Cricket was first played in Finland in the 1960s, but did not become formally organised until the 1970s, under the auspices of the Helsinki Cricket Club. More clubs were founded in the 1990s, and the Finnish Cricket Association was founded in 1999.[5] They became an affiliate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) the following year.[6] The CricketFinland logo/flag was designed by Jesse Karjalainen. In 2017, they became an associate member of the ICC.[1]
Cricket is growing in the country, and there are currently 10 teams contesting the national league, over 300 male players, 30 female players, 20 ECB qualified coaches, and over 30 qualified umpires.[5]
The Finnish national team has participated at various levels in European regional tournaments, their first coming in 2000, when they finished last in the ECC Representative Championship. They won the same tournament 2 years later, and were runners-up in 2004. They also competed in the ECC Affiliates Championship from 2001 to 2005, their best performance coming in their first year, when they finished in seventh place. They came last in 2005, placing them in Division Four of the newly expanded European Championship. They won that tournament in August 2006, giving them a spot in Division Three in 2007. In that tournament they were relegated to Division Four where they currently play.
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 Finland and other ICC members after 1 January 2019 have the full T20I status.[7]
The Finnish Cricket Association (Suomen Krikettiliitto ry) was set up in 1999 to develop and organise the game of cricket in Finland. The Finnish Cricket Association is currently responsible for the following areas:
Finnish national league (Suomen mestaruussarja), an 11 team league with clubs from the national capital Helsinki, and the cities of Turku and Tampere.
Youth development: An introductory level schools programme in the capital area, aided by developing club youth programmes.
National team: The national team won the 2006 European Championship Division 4, enabling them to move up to Division 3 in 2007, from which they were relegated back to Division 4.
Regional Development: Tampere and Turku are already thriving regional centres of cricket development. Oulu, Jyväskylä[14] and Lahti form the basis of the expansion of this programme.
Umpiring: Each Finnish league game is officiated by ACUS/ ECC qualified umpires.[15]
Cricket in Finland has been expanding, here is the current list of teams playing in SM50 (the first division), SM40 (the second division), Developmental T20 League, Open T20 League and Indoor League.
