Gibraltar national cricket team

The Gibraltar national cricket team is the team that represents the British overseas territory of Gibraltar in international cricket. They have been an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) since 1969.[4]

Gibraltar
AssociationGibraltar Cricket Association
International Cricket Council
ICC statusAssociate member (1969)
ICC regionEurope
ICC Rankings Current[1] Best-ever
T20I 79th 73rd (2-May-2019)
International cricket
First international Gibraltar v. Kenya 
(Solihull, England; 16 June 1982)
One Day Internationals
World Cup Qualifier appearances6 (first in 1982)
Best resultFirst round (1982–2001)
Twenty20 Internationals
First T20Iv  Portugal at La Manga Club, Cartagena; 26 October 2019
Last T20Iv  Spain at La Manga Club, Cartagena; 27 October 2019
T20Is Played Won/Lost
Total[2] 4 0/4 (0 ties, 0 no results)
This year[3] 0 0/0 (0 ties, 0 no results)
As of 24 September 2020

Gibraltar played in the ICC Trophy (now replaced by the ICC World Cup Qualifier) from 1982 to 2001, with little success. The team has played in the top-flight of the European Cricket Championship on four occasions, and placed sixth (out of eight teams) at 1996 European Cricket Championship held in Denmark in 1996. After the creation of the World Cricket League, Gibraltar was placed in the 2009 Division Seven. It was subsequently relegated to 2010 Division Eight, where another low finish saw the team again relegated, to regional qualifying tournaments.

With approximately 34,000 residents, Gibraltar has one of the smallest populations of any ICC member. Only three members, all dependencies of ICC full members, have a smaller population – in order from largest to smallest, the Cook Islands, Saint Helena, and Falkland Islands.

History

Early years

Cricket has been played in Gibraltar by British servicemen since the late 18th century. A cricket ground is known to have existed north of the Rock of Gibraltar in 1800. Civilians were playing the game as well as servicemen by 1822. The Gibraltar Cricket Club was formed in 1883, and formed the backbone of civilian cricket until well into the 20th Century.[5]

In 1890, a ship carrying the Australia national cricket team on the way to a tour of England, docked in Gibraltar Harbour after a collision with two other ships. The Australians played a game against a Gibraltar Garrison team. The local side were dismissed for just 25, and the Australians won the game, scoring 150/8.[5]

The game was flourishing in the 1930s, with Gibraltar producing many locally born players. However, the Second World War meant a cut back in the game, with many cricket fields giving way to the military, one even being converted into an airfield.[5]

Post-war years
Cricket being played in Gibraltar in 1960

The 1950s saw an increase in clubs, and the Gibraltar Cricket Association was formed in 1960.[5] They were elected to associate membership of the ICC in 1969.[4] Essex County Cricket Club visited after the conclusion of the 1973 English domestic season, and played a Rock XI in a one-day game, winning by 178 runs.[6] Visits by English sides of various ability levels have continued ever since.[5]

In 1982, Gibraltar took part in the second ICC Trophy, without winning a match. They improved on this performance in the 1986 tournament, gaining their first international win against Israel. They performed even better in the next tournament, beating East and Central Africa, Singapore and Israel[5] reaching the plate competition.[7] Israel toured Gibraltar in 1992, winning the match they played against the national side.[5]

Gibraltar finished in 20th place in the 1994 ICC Trophy,[8] and played in the first European Championship in Copenhagen in 1996, finishing sixth after losing to Scotland in a play-off.[9] They finished 19th in the following years ICC Trophy[10] and played poorly in the 1998 European Championship, finishing last in the ten team tournament.[11]

In 1999, Gibraltar hosted a quadrangular tournament also involving France, Israel and Italy,[5] losing in the final to Italy.[12] The European Championship was split into two divisions in 2000, with Gibraltar placed in Division Two, which they won.[13] The following year they travelled to Canada to take part in the 2001 ICC Trophy. A withdrawal by Italy and the non-arrival of West Africa left Gibraltar with just three matches to play against Germany, Namibia and Nepal, losing all of them and not progressing beyond the first round.[5]

Gibraltar defended their European Division Two title in 2002,[14] but could not continue this success in 2004, finishing fifth out of six teams.[15] They did not qualify for the 2005 ICC Trophy,[16] and finished fourth in Division Two of the European Championship in 2006 after losing a play-off to Germany.[17]

Gibraltar placed sixth at the 2009 Global Division Seven tournament and was relegated to Division-eight.

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 Gibraltar and other ICC members after 1 January 2019 will be a full T20I.[18]

Gibraltar played their first T20I on 26 October 2019, against Spain, during the 2019 Iberia Cup.

26 October 2019
08:45
Scorecard
Gibraltar 
113/6 (20 overs)
v
 Portugal
116/4 (18.3 overs)
Balaji Pai 52 (52)
Paolo Buccimazza 2/18 (4 overs)
Zohaib Sarwar 33* (21)
Balaji Pai 2/18 (4 overs)
Portugal won by 6 wickets
La Manga Club Bottom Ground, Cartagena
Umpires: Gordon Ashford (Esp) and Adnan Khan (Esp)
  • Gibraltar won the toss and elected to bat.
  • First ever T20I match for Gibraltar.

Records and Statistics

International Match Summary — Gibraltar[19]

Last updated 27 October 2019

Playing Record
FormatMWLTNRInaugural Match
Twenty20 Internationals4040026 October 2019

Twenty20 International

T20I record versus other nations[19]

Records complete to T20I #984. Last updated 27 October 2019.

OpponentMWLTNRFirst matchFirst win
vs Associate Members
 Portugal2020026 October 2019
 Spain2020026 October 2019

Tournament history

See also

References
  1. "ICC Rankings". International Cricket Council.
  2. "T20I matches - Team records". ESPNcricinfo.
  3. "T20I matches - 2021 Team records". ESPNcricinfo.
  4. Gibraltar at CricketArchive
  5. "History of the Gibraltar Cricket Association". Gibraltar Cricket Association. Archived from the original on 17 October 2007. Retrieved 20 October 2007.
  6. Scorecard of Rock XI v Essex, 12 September 1973
  7. 1990 ICC Trophy at Cricinfo
  8. 1994 ICC Trophy at Cricinfo
  9. 1996 European Championship Archived 5 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine at CricketEurope
  10. 1997 ICC Trophy at Cricinfo
  11. 1998 European Championship Archived 9 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine at CricketEurope
  12. Scorecard of Gibraltar v Italy, 25 September 1999 at Cricinfo
  13. 2000 European Championship Archived 5 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine at CricketEurope
  14. 2002 European Championship Official Site – results page
  15. 2004 European Championship Division Two Archived 1 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine at the European Cricket Council official website
  16. 2005 ICC Trophy at Cricinfo
  17. 2006 European Championship Division Two Archived 17 November 2006 at the Wayback Machine at CricketEurope
  18. "All T20 matches between ICC members to get international status". International Cricket Council. 26 April 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  19. "Records / Gibraltar / Twenty20 Internationals / Result summary". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  20. "Records / Gibraltar / Twenty20 Internationals / Highest totals". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  21. "Records / Gibraltar / Twenty20 Internationals / High scores". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  22. "Records / Gibraltar / Twenty20 Internationals / Best bowling figures". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  23. List of Gibraltar ICC Trophy matches at CricketArchive

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