Norway national cricket team

Last updated

Norway
Norwegian Cricket Board logo.png
Association Norwegian Cricket Board
Personnel
Captain Khizer Ahmed
Coach Zeeshan Siddiqui
International Cricket Council
ICC status Associate member [1] (2017)
Affiliate member (2000)
ICC region Europe
ICC RankingsCurrent [2] Best-ever
T20I 42nd 30th (16-Jun-2019)
International cricket
First internationalv Flag of Austria.svg  Austria at Seebarn Cricket Ground; 22 August 2000
T20 Internationals
First T20Iv Flag of Italy.svg  Italy at College Field, Saint Peter Port; 15 June 2019
Last T20Iv Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary at Stubberudmyra Cricket Ground, Oslo; 17 August 2025
T20IsPlayedWon/Lost
Total [3] 49 26/23 (0 ties, 0 no results)
This year [4] 17 10/7 (0 ties, 0 no results)
As of 25 August 2025

The Norway national cricket team is the team that represents Norway in international cricket matches. The Norwegian Cricket Board became an affiliate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2000, and the national side played its first international match later that year. Most of the side's matches have been against members of the European Cricket Council (ECC), although in more recent years Norway has fielded sides in the lower divisions of the World Cricket League (WCL). The team's current head coach is Muhammad Haroon, a former first-class player in Pakistan, who was appointed in early 2014. [5] In 2017, they became an associate member of the ICC. [1] Norway achieved their highest ever ICC T20I ranking (30th) under Haroon’s coaching. Norway was also honoured with the ICC Accelerated Growth Member Award in 2017. This recognition was part of the ICC’s annual Development Awards, which celebrate outstanding contributions to the growth of cricket among its member nations.

Contents

History

Norwegian cricket was first organised in the 1960s by a few Asian immigrants and has grown to the current state of 55 clubs playing in five divisions.

Norway became a member of the International Cricket Council in 2000 and played in their first international tournament – the European Representative Championships in Austria – that same year. They won the tournament without losing a game, but did not play again until 2003, when they took part in the ECC Trophy for the first time. They won this tournament too, again without losing a game. This qualified the team for a place in Division Two of the European Championship in 2004. They finished fourth in the six-team tournament, gaining wins against Gibraltar and Israel.

In 2005 Norway won the European Affiliates Championship, the equivalent of the ECC Trophy. They once again won the tournament without losing a game, and again qualified for Division Two of the European Championship in 2006. They won the tournament, beating debutants Jersey in the final after losing to them in the group stage. This gave Norway a place in Division One for the first time in 2008 and earned them a place in Division Five of the World Cricket League.

In May 2008, Norway travelled to Jersey to take part in the Division Five tournament. Although they beat Vanuatu in Group A, it was the team's only group stage win and with four loses they failed to make the semi-finals. Norway finished ninth overall after defeating the Bahamas and then Japan in positional playoff matches. With only the top two from this tournament qualifying for Division Four in Tanzania later in the year, Norway missed out on the chance to take their 2011 World Cup dream any further.

In July 2008, Norway met the top nations of European cricket when they participated in Division One of the European Championship. The Norwegians finished sixth overall in the six-team tournament, beaten convincingly in four of their matches – against Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Scotland – whilst their match against Italy was abandoned owing to rain. [6]

In August 2009, Norway travelled to Singapore to compete in Division Six of the World Cricket League. They won only one of five group matches and finished sixth overall after losing a positional playoff to Botswana. [7] As a result, Norway were relegated to Division Seven.

In May 2011, Norway travelled to Botswana for Division Seven of the World Cricket League and their relatively poor performances at ICC events continued as they finished fifth overall, although they did beat Japan in a group match and then a positional playoff. [8] Fifth place saw Norway relegated to Division Eight of the World Cricket League.

However, by the end of year 2011 a drastic change in team performance was observed in the World Cricket League, mainly due to the inclusion of a number of new, younger, and fitter players. Under the captaincy of Rakesh the team went on to win several qualifying rounds and titles in games against higher or similarly ranked teams, such as Japan. In June 2012, in the World Cricket League, the team gained the top spot in the shortest format of the game, with amazing reformations[ clarification needed ] in the field. This success won Norway a spot in another ICC qualifier event, potentially securing them a place in the T20 World Cup competition. [8]

In 2013 the team competed in the 2013 ICC European T20 Championship Division One in England; they finished in 8th place, securing wins over Sweden and Gibraltar.

In 2014, Norway started their tour; their first game was against Old Southendian and Southchurch cricket club on 21 June. They lost this T20 match by four runs.

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 Norway and other ICC members after 1 January 2019 would be a full T20I. [9]

In September 2018, Norway qualified from Group C of the 2018–19 ICC World Twenty20 Europe Qualifier to the Regional Finals of the tournament. [10]

The Norwegians played their first T20I match against Italy on 15 June 2019.

15 June 2019
10:45
Scorecard
Norway  Flag of Norway.svg
151/3 (20 overs)
v
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy
85/1 (10 overs)
Walid Ghauri 44* (35)
Baljit Singh 2/8 (3 overs)
Nicholas Maiolo 39* (22)
Hayatullah Niazi 1/19 (2 overs)
Italy won by 20 runs (DLS method)
College Field, Saint Peter Port
Umpires: Rizwan Akram (Ned) and Mary Waldron (Ire)
Player of the match: Walid Ghauri (Nor)
  • Norway won the toss and elected to bat.
  • Italy were set a revised target of 66 runs from 10 overs due to rain.
  • First ever T20I match for Norway.

Grounds

Norway location map.svg
Locations of all stadiums which have hosted international cricket matches within Norway

Tournament history

European Cricket Championship

European Cricket Championship records
Host/YearRoundPositionGPWLTNR
Flag of Denmark.svg 1996Did not participate
Flag of the Netherlands.svg 1998
Flag of Scotland.svg 2000
Flag of Ireland.svg 2002
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg 2004
Flag of Scotland.svg 2006
Flag of Ireland.svg 2008Round-robin6/650001
Flag of Guernsey.svg 20103rd53200
Flag of Jersey.svg 20116th52300
Flag of England.svg 20135th53200
Total9/90 Titles42212100

World Cricket League

European Championship T20

Germany Tri-Nation Series

Current squad

The following is a list of the players included in Norway's squad for the finals of the 2018–19 ICC T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier in Jersey in June 2019. [13]

International grounds

Norway location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Fornebu Cricket Ground
Red pog.svg
Stubberudmyra Cricket Ground
Locations of stadiums which have hosted international cricket matches in Norway
GroundCityRegionCapacityMatches hostedNotes
Fornebu Cricket Ground Bærum Akershus 1,000T20Is, ICC qualifiersNorway’s main cricket venue; hosted international tournaments and ECN events

Records and statistics

International match summary — Norway [14]

Last updated 17 August 2025

Playing Record
FormatMWLTNRInaugural Match
Twenty20 Internationals4926230015 June 2019

Twenty20 International

T20I record versus other nations [14]

Records complete to T20I #3410. Last updated 17 August 2025.

OpponentMWLTNRFirst matchFirst win
vs Associate Members
Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 5140031 July 20229 June 2025
Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czech Republic 3300025 July 202225 July 2022
Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 3120017 June 201914 June 2025
Flag of Estonia.svg  Estonia 1100024 July 202224 July 2022
Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 7520019 May 202319 May 2023
Flag of France.svg  France 422005 August 20217 August 2021
Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 5230020 June 20198 August 2021
Flag of Gibraltar.svg  Gibraltar 1100013 July 202413 July 2024
Flag of Guernsey.svg  Guernsey 3120019 June 201929 April 2022
Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 1100017 August 202517 August 2025
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 1010015 June 2019
Flag of Jersey.svg  Jersey 2020016 June 2019
Flag of Portugal (official).svg  Portugal 312007 April 20257 April 2025
Flag of Slovenia.svg  Slovenia 110009 July 20249 July 2024
Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 2020030 April 2022
Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 6510018 May 202318 May 2023
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg   Switzerland 1100028 July 202228 July 2022

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "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. "Norway under-19 cricket team enjoy tour of Lincolnshire"Lincolnshire Echo. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
  6. http://www.icc-europe.org/EURODIV1/results.shtml Archived 12 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine , official website ICC-Europe, retrieved 7 August 2008
  7. "Cricinfo, Accessed 20 September 2009". cricinfo.com. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  8. 1 2 3 "Results - ICC World Cricket League Division Seven - ESPNcricinfo". Cricinfo. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  9. "All T20 matches between ICC members to get international status". International Cricket Council . 26 April 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  10. "Denmark and Norway join Italy in regional final". Cricket Europe. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
  11. "Cricinfo, Accessed 20 September 2009". cricinfo.com. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  12. "Cricinfo, Accessed 20 September 2009". cricinfo.com. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  13. "Squads announced for ICC Men's T20 World Cup Europe Final 2019". Cricket Europe. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  14. 1 2 "Records / Norway / Twenty20 Internationals / Result summary". ESPNcricinfo . Retrieved 15 June 2019.
  15. "Records / Norway / Twenty20 Internationals / Highest totals". ESPNcricinfo . Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  16. "Records / Norway / Twenty20 Internationals / High scores". ESPNcricinfo . Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  17. "Records / Norway / Twenty20 Internationals / Best bowling figures". ESPNcricinfo . Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  18. "Records / Norway / Twenty20 Internationals / Most runs". ESPNcricinfo . Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  19. "Records / Norway / Twenty20 Internationals / Most wickets". ESPNcricinfo . Retrieved 20 June 2019.

2015 ICC World Cricket League Division Six