# Spain national cricket team

The Spanish national cricket team is the team that represents Spain in international cricket. They became an affiliate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 1992 and an associate member in 2017. They made their international debut in the ECC Trophy in 2001, finishing in 6th place. They played in the tournament again in 2001, this time finishing seventh. In the equivalent tournament in 2005, the European Affiliates Championship, they put in a much improved performance to finish third, just missing out on promotion to Division Two of the European Championship. They played in Division Three of that tournament in 2007 and again in 2009.
In April 2018, the ICC decided to grant full Twenty20 International (T20I) status to all its members. Therefore, all Twenty20 matches played between Spain and other ICC members after 1 January 2019 were to have the T20I status.

## History

Cricket is first recorded as being played in Spain in the year 1809 by soldiers of General Lord Wellesley (later the Duke of Wellington). During the Peninsular War the soldiers played the game in and around Ciudad Rodrigo, Lugo and Orense. There are many records of the game being played by visiting British land and sea forces, either among themselves or against local British expatriate communities.
The game entered a new era in Spain with the founding of Madrid Cricket Club in 1975. It was based at first on British and Indian players, but soon West Indian and Spanish members joined.
In June 1989, a National Executive Committee was formed and the first steps were taken to unify all of the cricket playing clubs in Spain.

### First International Tournament (ECC Trophy/ICC Europe Championships)

Spain played their first tournament in 2001 in Austria. It was the ECC Trophy 2001. They also played their first match of their international cricket history in that tournament. They were in the Seebern Group amongst 2 groups. In their group there were Portugal, Malta, Finland and Sweden. Every match of the tournament was 35 overs.
They played their first match on13 August 2001 at the Seebarn Cricket Centre No 1 Ground, Lower Austria against Portugal. After winning the toss Portugal came down to bat and scored 229/6 in 35 overs. Opener Nadeem Butt scored 69. But due to their slow overrate Spain could play 32 overs. In 32 overs Portugal made 166/7. G Howe made 40 the highest score of Spain's innings. Portuguese bowler Bagvanadaia made 3/19 in 4 overs. So Spain lost their 1st international match against Portugal by 63 runs.
Spain's next matches was against Finland. It was on 14 August 2001 at Seebarn Cricket Centre No. 2 Ground, Lower Austria. After winning toss Spain came down to bat. They made 222/3 in 35 overs. Batsman G Howe made 103 which was the highest of Spain's innings. Finish bowler Scott Thurling took 2/36 in 7 overs. In bowling Spain smashed their opponent Finland. Finland could make 141/9 in 35 overs. Scott Thurling made highest 43 in Finland's innings. G Howe took 3/29 in 7 overs. Spain got a victory of 81 runs and got their first win in international cricket.

### 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 Spain and other ICC members since 1 January 2019 have been full T20I.
Spain played its first ever T20I against Malta on 29 March 2019, during the 2019 Spain Triangular T20I Series. The match was played at La Manga Club, Murcia, Spain.
* 29 March 2019 15:30 Scorecard
| Malta 98/9 (20 overs) | v | Spain 99/3 (12.1 overs) |
| Bikram Arora 28 (25) Tom Vine 4/28 (4 overs) | | Yasir Ali 57 (40) Jurg Hirschi 1/15 (2 overs) |
* Spain won by 7 wickets La Manga Club, Murcia Umpires: Adnan Khan (Esp) and Harmit Phull (Esp)
* Malta won the toss and elected to bat.
* First ever T20I match for Spain.

## Tournament history
### European Cricket Championship

* 2001: 6th place
* 2003: 7th place
* 2022: 3rd place
* 2023: 3rd place

### European Affiliates Championship

* 2005: 3rd place

### ICC Europe Division 3 Championship

* 2007: Runners-up
* 2009: 3rd place

### Iberia Cup

* 2019: Winners

## Current squad

This lists all the players who have played for Spain in the past 12 months or has been part of the latest T20I squad. Updated as of 28 August 2024.
| Name | Age | Batting style | Bowling style | Notes |
| Batters |||||
| Christian Munoz-Mills | 33 | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | Captain |
| Daniel Doyle-Calle | 26 | Right-handed | | |
| Mohammad Ihsan | 28 | Right-handed | | |
| Hamza Dar | 29 | Left-handed | Right-arm medium | |
| Mohammad Yasin | 35 | Left-handed | | |
| All-rounders |||||
| Yasir Ali | 33 | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | |
| Shafat Ali Syed | 28 | Left-handed | Left-arm medium | |
| Wicket-keeper |||||
| Alec Davidson-Soler | 20 | Right-handed | | |
| Spin Bowlers |||||
| Lorne Burns | 31 | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | Vice-captain |
| Charlie Rumistrzewicz | 19 | Right-handed | Slow left-arm orthodox | |
| Sebastian Hughes-Pinan | 18 | Left-handed | Slow left-arm orthodox | |
| Pace Bowlers |||||
| Atif Mehmood | 37 | Right-handed | Left-arm medium-fast | |
| Mohammad Kamran | 37 | Right-handed | Left-arm medium-fast | |
| Raja Adeel | 37 | Right-handed | Right-arm fast | |
| Mohammad Atif | 24 | Right-handed | Left-arm medium | |

## Head coach

Corey Leigh Rutgers (born 28 May 1989 in Footscray, Victoria) is a former Western Australia country and grade cricketer. He was cricket academy head coach for VOC Rotterdam in the Netherlands and also worked as assistant coach for Pakistan Super League team Islamabad United for almost two years.
In August 2019, Rutgers was appointed head coach of the Belgium national cricket team. He resigned in July 2021 after a dispute with Belgium cricket board officials over team selection.   In November 2021, Rutgers signed with the Espana National cricket federation as head coach.

## Records and statistics

International Match Summary — Spain
Last updated 28 August 2024
Playing Record :
| Format | M | W | L | T | NR | Inaugural Match |
| Twenty20 Internationals | 44 | 35 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 29 March 2019 |

### Twenty20 International

* Highest team total: 230/4 v Croatia, 4 August 2024 at Mladost Cricket Ground, Zagreb
* Highest individual score: 102*, Awais Ahmed v Malta, 30 March 2019 at La Manga Club, Murcia
* Best individual bowling figures: 6/28, Yasir Ali v Croatia, 2 August 2024 at Mladost Cricket Ground, Zagreb
| Player | Runs | Average | Career span |
| Yasir Ali | 755 | 26.96 | 2019–2024 |
| Daniel Doyle-Calle | 640 | 26.66 | 2022–2024 |
| Mohammad Ihsan | 562 | 35.12 | 2022–2024 |
| Hamza Dar | 547 | 28.78 | 2019–2024 |
| Awais Ahmed | 364 | 21.41 | 2019–2023 |
| Player | Wickets | Average | Career span |
| Lorne Burns | 45 | 13.02 | 2022–2024 |
| Yasir Ali | 45 | 13.13 | 2019–2024 |
| Charlie Rumistrzewicz | 40 | 11.17 | 2021–2024 |
| Atif Mehmood | 32 | 16.06 | 2019–2024 |
| Raja Adeel | 30 | 18.16 | 2019–2024 |
T20I record versus other nations
Records complete to T20I #2821. Last updated 28 August 2024.
| Opponent | M | W | L | T | NR | First match | First win |
| vs Associate Members ||||||||
| Belgium | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 July 2022 | |
| Croatia | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 August 2024 | 2 August 2024 |
| Cyprus | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 August 2024 | 21 August 2024 |
| Czech Republic | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 August 2024 | 22 August 2024 |
| Denmark | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 July 2022 | |
| Finland | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 17 August 2019 | 17 August 2019 |
| Germany | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 March 2020 | 8 March 2020 |
| Gibraltar | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 October 2019 | 26 October 2019 |
| Greece | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 August 2024 | 25 August 2024 |
| Guernsey | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 30 April 2022 | 30 April 2022 |
| Isle of Man | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 24 February 2023 | 24 February 2023 |
| Israel | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 June 2022 | 29 June 2022 |
| Italy | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 November 2022 | 5 November 2022 |
| Jersey | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 April 2024 | 14 April 2024 |
| Malta | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 March 2019 | 29 March 2019 |
| Norway | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 April 2022 | 30 April 2022 |
| Portugal | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 October 2019 | 25 October 2019 |