# Malta national cricket team

The Malta national cricket team is the team that represents the Republic of Malta in international cricket. The team is organised by the Malta Cricket Association, which became an affiliate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 1998. and an associate member in 2017. A Maltese national team first played as early as 1891, when an XVIII of Malta played an English team on its way to a tour of Australia. The team was not revived until 1990, when it participated in the European Cricketer Cup in Guernsey. Since then, Malta has appeared regularly in European Cricket Council tournaments, generally in the lower divisions.

## History
### 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 Malta and other ICC members after 1 January 2019 will be a full T20I.
Malta played its first official T20I against, Spain, 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 Malta.

## International competition

Malta competed in every edition of the European Affiliates Championship from 1999 to 2005, their best result coming in 2001 when they reached the semi-finals. They competed in the tournament predecessor, the European Nations Cup in 1997, and competed in its successor, Division Three of the European Championship in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2012.
In October 2013, Malta hosted an International Tournament, inviting the International Cricket Associations of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Russia. Malta played their games from 4 to 6 October. Khosla captained the side to 3 wins out of 3, culminating in a final day victory over Hungary where the latter could've also won the tournament with a victory. The winning runs were scored on a wide delivery with Haroon Majeed facing the ball.
Malta followed up their success with a second successive International Tournament victory in Budapest, Hungary. Malta defeated the UAE in the final in a tournament compromising of Hungary, Poland, Austria, Czech Republic, UAE and Malta. Bikram Arora hit the winning runs with a drive to the leg-side which made it to the boundary. Malta's Christopher Chellew won the Player of the Tournament and also scored the most runs in tournament.
Malta competed in a third International Tournament along with Sweden, Poland and Czech Republic, hosted by the latter in Prague. Malta had their 7 match unbeaten run ended by Sweden, when Malta fell 5 runs short of the Swedes' first innings target of 198 runs. Heavy rain and poor weather conditions all round caused Malta's game with Czech Republic to first be suspended and then abandoned in the 2nd innings after Malta were bowled out for 122. Malta got their first and only win of the tournament by successfully chasing 140 runs against Poland, who had already wrapped up the Tournament for themselves the previous day. This left Malta third in the table, level on points on Sweden but behind them on net run rate.
In September of the same year, Malta hosted Hungary in a 3-match series. The first two games were T20s with the first game being a decisive Malta victory while the second saw Hungary become the first National Cricket Team to win in Malta. The final game was a 50-Over Match. Hungary batted first and were bowled out for 121 runs. Chellew scored a half-century to inspire Malta to victory and a series win.

## Domestic cricket

Malta boasts a climate that enables cricket to be played all year round and encourages visiting teams to come and play on the island. There are two grounds: Marsa Cricket Ground, in existence for over a century and Hal Safi Cricket Ground, which is rarely used. Twelve clubs contested the T20 2020 Summer League: Knight Kings, Super Kings, Southern Crusaders, Power Hitters, Swieqi United, Bugibba Blasters, Marsa, Msida Warriors, Overseas, American University of Malta, Paola Boys and Mater Dei. The 2019–20 Winter League took the form of a 50-overs Marsa Federations Cup, featuring five regional teams: Birkirkara Blues, Mellieha Stars, Rabat Titans, Sliema Riders and Valletta Vikings.

## Current squad

This lists all the players who have played for Malta in the past 12 months or has been part of the latest T20I squad. Uncapped players are listed in italics.
| Name | Age | Batting style | Bowling style | Notes |
| Batters |||||
| Zeeshan Khan | 35 | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | |
| Samuel Stanislaus | 44 | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | |
| Basil George | 26 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | |
| Jaspal Singh | 38 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | |
| Darshit Patankar | 26 | Right-handed | | |
| Gopal Thakur | 30 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | |
| All-rounders |||||
| Varun Thamotharan | 36 | Left-handed | Left-arm medium-fast | Captain |
| Alex Hudson | 18 | Left-handed | Right-arm medium | |
| Bikram Arora | 42 | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | Vice-captain |
| Fanyan Mughal | 38 | Right-handed | Left-arm medium | |
| Imran Ameer | 36 | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | |
| Priyan Pushparajan | 33 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | |
| Indika Perera | 42 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | |
| Wicket-keepers |||||
| Aaftab Alam Khan | 39 | Right-handed | | |
| Chanjal Sudarsanan | 30 | Right-handed | | |
| John Grima | 65 | Right-handed | | |
| Spin Bowler |||||
| Amar Sharma | 46 | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | |
| Pace Bowlers |||||
| Waseem Abbas | 34 | Right-handed | Right-arm fast | |
| Waqas Ahmad | 30 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | |
| Eldhose Mathew | 30 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | |
| Jaswinder Singh | 33 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | |
| Muhammad Ajmal | 53 | Left-handed | Left-arm medium | |
Updated as on 20 August 2023

## Records and statistics

International Match Summary — Malta
Last updated 5 February 2025
Playing Record :
| Format | M | W | L | T | NR | Inaugural Match |
| Twenty20 Internationals | 72 | 26 | 44 | 1 | 1 | 29 March 2019 |

### Twenty20 International

* Highest team total: 216/8 v. Bulgaria, 23 September 2020 at National Sports Academy, Sofia.
* Highest individual score: 115, Zeeshan Khan v. Luxembourg, 11 July 2023 at Marsa Sports Club, Malta.
* Best individual bowling figures: 5/11, Waqas Ahmad v. France, 16 July 2023 at Marsa Sports Club, Malta.
| Player | Runs | Average | Career span |
| Varun Thamotharam | 1,300 | 27.08 | 2020–2025 |
| Zeeshan Khan | 937 | 22.85 | 2020–2024 |
| Bikram Arora | 826 | 19.66 | 2019–2024 |
| Basil George | 724 | 22.62 | 2021–2024 |
| Samuel Stanislaus | 627 | 20.22 | 2020–2024 |
| Player | Wickets | Average | Career span |
| Waseem Abbas | 71 | 21.66 | 2019–2025 |
| Varun Thamotharam | 43 | 25.34 | 2020–2025 |
| Bilal Muhammad | 40 | 19.65 | 2021–2022 |
| Bikram Arora | 29 | 34.51 | 2019–2024 |
| Amar Sharma | 29 | 36.58 | 2020–2025 |
T20I record versus other nations
Records complete to T20I #3091. Last updated 5 February 2025.
| Opponent | M | W | L | T | NR | First match | First win |
| vs Associate Members ||||||||
| Austria | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 February 2025 | |
| Belgium | 10 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 July 2021 | 8 July 2021 |
| Bulgaria | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 23 September 2020 | 23 September 2020 |
| Cyprus | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 28 August 2024 | |
| Czech Republic | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 18 October 2019 | 12 May 2022 |
| Estonia | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 27 August 2024 | |
| Finland | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 21 August 2024 | |
| France | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 10 July 2023 | 10 July 2023 |
| Gibraltar | 9 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 20 August 2021 | 20 August 2021 |
| Guernsey | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 22 August 2024 | |
| Hungary | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 September 2021 | 10 May 2022 |
| Israel | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 July 2022 | 1 July 2022 |
| Luxembourg | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 September 2021 | 11 July 2023 |
| Portugal | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 19 August 2021 | |
| Romania | 9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 4 September 2021 | 11 May 2022 |
| Spain | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 29 March 2019 | |
| Switzerland | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 23 October 2021 | 24 October 2021 |