:

2000 ECC (European Cricket Council) Representative Festival (5 teams – Norway, Slovenia, Croatia, Finland and Austria) 2001 ECC Trophy in Seebarn and Velden (10 teams – Sweden, Malta, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Greece, Belgium, Austria, Croatia and Finland) 2002 ECC European Cricket Championships, B Division in Northern Ireland (6 teams – Austria, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Israel and Portugal) 2003 ECC Notts Sport Trophy in Seebarn and Markomannenstrasse (11 teams – Malta, Portugal, Spain, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Greece, Belgium, Croatia, Finland, Austria and Norway)

They have been placed in Division Five of the newly expanded European Championship from 2008.

Tournament history

European Cricket Championship

  • 2002 (Division Two): 6th place
  • 2009 (Division Four): 3rd place

ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier (Europe Regional Final)

Current squad

This lists all the players who have played for Austria in the past 12 months or has been part of the latest T20I squad. Updated as of 16 June 2024.

Name Age Batting style Bowling style Notes
Batters
Armaan Randhawa 29 Right-handed
Mark Simpson-Parker 27 Right-handed Right-arm medium
Baseer Khan 28 Right-handed Right-arm medium
Amar Naeem 45 Right-handed
All-rounders
Karanbir Singh 29 Right-handed Right-arm medium
Imran Asif 34 Right-handed Right-arm medium
Bilal Zalmai 36 Right-handed Right-arm off break
Shadnan Khan 34 Right-handed Right-arm medium
Wicket-keeper
Abrar Bilal 39 Right-handed
Spin Bowlers
Abdullah Akbarjan 35 Left-handed Slow left-arm orthodox
Zeeshan Arif 27 Right-handed Right-arm leg break
Pace Bowlers
Aqib Iqbal 27 Right-handed Right-arm medium Captain
Waqar Zalmai 37 Right-handed Right-arm medium
Itibarshah Deedar 22 Right-handed Right-arm medium
Adeel Tariq 25 Right-handed Right-arm medium

Club cricket

There are three club competitions within Austria: the ACA (Austrian Cricket Association) League, and ACA Trophy (north & south).

The ACA League comprises (in 2006) 14 teams, 10 of which are based in Vienna. The ACA Trophy sometimes includes teams from outside Austria, for example from Poland and the Czech Republic.

Records

International Match Summary — Austria[9]

Last updated 16 June 2024.

Playing Record
Format M W L T NR Inaugural Match
Twenty20 Internationals 48 26 20 0 2 29 August 2019

Twenty20 International

T20I record versus other nations[9]

Records complete to T20I #2690. Last updated 16 June 2024.

Opponent M W L T NR First match First win
v. Full members
 Ireland 1 0 1 0 0 23 July 2023
vs Associate Members
 Belgium 7 3 4 0 0 24 July 2021 25 July 2021
 Bulgaria 1 1 0 0 0 30 July 2022 30 July 2022
 Czech Republic 6 5 1 0 0 30 August 2019 30 August 2019
 Denmark 1 0 1 0 0 24 July 2023
 France 1 1 0 0 0 16 June 2024 16 June 2024
 Germany 6 1 5 0 0 9 June 2022 10 June 2022
 Guernsey 1 1 0 0 0 27 July 2022 27 July 2022
 Hungary 4 2 1 0 1 4 June 2022 4 June 2022
 Isle of Man 3 0 2 0 1 9 July 2023
 Israel 1 1 0 0 0 10 June 2024 10 June 2024
 Jersey 1 0 1 0 0 20 July 2023
 Luxembourg 6 5 1 0 0 31 August 2019 31 August 2019
 Norway 1 1 0 0 0 31 July 2022 31 July 2022
 Portugal 1 1 0 0 0 12 June 2024 12 June 2024
 Romania 2 0 2 0 0 29 August 2019
 Scotland 1 0 1 0 0 25 July 2023
 Slovenia 1 1 0 0 0 25 July 2022 25 July 2022
 Sweden 2 2 0 0 0 10 June 2022 10 June 2022
 Turkey 1 1 0 0 0 31 August 2019 31 August 2019

See also

Notes

  1. ^ From 2023 edition onwards, T20 World Cup Qualifier refers to the Regional Final of the ICC Europe region.

References

  1. ^ a b "Ireland and Afghanistan ICC newest full members amid wide-ranging governance reform". International Cricket Council. 22 June 2017. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  2. ^ "ICC Rankings". International Cricket Council.
  3. ^ "T20I matches - Team records". ESPNcricinfo.
  4. ^ "T20I matches - 2025 Team records". ESPNcricinfo.
  5. ^ Other matches played by Austria Archived 3 October 2015 at the Wayback Machine – CricketArchive. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  6. ^ a b "Expats keen but cricket still puzzles Austrians". The Local Europe AB. Stockholm. 16 June 2014. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  7. ^ "All T20 matches between ICC members to get international status". International Cricket Council. 26 April 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  8. ^ "Continental Cricket Cup 2019". Facebook (Cricket Romania). Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  9. ^ a b "Records / Austria / Twenty20 Internationals / Result summary". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  10. ^ "Records / Austria / Twenty20 Internationals / Highest totals". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  11. ^ "Records / Austria / Twenty20 Internationals / High scores". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  12. ^ "Records / Austria / Twenty20 Internationals / Best bowling figures". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  13. ^ "Records / Austria / Twenty20 Internationals / Most runs". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  14. ^ "Records / Austria / Twenty20 Internationals / Most wickets". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
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