The Finnish National Men’s Team, the Finnish Bears, will play international T20 global ranking matches again for the first time since the Spain series in 2019, before life with the Covid-19 pandemic.

The squad will play host to Team Sweden at the Kerava National Cricket Ground for a four-match T20I series over the long weekend Friday 20th to Sunday 22nd August. The four official T20I matches will impact on the critical ICC global ranking positions and will be streamed live to the world.

The final squad of Bears players will be selected in the coming weeks by Head Coach Matthew Jenkinson and the management team to proudly represent Finland in the series.

“It’s not the summer cricket action that was originally planned, but we are living in exceptional times. This T20I series with Sweden will be great for all of us and a tremendous bonus for the players. We welcome Jonty, the living cricket legend with his new Swedish squad and look forward to a tough, competitive series.” Matthew Jenkinson.
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“Team Sweden, like most sporting teams around the world, has endured a long, enforced layoff from international competition. We are excited to be playing four T20i cricket matches against the Finnish Bears, on the 21st and 22nd of August. Cricket is growing in the region, at a rapid pace, and we hope to ensure that this bilateral series is only the start of more consistent fixtures in the years to come.” Jonty Rhodes, Head Coach Team Sweden. 
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For more information, please contact INFO@cricketfinland.com and/or:
Andrew Armitage, Chair/National Development Director, Suomen Krikettiliitto, puh. 050-323 7099
Maija Scamans, Operations Director, Suomen Krikettiliitto, puh. 050-571 9578 

• Italy, Germany and Denmark qualify from the Sub-Regional Qualifiers to the Europe Qualifier
• Updated ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 qualification pathway graphic available here

The International Cricket Council (ICC) today announced that three ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Sub Regional Europe Qualifiers - pathway tournaments to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia - have been cancelled due to COVID-19.

Finland was set to host their first ICC event with the Sub Regional Europe A and B qualifiers starting next month. The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Sub Regional Europe B Qualifier was due to be hosted between 30 June and 5 July involving the hosts, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Guernsey, Hungary, Luxembourg and Sweden. The A qualifier was scheduled to start three days later with Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Israel, Italy, Malta, Norway, Spain all competing until 13 July.

The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Sub Regional Europe C Qualifier which Belgium was due to host between 5 and 10 July involved Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Isle of Man, Portugal, Romania, Serbia.
After extensive consultation with both hosts, participating Members, the relevant governments, public health authorities and in line with the ICC’s comprehensive contingency planning of COVID-19 the only course of action was to cancel the three events.

The cancellation was as a result of over half of the countries still facing significant restrictions on free movement and extensive quarantine periods for returning Members back into their home countries, as well as domestic restrictions in place preventing teams from selecting and preparing squads for the tournaments. Full approval from the Belgian government for the staging of the event based on the Bio-Safety Mitigation strategies proposed by the ICC was also not obtained.

With the three events taking place at the start of the pathway which are three steps away from the World Cup, all tournaments had to be completed by the end of July 2021 to logistically enable the Europe Qualifier currently scheduled for October 2021 to take place, therefore providing no available opportunity to reschedule the events.
Italy, Germany, and Denmark will now qualify from the Europe Sub Regional Qualifiers A, B and C respectively determined by their position in the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s T20I Team Rankings as on 30 April 2020. They will now join Jersey in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier scheduled to take place in Spain between 15 and 21 October 2021 with two qualifier spots up for grabs in the A or B global qualifiers.

ICC Head of Events, Chris Tetley said: “We have unfortunately had to cancel the three ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Sub Regional Europe Qualifiers due to start next month as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As part of the ICC’s comprehensive contingency planning process we have been working continuously with the Hosts, participating Members and all stakeholders to maximise the opportunity for qualification to be determined on the field of play. However, due to COVID-19 restrictions and the short timelines that the European season provides to allow us to progress with the next step in the pathway, there has been no other option than to cancel.
“I would like to thank Cricket Finland, the Belgium Cricket Federation and all participating Members for their collective support in coming to this decision.”

Cricket Finland Operations Director, Maija Scamans said: “While we fully appreciate the difficult current situation with the pandemic, this is still a huge disappointment to everyone at Cricket Finland and our partners. We firmly believe that the fantastic experiences gained through working with our key stakeholders on the process of preparation for a globally streamed event will benefit the future of cricket and hopefully result in Finland hosting another T20 World Cup Regional Qualifier event in the not too distant future. We are now reviewing whether we can host a smaller T20 International tournament this summer in Finland, if pandemic restrictions permit, to make the most of the Finnish Bears squad's preparations. We also still look forward to the Ten10 European Cricket Championship matches which will be played at the end of September 2021 in Spain.”

For a list of all 2021 ICC qualifying events, dates and their status please click here.  

FOR MORE DETAILS CONTACT  
Maija Scamans, Cricket Finland, maija.scamans@cricketfinland.com p. +358 50 5719578
Andrew Armitage, Cricket Finland, fcachairman@cricketfinland.com p. +358 50 3237099

EVENT PRODUCER – CRICKET T20 WORLD CUP REGIONAL QUALIFIERS, FINLAND 28.6-14.7.2021

We are looking for an Event Producer to join our production team to deliver the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup European Qualifiers, which will be played at the Kerava & Vantaa cricket grounds.​
​
What we expect from you​:

• At least 2-4 years of experience in Event Producer role (or similar)​
• Previous experience in organising public or sports events is a big plus​
• Fluent Finnish & English skills, written and verbal​
• Ability to drive things forward independently as well as part of a team, tackle challenges, and adjust to a changing environment​
• Experience in leading people, ideally also experience working with volunteers​
• Excellent organising, project management and problem-solving skills​
• Positive and solution-oriented personality
• A track record of managing pressure and delivering​

 
We offer you: ​

• A lead role with independence and decision-making power in creating the best possible experience for the event’s domestic and international stakeholders​
• A fixed-term contract starting in April until mid-July, starting part-time in April-May, and full-time from June to mid-July​
• A great experience working in the field of international sports, and our passionate cricketing community​

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If you think you would be a great match for the job, please send your CV and monthly salary request to info@cricketfinland.com by latest 12.04.2021. – but do apply now, as we might fill in the post if we find the right person before the deadline!
 
We are additionally looking for volunteers for assisting roles during the event, so if you’re interested in getting some sports event experience under your belt, let us hear from you too!​

As first advised in December 2020, this summer Finland will be hosting TWO, sub-regional qualifying tournaments for the 2022 ICC T20 World Cup. The first tournament will be held from 28th June to 5th July 2021, and the second tournament from 6th to 14th July. All matches will be played at the Kerava National Cricket Ground and Tikkurila Cricket Ground. ICC has also confirmed that all matches will be streamed live!

Along with Finland in the first tournament will be Germany, Sweden, Hungary, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Luxembourg, and Greece.

The second tournament will see teams from Italy, Spain, Bulgaria, Malta, Norway, France, Israel, and Cyprus.

To maximise the benefit for the future of all cricket in Finland, we are looking to turn this memorable event into an opportunity for the Finnish cricket community to pull together and show the world that Finland is a great host. To do this we will be creating an event team, based on both ICC requirements as well as Cricket Finland’s previous experiences of running events. For the key roles we have secured funding to enable payment of a contracted salary, while many of the other volunteer roles will receive daily allowances and travel expenses.

For EACH tournament, the following positions have been identified: 
1 x Tournament Director (will work with the ICC Event Technical Committee) - contracted
2 x Venue Manager (1 per ground) - contracted
2 x Match Manager (1 per ground) - contracted
4 x Book Scorer (2 per ground) - contracted
2 x Online Scorer - contracted
2 x Team Liaison Officer (local contact person for the teams, 1 per ground) – daily allowance/travel
Estimated 8-12 various volunteer roles (tasks to be confirmed) – mainly daily allowance/travel

We have prepared job descriptions for each of the Director and Manager positions, which can be accessed by following the appropriate link above.

If you are interested in any of the named positions, you will need to be available, as a minimum, full-time for the duration of one full tournament. You may also apply for both tournaments if you wish. Unfortunately, it will not be possible to hold one of the named positions for only part of a tournament, however that will be possible for some of the volunteer roles, so if you wish to help for only one day, or even part of a day, we are still keen to hear from you.

If you are interested to apply for any of the named positions, or just as a volunteer, please click on this LINK and tell us of your interest to be involved. Please include which role and which tournament (or both) you wish to be a part of. If applying for one of the named positions, please include a CV detailing your experience. Suitable candidates for the Director and Manager positions will be interviewed, and we require your applications by latest Monday 15th February. If you are applying for one of the other roles then it will be of great benefit that you also tell us of your interest by the same date, but in any case, by latest 28th February.

All at Cricket Finland are looking forward to hearing from you and to making this a memorable 2021 together!

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has decided that two of the summer 2021 World Cup qualifying groups (ICC Men's T20 World Cup Sub-Regional Europe Qualifier) will be played in Finland. The cities of Kerava and Vantaa will host the event together. Finland, with the support of their home crowd, is aiming to reach the European regional World Cup qualifying final. In addition to Finland, the group will host teams from Gibraltar, Guernsey, Greece, Luxembourg, Germany, Sweden, and Hungary. 

Hosting cricket's Twenty20 World Cup regional qualifiers is the ultimate honour for all at Cricket Finland. T20 is one of three official match formats approved by the ICC. One T20 game lasts about three hours.

The Championship qualifiers begin immediately after Midsummer, with the matches from Kerava and Vantaa followed by millions of spectators next summer
Kerava and Vantaa are delighted with the World Cup Qualifiers news. Both Cities had already been chosen to host one of the three Qualifiers scheduled for this summer, but this was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the ICC postponing all tournaments from 2020, the summer of 2021 European regional qualifiers will, in addition to Kerava and Vantaa, now only be played in Belgium. The European finals will be played in Spain in October 2021. The World Cup Finals (ICC T20 World Cup) will be played in Australia in October-November2022. A total of 81 countries are fighting for the final 15 places there.

Finland will play in Regional Qualifying Group B, which will be played from 30th June to 5th July 2021. While Regional Qualifying Group A will be played from 8th to 13th July 2021, with Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Israel, Italy, Malta, Norway, and Spain drawn in this group.

The National Cricket Ground was opened in Kerava in 2011. In addition to the Finnish league games of various forms of cricket, Kerava has played several T20 international matches.

- Kerava has been the hub of Finnish cricket for years, the leading city for new ideas. Our city's cricket ground is the only venue in Finland built specifically for cricket and we have had the pleasure of being involved from the very beginning in bringing the sport to our country. It is great that Kerava has been chosen as a host city for the sport's World Cup Qualifiers. For the Finnish team, this will finally give the opportunity to play on their home turf, hopefully triumphantly. The competition and competitors are warmly welcome in our city, says Kirsi Rontu, Mayor of Kerava.

The artificial wicket at the TRIO Sports Park, which enables international games in Vantaa, was completed in 2018 when the city hosted the Finnish Multisport Championship Week (SM-viikko) for the first time. The Vantaa ground, which has since been used actively by clubs and the national team, has made a significant contribution to the organisation of a continuously increasing volume of matches.

- I warmly welcome the players of the Cricket World Cup Qualifying groups to Vantaa. Getting the qualifiers for the T20 Cricket World Cup in Vantaa is a huge honour, not only for Finnish cricket, but also for the City of Vantaa. What specifically want to be a host city for diverse events. I believe that such slightly less common sports (..in Finland!) are of interest not only to those who actively follow the sport, says Ritva Viljanen, Mayor of Vantaa.

Finland is ready for the challenge
- The Finnish Olympic Committee considers it important that Finland should continue to develop the organisational expertise of hosting major sporting events. International competitions in Finland enrich the Finnish sports culture, so it is excellent that such internationally major sports as cricket should hold a World Cup qualifying tournament in Finland, says Mika Lehtimäki, Director of the Finnish Olympic Committee High Performance Unit.

- Finnish cricket has evolved in leaps and bounds in recent years, thanks to the significant contributions from Kerava and Vantaa. Next summer’s World Cup Qualifiers will be a major opportunity for the Finnish national cricket team, the Finnish Bears, but also for us as an Association, as it is exceptional for one country to have two qualifying groups to host. Finland's reputation as an organiser of elite level sporting events has impressed the International Cricket Council, Andrew Armitage, Chair of Cricket Finland, who has actively promoted hosting with the ICC, is delighted to announce.

- All the games will be streamed globally by the ICC. Next summer Finns will literally be offered front-row seats for top quality cricket matches, says Armitage.
 
More info on:
Andrew Armitage, Chair, Finnish Cricket Association, tel. 050-323 7099
Maija Scamans, Operations Director, Finnish Cricket Association, tel. 050-571 9578
Maija Hyötyläinen, Communications Officer, Finnish Cricket Association, tel. 050-572 9679

National Men's Head Coach Matthew Jenkinson has rewarded early season form by picking Naveed Shahid (GHCC), Jake Goodwin and Jordan O'Brien (SKK) for today's first Finnish Bears Elite T20 match day of 2020. Management also give a run out today to assistant coach Henry Sewell Personal Training who has been developing a good turn of speed himself, so today will be on the other side of the boundary rope. This series will pitch the full Finnish Bears Men's squad along with a few top Finnish Premier League picks to fight out in two Best of Finland T20 matches. Next Elite T20 day will be July 25th.
Tune in to follow top cricket action live from the Kerava National Cricket Ground on our YouTube channel: youtube.com/c/cricketfinland

Finnish cricket takes a leap forward in year-round accessibility to the game – The country's first indoor training facility is completed at the Eerikkilä Sport & Outdoor Resort to international standards.

Finland's first cricket-specific indoor training nets have just been completed at Eerikkilä to international cricket standards. This facility perfectly complements the outdoor cricket fields in Kerava and Vantaa. The nearest equivalent indoor training facility can be found in Malmö, Sweden.

​"Cricket perfectly complements the variety of sports we already host, and it offers the opportunity for our guests to become familiar with this wonderful sport. We are proud to partner with Cricket Finland”, comments Petri Jakonen, CEO of Eerikkilä.

In addition to the men’s national cricket squad, the new training facility can be used by Finland's more than 30 cricket clubs, while also being perfect for introductions to the game for newcomers. Cricket clubs from outside of Finland will also be interested in the new, top-quality site offering comprehensive training opportunities. Such conditions can now be found in Eerikkilä, which is also a national training centre for both football and floorball associations.

"Opening the Kerava National Cricket Ground in 2014 represented a significant step in raising the level of Finnish cricket in general, both in terms of playing and hosting domestic & international matches. This new training facility at Eerikkilä is an important addition to the sport's training infrastructure," says Maija Scamans, Cricket Finland’s Operations Director.

"We initially went to check out the location and to present our visions of cooperation back in January 2019 – our ideas were aimed to further develop everything from low-threshold grassroots junior and women's cricket all the way up to elite-level national team training, Scamans continues. Now, 18 months later, this project connecting Eerikkilä with Cricket Finland, supported by the Ministry of Education and Culture has been completed.

Facility Manager at Eerikkilä Petri Salo adds that the training zone for cricket was selected from the warm-up area of the existing junior football indoor arena.
"We allocated a high-quality indoor practice area for cricket in our training hall, where it possible to train all year round. Footballers can also continue to use the area as before”.

"Playing cricket at the top level requires continuous, versatile cricket-specific training. Training opportunities outside of the summer season have been completely lacking. The great new training facility at Eerikkilä will have a huge impact and benefit to both national squad and club teams that use it," said  Andrew Armitage, Cricket Finland chairman, referring, among others, to the Helsinki Cricket Club and the Finnish men’s cricket team.

Helsinki Cricket Club had qualified for the European Cricket League (ECL), cricket's equivalent of the European Champions League in football, while the men’s Finnish cricket team were due to play in one of the three European Twenty20 World Cup Qualifiers, hosted in Finland. Both events were planned for June 2020 before the pandemic and have now been moved to future dates yet to be confirmed.

“Eerikkilä’s investment in the cricket training facility will certainly deliver great returns, after Corona lockdown is over and we can return to training in full. For example, over the last few years we have been unable to cover all the demand for cricket at the Kerava and Vantaa grounds. While internationally high-quality training opportunities will also be of interest”, concluded Andrew Armitage.

Eerikkilä is a national training centre for football and floorball. It is one of the 11 Finnish National Sports Institutes that organise vocational training in sports, with a speciality to educate nature and wilderness guides for different kinds of outdoor tours and recreation for all seasons. Eerikkilä also offers activities for business customers and leisure enthusiasts.

Cricket has been played in Finland since the 1950s. The Finnish Cricket Association was founded in 1999. There are over 30 cricket clubs, from Helsinki to Oulu and over 600 licensed players. In addition, Cricket Finland runs a wide-ranging grassroots development programme that includes activities for children & youth of different ages, as well as for adults, regardless of age, gender, and ethnicity.
 
For more information:
Suomen Krikettiliitto Maija Scamans, maija.scamans@cricketfinland.com tai p. +358 50 5719578
Suomen Krikettiliitto Andy Armitage, fcachairman@cricketfinland.com tai p. +358 50 3237099
Eerikkilä Sport & Outdoor Resort Petri Jakonen, petri.jakonen@eerikkila.fi tai p. +358 50 533 3600