The 2019 Cricket Finland AGM held at the Olympic Committee Sporttitalo on Sunday 7th April appointed a new Board for the next 2-year cycle. Andrew Armitage was re-elected as Chairman, while Shahzad Choudhry was elected to a new position on the Board alongside Maneesh Chauhan, Nathan Collins, Yaseen Khan and Heikki Mahlamäki. 

Exciting discussion took place about the global development strategy for cricket and how this will impact on activities of Cricket Finland and its clubs already in 2019 - with specifically women's & junior cricket as well as the integration of non-hard ball cricket being the highest priorities approved for everyone involved in cricket activities in Finland. A working group to coordinate non-hard ball cricket activities and tournaments within Cricket Finland structures was approved comprising Muhammad Ziaur Rehman, Gregory Motteram, Rakesh Satharasi and Mehran Murtaiz Amin. 

The 2019 Operational Plan and vision for cricket in Finland can be seen in full here, in English as well as in Finnish; the annual 2019 budget was also approved and is shown below in Finnish. 

Thanks again to all those that attended!

The FCA Annual General Meeting will be held this year at Sporttitalo on Sunday April 7th.

Each member club's email inbox and/or chairperson has received the formal invite today - so please make sure your club doesn't miss out! 

The official invite in English & Finnish here.

Since the beginning of this year, Associate Members of the International Cricket Council (ICC) have been eligible to play official Twenty20 Internationals that award ranking points. The ICC is due to publish the first extended T20I rankings in May 2019.

​Cricket Finland and Cricket España are delighted to announce a reciprocal T20I series to be played in 2019-20. The series will comprise 2 x 2 matches, of which the first two will be played at the Kerava National Cricket Ground (KNCG) in Kerava, Finland on 16-18th August 2019, and the latter pair in Spain in spring 2020.

The teams last met in the Netherlands World T20 Qualifier in September 2018, where Finland emerged victorious. The four-match series will help prepare the sides for the next T20 World Cup Qualifier to be held in 2020. Both associations intend to make the best of the official status of inter-Associate T20I’s by including more bi-laterals in their international match schedules.

The series will also mark the first official international match use of Finland’s main cricket ground, the KNCG. Developed in 2011-14 and located some 30 kilometres from Helsinki city centre, the ground has modern facilities for live streaming matches and organising social activities on match days.

More information on event accreditation and live streaming locations of the series will be made available in due course by the associations.

Over the past 2 months we have been running trials for the young players in our Finnish leagues, all of whom were under 22 years of age as at 31.12.2018. The purpose of these trials was to find talented young players that want to take cricket more seriously and take extra steps in developing their skills. We also want to develop these players in the hope they can become eligible for future senior Finnish National Bears senior squad selections.

This team will continue training through the 2019 winter and will take part in the indoor league as the Under-22 Finnish Bears squad. All this in preparation for the regular summer season, when we plan further development activities for the squad - to be announced.

The U22 squad will be coached by Henry Sewell, who will work together with the senior Finnish Bears squad management group.

Congratulations to the following selected players, their clubs in brackets:

• Areeb Quadir     (SKK)
• Zeerak Ijaz          (Southern Stars CC)
• Shreshth Sukhman Bhaskar (HCC)
• Unais Khan         (SKK)
• Sagar Bhandari (Nepal CC)
• Arun Bhatia       (HCC)
• Muhammad Zubair Tariq (Helsinki Gymkhana CC)
• Abdul Haji Ibrahim (Tampere CC)
• Muhammad Kashif (Greater Helsinki CC)
• Rabin Khanal     (Nordic Warriors SC)
• Jannaten Nayem (Club’71 KS)

For all contact details of Cricket Finland go to: https://www.cricketfinland.com/contact-us.html

Cricket Finland is pleased to announce that Muhammad Monis Amjad (Monis) has been appointed to the role of CricHQ Coordinator for the 2019 season. During 2018 Monis has been helping Cricket Finland with maintenance of the Cricket Finland website and other IT issues, and we are very pleased that he has agreed to also take up this important position. Monis has already started in the role and all future queries concerning CricHQ should be directed to him. His contact details can be found here.
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Everyone at Cricket Finland wishes to thank outgoing CricHQ Coordinator Krishna Chhetri for all his help during 2018. Monis will report to the LSC Chairman, Sean Walsh.​

Cricket Finland is providing a unique opportunity for all cricket enthusiasts to participate in umpiring education. The course is meant for anyone interested in umpiring, whether or not they have attended a short course before, and will provide an encompassing education in the Laws, our Playing Conditions, and softer aspects of officiating matches. All are invited to participate in this exciting journey.

The course will be conducted online on a weekly basis for 2 hours each time, from January 5th to late April. The sessions will be recorded and can be viewed later by absentees. The course ends with an exam planned during the last week of April, successful completion of which provides a pathway for entry into the Cricket Finland Umpiring Panel structure. A minimum of 60% online course attendance will be required for exam participation. 

The syllabus will include all the MCC Laws, practical match management issues, and Cricket Finland Playing Conditions, alongside some interesting examples and videos from Cricket Finland league games for illustration.

Sriharsha Kuchimanchi will be the course leader, with assistance from Jari Schabel and Aadhavan.

Successful participants will be considered for allocation together with the Panel Umpires to officiate the Premier League games and other important games/tournaments within the Cricket Finland league system. Additionally, they will be included into the weekly panel umpire webinars for facilitating their development. Umpires who are frequently officiating league matches will be able to apply for reimbursement of their allowances on a monthly basis from 2019 onwards.

​The course fee is only 20 Euros.

Please register here: https://www.suomisport.fi/events/b1b144f0-0cc7-4289-b29f-65a817d3ba18

For those of you not present at the 2018 Annual Awards Dinner on November 10th, here is news of a great extra discount deal from our equipment partner SURRIDGE. The same great partner who provided the FINNISH BEARS with their clothing for the World T20Q last September!
 
Special 30% Discount Offer for Club Web Shops set up…valid until December 21st only!
 
4 clubs that started with CF/SURRIDGE last spring, already have their club web shops up & running. For interested new CF member clubs (not personal members), all set-up process details have been sent out to your main club contacts. So please get in touch with them to get your new club clothing for 2019 leagues! 

All players in T20 leagues in 2019 will need coloured clothing, so here's a great chance for your club to sort itself some new gear at a very special price!