Saudi Arabia national cricket team

Saudi Arabia
Association Saudi Cricket Centre
ICC status Affiliate (2003)
Associate (2016)
ICC region Asian Cricket Council
WCL 2015 Division Six
First international
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia v. Kuwait 
(Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; 13 June 2004)
As of 17 September 2015

The Saudi Arabia national cricket team is the team that represents the country of Saudi Arabia in international cricket matches. The team is organised by the Saudi Cricket Centre, which became an affiliate member of the International Cricket Council in 2003[1] and associate member in 2016. Saudi Arabia made its international debut at the 2004 ACC Trophy in Malaysia, and has since played regularly in Asian Cricket Council (ACC) tournaments. After finished second in the 2014 ACC Elite League, the team qualified for the World Cricket League for the first time. Saudi Arabia was due to compete in the 2015 Division Six event, but members of the team were denied visas by the host country, forcing the team to withdraw.[2]

International competition

The international debut of the Saudi senior team came in the ACC Trophy in 2004, where they failed to progress beyond the first round. They again failed to go past the first round in 2006, but had the remarkable achievement of scoring 499 runs in 50 overs against Brunei. Earlier in the year they came fourth in the Middle East Cup.

Arguably their greatest moment in international cricket to date came in the 2008 ACC Trophy Elite when they defeated the UAE by 29 runs, a team which has had previous One Day International experience.[3]

With the separation of the ACC Trophy into Elite and Challenge divisions, following their performance at the 2006 ACC Trophy Saudi Arabia they competed in the Elite division in the 2008 competition, in which they came 10th. This result relegated them to the 2009 ACC Trophy Challenge, in which they did not appear. They did however appear in the 2010 competition, in which they came 2nd and gained promotion back to the Elite division.

Besides the 50 over format, Saudi Arabia have also played in the Twenty20 format of the game in the 2007 ACC Twenty20 Cup, in which they failed to progress beyond the group stage, and the 2009 ACC Twenty20 Cup, in which they came 8th.

Tournament history

ACC Trophy

ACC Twenty20 Cup

Records

Statistics from Saudi Arabia in ACC events

Current Squad
Name Matches Runs Wickets
Abdul Qadir 4 5 0
Mohammed Nazim 5 102 0
Abdullah Qureshi 3 1 1
Afzal Saleem 5 299 4
Akram Aslam 4 15 3
Faheem Afrad 5 7 10
samburudeen Mohammed 14 319 6
Hussain Anwar 10 105 11
Ibrarul Haq 5 112 9
Mohammad Abdullah 7 58 5
Mohammad Nadeem 9 476 16
Shahbaz Rasheed 5 366 1
Shoaib Ali 5 164 11
Usman Quddusi 2 0 0
Notable former Players
Name Matches Runs Wickets
Shafiq Ahmed 10 168 14
Mohammad Afzal 8 353 8
Hussain Bhatti 2 58 10
Khalid Butt 5 115 0
Mohammad Ramzan 4 2 6

Highest scores

Hammad Saeed – 181 vs Bhutan at The Padang, on 8 June 2014

Shahbaz Rasheed – 138* vs Maldives at Indian Association Ground, Saudi on 11 June 2014

Khalid Butt – 110 vs U.A.E at Royal Military College, Kuala Lumpur on 25 July 2008

Shahbaz Rasheed – 108 vs Bhutan at The Padang, Singapore on 8 June 2014

Mohammad Afzal – 103 vs Thailand at AIT Ground, on 9 December 2010

Afzal Saleem – 100* vs Maldives at Indian Association Ground, Saudi on 11 June 2014

Samburudeen Mohammed – 87* vs Maldives national cricket team at Indian Association Ground, Saudi on 11 June 2016

Best bowling figures

Hussain Bhatti – 7/65 vs Brunei at PTI School, Chiang Mai on 5 December 2010

Shoaib Ali – 5/25 vs Maldives at Thailand Cricket Ground, Bangkok on 11 December 2010

Shafiq Ahmed – 5/45 vs U.A.E at Royal Military College, Kuala Lumpur on 25 July 2008

Mohammad Ramzan – 4/38 vs Bhutan at ICC Academy Oval #2, Dubai on 10 October 2012

Ibrarul Haq – 4/42 vs Bahrain at Indian Association Ground, Saudi on 10 June 2014

Current squad

The following list contains the 14 players in Saudi Arabia's squad for the 2010 TO 2016 ACC Trophy Challenge:[4]

References

  1. "CricketArchive – Saudi Arabia page". CricketArchive. 6 December 2010. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
  2. Other matches played by Saudi Arabia – CricketArchive. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  3. "Saudi Arabia v UAE". CricketArchive. 25 July 2008. Retrieved 5 November 2010.
  4. "ACC Trophy Challenge 2010 – Saudi Arabia". Asian Cricket Council. 5 December 2010. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/3/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.