History of Cricket in Finland
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Cricket in Finland has a longer history than you might think. The first domestic games were played in the 1960s by ubiquitous and mysterious Palmerstons society who played in Tapiola in Espoo, just outside Helsinki. Cricket began to organise itself in the 1970s under the auspices of the Helsinki Cricket Club, the oldest existing club in Finland, who notably played a game against the British Moscow before the end of the Cold War.
The contemporary growth of the game dates from the mid 1990s with the development of Turku, SKK and Vantaa as clubs to challenge the monopoly of Helsinki Cricket Club. With the welcoming involvement of the European Cricket Council the current state of Finnish cricket is one of rapid development. |
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In 2001 there were 4 clubs contesting the Finnish League => fast forward to 2018 and there are around 30 clubs, across various cities throughout Finland. Cricket Finland boasts numerous ICC/ECB level 1 & level 2 coaches and trains dozens of budding qualified umpires every spring. Now with over 500 male licensed players, Finland has been gradually consolidating its ICC Affiliate Status gained in 1999, and was promoted to Associate status from July 2017 when the Affiliate membership criteria was removed across the globe.
The Finnish Cricket Association is busy expanding all areas of Finnish cricket including a youth policy targeting schools in Helsinki and beyond. The strengthening of club cricket in Finland has greatly increased Finland's ability to host high quality touring sides, with 2 touring sides from London Saints and London Transport hosted in summer 2017. So don't be surprised if in future years the words Finland and cricket are heard in close proximity.
The Finnish Cricket Association is busy expanding all areas of Finnish cricket including a youth policy targeting schools in Helsinki and beyond. The strengthening of club cricket in Finland has greatly increased Finland's ability to host high quality touring sides, with 2 touring sides from London Saints and London Transport hosted in summer 2017. So don't be surprised if in future years the words Finland and cricket are heard in close proximity.
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In 1952...Cricket in Finland has a longer history than you would imagine. The first game on record was played at the Olympic stadium in 1952 and then later in the 1960s by the Palmerston Society which played in Tapiola (near Helsinki). Cricket then began to organise itself in the 1970s under the auspices of the Helsinki Cricket Club, the oldest existing club in Finland. The Finnish Cricket Association (FCA) was formed in 1999.
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International competition
In 2006, Finland topped the ICC European Division 4 Championship. The team was lead by Timo Ilva, who has been a consistent performer in the domestic scene as well as in European Championships. Other notable performers included Amrik Bhatia, who won the player of the tournament award. This success gained it promotion to Division 3 the following year, but it won just one out of three games to find themselves relegated straight back to Division 4. Its 2009 European Championship Division 4 campaign in Cyprus was another disappointment as it won one match out of five to finish in fifth place.
Finland will be participating in the ICC World T20 European regional pathway event in 2018, along with 17 other European ICC Associate members.
Finland will be participating in the ICC World T20 European regional pathway event in 2018, along with 17 other European ICC Associate members.
Development programme
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The FCA junior programme is based on two things. One is a regular school visit to introduce cricket to new groups and to run schools, cricket clubs and parts of the PE curriculum, and the other is the ongoing Young National Team programme. The latter is an academy-type programme for all enthusiastic, committed and talented youngsters to get into a system of structured and semi-professional coaching, and then get the opportunity to move on to the senior national team, if and when the time is right. The schools' programme aims to help the clubs start junior programmes and thus build their existence on a firmer base.
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After receiving official status as a sport & governing body through the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture in 2006, maintaining the development programme has become more manageable as the new status also opened more funding opportunities from the state.
In 2017 Cricket Finland ran a 10-team winter indoor league, in the summer 4 divisions of 40-over for 26 teams and a T20 competition for 23 teams, as well as hosting Sweden & Estonia at the Kerava National Cricket Ground in early September for the Nordic-Baltic Trophy. While another highlight of the year was participating in the Finnish national multi-sport championships "SM-Viikko", as a part of which the cricket final was broadcast live across the nation on national terrestrial TV via YLE. You can re-live the experience of the live final on our YouTube channel here, courtesy of YLE.
See some super photos from 2017 events via our Facebook photos & albums page here: https://www.facebook.com/pg/CricketFinland/photos/?ref=page_internal
Cricket Finland's coaching team also delivers a fun school cricket programme for children across many of the main cities and on a contracted basis regularly to all the 10 schools in Kerava, where the National Cricket Ground is based.
We are running a fast-growing, vibrant national programme of cricket development and are constantly looking for active partners to join us on this fantastic journey. Please do get in touch to hear more! Our contacts page is here: http://www.cricketfinland.com/contact-us.html
In 2017 Cricket Finland ran a 10-team winter indoor league, in the summer 4 divisions of 40-over for 26 teams and a T20 competition for 23 teams, as well as hosting Sweden & Estonia at the Kerava National Cricket Ground in early September for the Nordic-Baltic Trophy. While another highlight of the year was participating in the Finnish national multi-sport championships "SM-Viikko", as a part of which the cricket final was broadcast live across the nation on national terrestrial TV via YLE. You can re-live the experience of the live final on our YouTube channel here, courtesy of YLE.
See some super photos from 2017 events via our Facebook photos & albums page here: https://www.facebook.com/pg/CricketFinland/photos/?ref=page_internal
Cricket Finland's coaching team also delivers a fun school cricket programme for children across many of the main cities and on a contracted basis regularly to all the 10 schools in Kerava, where the National Cricket Ground is based.
We are running a fast-growing, vibrant national programme of cricket development and are constantly looking for active partners to join us on this fantastic journey. Please do get in touch to hear more! Our contacts page is here: http://www.cricketfinland.com/contact-us.html
Cricket Finland National Squad at the Nordic-Baltic Trophy 2017
A glorious cover drive at the SM-Viikko 2017 final, broadcast live on YLE
Finland openers at the Nordic-Baltic Trophy 2016
Finland's National Team in 2009.
