Luxembourg's home ground is at the Pierre Werner Cricket Ground, in Walferdange which belongs to the country's largest club, the Optimists Cricket Club. The ground is named after the late Pierre Werner, a former Prime Minister of Luxembourg (1959–74, 1979–84). Werner had fallen in love with cricket when living in London in 1930, and went on to become the Honorary President of the OCC, which had been established when he was Prime Minister. Werner opened the OCC's new ground in 1992.[6] Widely viewed as one of the best cricket grounds in mainland Europe (excluding grounds in the Netherlands), the ground lies in the picturesque setting just ten minutes from Luxembourg City center. It boasts a large outfield (with two tracks laid on different bases), four practice bays, a clubhouse with catering facilities, a cricket/tennis pavilion and various other amenities.[7]
History
Luxembourg men's international debut came at the 1990 European Cricketer Cup, a European Cricket Council tournament.[8] Outside of occasional matches against Belgium, the team did not return to international level until 2003, when they finished last in the ECC Trophy, an eleven-team tournament for ICC affiliate members.[9] The following year, they took part in the ECC Representative Championship in Slovenia, finishing in fifth place, nearly upsetting Croatia, and completing their first international win, against Bulgaria.[10]
In 2006, Luxembourg took part in Division Four of the European Championship in Belgium, beating Finland, losing narrowly to Slovenia, and losing in the last over against Cyprus.[11] Having narrowly missed out on promotion in 2006, they would play in Division Four again in 2009.
In 2009, Luxembourg again participated in Division Four of the ICC European Championship in Limassol, Cyprus. It won two games, against Slovenia and Finland, and lost three, finishing 4th out of six competing nations. The Luxembourg team won the Spirit of Cricket award.
In 2011, following a restructuring of the ICC European Divisions, Luxembourg participated in the ICC Europe Division 2 (T20) Championship, which took place in Belgium and involved 11 teams. Following a victory over Cyprus in the group stage, Luxembourg advanced to the 5th–8th place play-off where they eventually finished 8th. Belgium beat Austria in the final and both teams were promoted to ICC Europe Division 1.
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 Luxembourg and other ICC members after 1 January 2019 will be a full T20I.[12] Luxembourg played their first T20I match against Turkey on 29 August 2019 during the 2019 Continental Cup in Romania.[13]
Luxembourg women played as an international team for the first time in September 2021, in a friendly match against Belgium (who were preparing for a series of T20Is against Austria in Vienna). Playing at the Robert Schuman Oval in Évrange, Belgium scored 163 for 7 (Siofra Lawlor 2-24, Lydie Wykes-Templeman 2-30, Stella Wykes-Templeman 1-24). In reply Luxembourg scored 136 for 6, losing by 27 runs. Captain Kerry Fraser (15) and Lydie Wykes-Templeman (49) put on 118 for the second wicket. Lydie Wykes-Templeman went on to play T20Is for France in 2022.
Tournament history
2003: ECC Trophy – 11th Place
2004: ECC Representative Tournament – 5th Place
2006: ICC European Division 4 Championship – 3rd place
2009: ICC European Division 4 Championship – 4th place
2011: ICC European Division 2 Championship (T20) – 8th place
Current squad
This lists all the players who have played for Luxembourg in the past 12 months or have been part of the latest T20I squad. Uncapped players are listed in italics.
