Wednesday 30 May 2012

Afghanistan national cricket team

Afghanistan national cricket team
The Afghanistan national cricket team is the team that represents the country of Afghanistan in international cricket matches. Cricket has been played in Afghanistan since the mid 19th century, but it is only in recent years that the national team has become successful. The Afghanistan Cricket Federation was formed in 1995 and became an affiliate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2001[1] and a member of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) in 2003.[2] They are ranked ninth in International Twenty20 cricket as of 9 November 2011, ahead of ICC full member nations Zimbabwe and the currently unranked Bangladesh.[3]
The national team was formed in 2001,[1] which played in the 2009 World Cup Qualifier[4] after rising rapidly through the World Cricket League, starting in Division Five in May 2008.[5] The team failed to qualify for the 2011 World Cup, but did earn ODI status until 2013.[2] In February 2010, the Afghan cricket team secured qualification to the 2010 ICC World Twenty20, the team's first major tournament.[6] In the same year they won their first Intercontinental Cup, beating Scotland in the final.[

History

 Pre-ODI history

The earliest record of cricket in Afghanistan is of British troops playing a match in Kabul in 1839, though it appears that no long lasting legacy of cricket was left by the British. In the 1990s, cricket became popular amongst the Afghan refugees residing in Pakistan, and the Afghanistan Cricket Board was formed there in 1995. They continued to play cricket on their return to their home country.[1] Like all sports, cricket was originally banned by the Taliban, but cricket became an exception in 2000 (being the only sport in Afghanistan to be approved by the Taliban) and the Afghanistan Cricket Federation was elected as an affiliate member of the ICC the following year.[8]
The national team was invited to play in the second tier of Pakistani domestic cricket the same year,[1] and the tour brought international media attention to Afghan cricket when the US-led invasion of the country began whilst the team was in Pakistan. The team lost three and drew two of the five matches on the tour.[8]
They played in two Pakistani tournaments in 2003, winning their first match that year. They began playing in Asian regional tournaments in 2004, finishing sixth in their first ACC Trophy. More success began in 2006 when they were runners-up to Bahrain in the Middle East Cup and beat an MCC side featuring former England captain Mike Gatting by 171 runs in Mumbai. Gatting was dismissed for a duck.[8]
They toured England in the summer of 2006, winning six out of seven matches. Three of their wins came against the second XIs of Essex, Glamorgan and Leicestershire.[2] They finished third in the ACC Trophy that year, beating Nepal in a play-off match.[8]
They won their first tournament in 2007, sharing the ACC Twenty20 Cup with Oman after the two tied in the final.[8] They began their qualifying campaign for the 2011 World Cup in Jersey in 2008, winning Division Five of the World Cricket League.[5] They finished third in the ACC Trophy Elite tournament the same year,[2] and won a second consecutive WCL tournament, Division Four in Tanzania later in the year.[2]
In January 2009, Afghanistan progressed to the 2009 World Cup Qualifier by winning Division Three of the World Cricket League in Buenos Aires, topping the table on net run rate ahead of Uganda and Papua New Guinea.[4]

ODI status

The national team at Rotterdam, 2010 ICC WCL Division One
In the 2011 Cricket World Cup qualifying tournament, Afghanistan failed to progress to the World Cup, but earned ODI status for four years.[2] Their first ODI was against Scotland in the 5th place play off, having previously beaten the Scots earlier in the tournament; Afghanistan won by 89 runs.[9]
In the Intercontinental Cup Afghanistan played its first first-class match against a Zimbabwe XI in a four day match in Mutare. During the match, which was drawn, Afghan batsman Noor Ali scored centuries in both his innings, making him only the fourth player to do so on their first-class debut. Later, in August 2009, they played the Netherlands in same competition at the VRA Cricket Ground, winning a low scoring match by one wicket.[10]
Afghanistan then took part in the 2009 ACC Twenty20 Cup in the United Arab Emirates. Afghanistan were drawn in Group A, a group which Afghanistan topped at the end of the group stages by winning all five of their matches. In the semi-finals the Afghans defeated Kuwait by 8 wickets.[11] In the final they met the hosts, the United Arab Emirates, whom they defeated by 84 runs.[12]
On 1 February 2010, Afghanistan played their first Twenty20 International against Ireland,[13] which they lost by 5 wickets.[14] On 13 February 2010, Afghanistan first defeated the United Arab Emirates by 4 wickets to make their way to the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 to be in the West Indies in April 2010. Later the same day they defeated Ireland by 8 wickets in the Final of 2010 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier and won the qualifier.[6] Afghanistan were in Group C of the main tournament, with India and South Africa. During their first match against India, opening batsman Noor Ali hit 50 runs, helping Afghanistan to a score of 115 in their 20 overs. Despite this they lost the match by 8 wickets.[15] In their second match, the team were reduced to 14/6 at one stage, before a late rally from Mirwais Ashraf and Hamid Hassan helped Afghanistan post 88 all out, resulting in a loss by 59 runs.[16]
The teams Intercontinental Cup campaign continued in 2010, with wins over Ireland, Canada, Scotland and Kenya before they beat Scotland by 7 wickets in the final in Dubai.[7] Also in 2010, they won the ACC Trophy Elite tournament in Kuwait, beating Nepal in the final[17] and finished third in Division One of the World Cricket League in the Netherlands.[18] They took part in the cricket tournament at the 2010 Asian Games in China and won the silver medal, losing to Bangladesh in the final.[19]
In 2011, Afghanistan have begun play in the 2011-13 ICC Intercontinental Cup, so far beating Canada and drawing with the UAE.[20] In the parallel one-day league, they have won two matches against Canada and lost twice to the UAE.[21]

 Tournament history

 Cricket World Cup

 ICC World Twenty20

 ICC Intercontinental Cup

 ICC Trophy/ICC World Cup Qualifier

 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier

  • 2009: Not eligible, not an ODI nation at time of tournament[2]
  • 2010: Winners[6]
  • 2012: Runners up

World Cricket League

 Asian Games

ACC Trophy

 ACC Twenty20 Cup

 Middle East Cup

  • 2006: Runners-up[8]

 The future

In December 2011, Afghanistan took part in the ACC Twenty20 Cup in Nepal, where they were drawn in the same group as Hong Kong, Oman, Kuwait and the Maldives. The event was a qualifier for the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier, but Afghanistan have already qualified for the event in the United Arab Emirates.[24] Further matches in the 2011-13 Intercontinental Cup and the associated one-day league will be played in 2012 against the Netherlands and Ireland and in 2013 against Scotland, Namibia and Kenya.[25] Afghanistan will play its first One Day International against a Full Member of the International Cricket Council in February 2012 when they will play a single match against Pakistan at Sharjah.

 Grounds

Afghanistan do not play their homes matches in Afghanistan due to the ongoing security situation and the lack of international standard facilities. Afghanistan played their 'home' Intercontinental Cup fixture against Ireland at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium in Sri Lanka. Following Afghanistan's World Twenty20 qualifying campaign they played two One Day Internationals against Canada at the Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium in the UAE, after which the stadium was named the 'home' ground of Afghanistan.[26]
As plans to resurrect Afghan cricket and the country itself it was later announced that Kabul National Cricket Stadium would be built and completed by July 2011 it would employ many local Afghans in construction and later maintenance. It would also see new sprinklers, seats, training centre and a 6000 seat capacity built for people to watch and play cricket. The stadium is the hub of international and domestic cricket in Afghanistan [27] Outside of Jalalabad, the Ghazi Amanullah Khan International Cricket Stadium has been constructed.[28][29]

 Players

 Current squad

 Records

 One-day International

 Twenty20 International

 

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