History
The first cricket club in Sweden was formed in Gothenburg in 1883. One of the founders, Erik Blidbert, had learnt the game in London [9] and became a natural leader for Sweden's pioneering Cricket enthusiasts. The club's full name was Lyckans Samfund (Society of Joy), a pun on the name of the local neighbourhood.
The first organised club of modern times, called the Stockholm Cricket Club, was created in 1948 by the staff of the British Embassy in Stockholm. They played against the crews of passing ships and made annual visits to Helsinki. Västerås started in the 1960s and teams from Gothenburg and Mariestad (founded by Ugandan-Indians) followed in the 1970s.
The Swedish Cricket Federation (SCF) was formed in 1990. The driving force behind it was the Guttsta Wicked Cricket Club. The Swedish Cricket Federation became a Member of the ICC in 1991. Over the years, clubs like Stockholms Akademiska Cricketsällskap, set up by students at Stockholm University in 1996 and now one of the largest clubs in the country, have fuelled the growth of Cricket in Sweden. In the initial years, progress was slow, but there was interest. Foreign teams also toured Sweden from time to time to keep things interesting. MCC visited Sweden in June 1999, which was one of the high points for Cricket in the country.
After becoming an affiliate member of the ICC, Sweden participated in many ICC-organised tournaments. In 1997 Sweden successfully hosted its first ever ICC Europe (then ECF) tournament, an indoor tournament in Halmstad.
In 2011, Sweden participated in and won the European Division 3 in Slovenia. The following year, Sweden became runners-up in the European Division 2 championship in Corfu, Greece, which earned the national team a place in the European Division 1, the highest-level tournament Sweden ever played in.
Inspired by the national team's achievements, the national club scene started taking cricket seriously and in 2012, the SCF increased its membership to 21 clubs. The newly formed Division 2 was set up the same year. In 2013, six new clubs joined the league, with the total number of players in the country standing at around 1500. With the ICC development fund, youth cricket also got much attention, with youth camps organised in the three larger cricket regions: Stockholm, Malmö, and Gothenburg. All of this meant further strengthening the club scene and adding to the membership of SCF. In 2014, the SCF applied to become a member of the Swedish Sports Confederation (Riksidrottsförbundet, RF). The RF accepted the application and recognized SCF as its 71st member organisation in May 2015.
2016 was the first year the government funding was available to SCF. This helped build many new cricket facilities in the country and made it possible to host the ICC Europe WCL Division 2 tournament in Stockholm. Sweden finished runners-up in that tournament and again gained promotion to European division 1. In 2015–16, Sweden was one of the largest receivers of refugees in Europe; many of these refugees came from cricket-playing countries. This helped form many new clubs and helped existing clubs gain new members because of the government's integration initiatives. Cricket is growing rapidly in Sweden, and clubs exist in almost every part of the country.
In 2021, Sweden was among five teams excluded from the ICC T20I Championship for failing to play enough fixtures in the relevant period, an effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. [10]
Sweden will make their T20I debut during the tour to Denmark in August 2021.
| v | |
Hamid Shah 25 (21)
Hassan Mehmood 5/14 (3.5 overs) | | |
Denmark won by 8 runs
Svanholm Park, Brøndby
Umpires: Allan From (Den) and Jesper Jensen (Den)
Player of the match: Hassan Mehmood (Swe) |
- Sweden won the toss and elected to field.
- First T20I match for Sweden.
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Sweden v. 
Denmark at Svanholm Park, Brøndby; 14 August 2021
Isle of Man at Cronkbourne Sports and Social Club Ground, Tromode; 6 September 2025
