ICC World Cricket League Division 5, by looking at the history of cricket in Norway
History of cricket in Norway
Norway is one of cricket's most northern outposts but the sport has a healthy and growing position in a nation of only 4.71 million people. Norwegian cricket was first organised by a few Asian immigrants in the early 1970s and has grown up to now having 24 teams in the Norwegian capital Oslo and surrounding areas.
Although competing with summer football for both players and space to play, the number of clubs and teams is increasing every year. Thanks to the Asian television channels, wider television coverage of cricket matches has encouraged youngsters to take up the sport. One can find many youngsters playing cricket in parks all over Oslo. Approximately 90 per cent of the players are of Asian descent. However, the big challenge remains to interest the ethnic Norwegian population and to encourage their youth to try their hand at a game that is almost totally unknown to them.
The liaison committee for Norwegian cricket was inaugurated on 20th April 1994 to facilitate communication between cricketers and concerned authorities like local governments, central government and the Norwegian Olympic Committee and Confederation of Sports.
The 13th May 2007 was a memorable day in the history of Norwegian cricket, when the Annual General Meeting of the Norwegian Olympic Committee and Confederation of Sports approved the status of the liaison committee as the Norwegian Cricket Federation. The NCF gained ICC Affiliate status in 2000.
International competition
After gaining Affiliate membership to the ICC in June 2000, Norway played in the five-nation Representative Festival in Austria. Norway remained undefeated and won the trophy in its first venture into international cricket.
The Norwegian national team then participated in the ICC European Trophy 2003 (European 2nd Division) in Austria, where 11 European ICC Affiliate nations battled it out to decide the ranking order for future ICC tournaments. The Norwegians had performed extremely well throughout the competition and were unbeaten. As a result Norway was ranked no.1 among the 11 nations. The player of the tournament was Zeeshan Ali from Sentrum Cricket Club who excelled on all fronts, taking 16 wickets, scoring two centuries and taking four catches.
Following on from the ICC European Trophy 2003, the Norwegian national team participated in the European group of the ICC World Cup qualifying series in Belgium in July 2004. The competing nations were France, Germany, Gibraltar, Italy, Israel and Norway. It was first time that Norway lost three games, against Italy, France and Germany.
In 2005 Norway participated in the ICC European Affiliates Championship. Norway clinched the title and completed a six-match clean sweep by defeating Belgium by 122 runs in the final match.
In 2006 Norway competed in the ICC European 2nd Division Championships and won the championship by defeating Jersey by 49 runs in the final match.
In 2007 Norway played two friendly Twenty20 games against the Swedish national team in Norway and won both of them.
Domestic cricket
There are currently four main grounds in Norway. Three in Oslo and a fourth one is in Drammen (45 km away from Oslo). There are 24 clubs playing organised cricket in Norway, with varying goals, ambitions and degrees of activity. The National League competition and the Norwegian Championship are administrated by the liaison committee for Norwegian cricket. All clubs are eligible to enter these competitions.
In 2007 all 24 clubs participated in the National League in three divisions, 10 in the first division, eight in the second division and six in the third division. Games in the first division consist of 40-over innings, and games in second and third divisions consist of 30-over innings.
At the end of each season, the bottom two clubs in the first division are replaced in the following season’s competition by the top two clubs in the second division, and the bottom club in the second division is replaced with the top club in third division.
After the completion of the National League, four top clubs from the first division and two top clubs from the second division compete in the Norwegian Championship in two groups with semi-finals and a final being played. The first round games consist of two innings of 40 overs. The semi-finals and final consist of 50 overs.
There are several other cricket tournaments or competitions organised each year in Norway. These are invariably the result of the efforts of one or two clubs and participation is by invitation only. Games in such tournaments or competitions are to be played in accordance with a fixture schedule approved by the cricket authorities, the international cricket laws and the local regulations.
Women’s cricket
Norway has recently started introducing women’s cricket. The response has been very positive and there are now two women’s cricket clubs playing friendly fixtures.
