ICC region Asia Appearances 7 (first in 1979) Captain Suresh Navaratnam Icc membership granted 1967 | WCL Three Coach Roy Dias Location Malaysia | |
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ICC status Associate member (1967) Best result Plate competition, 1990 and 1994 | ||
The Malaysia national cricket team is the team that represents the country of Malaysia in international cricket matches. They have been an associate member of the International Cricket Council since 1967.
Contents
Early days
Cricket has been played in what is now Malaysia since the 1880s. Various teams represented Malaya, the Federated Malay States and the Straits Settlements, formed in 1884 by the British, Royal Selangor Club (RSC) is the first cricket club founded in present Malaysia (locally called a padang also in Singapore e.g. Padang, Singapore). The Singapore Cricket Club, a former affiliate of the Malayan Cricket Association, is the oldest cricket club in the region (founded in 1852).
The first recorded match was between Selangor and Malacca in 1887. The Selangor-Singapore series was played in 1891. Cricket in Johor was played in the early 20th century, but the first recorded cricketing event is the visit of the Australian team led by C. G. Macartney in 1927. Penang is another historical cricket venue in Malaysia where cricket has been played from British times. The Penang Sports Club was established in the early 1900s. On 6 June 1927 Malaya beat Australia by 39 runs to make history. Lall Singh became the first Malaysia born test player (played for India in their debut Test at Lord's against England in 1932). The spreading of cricket led to the founding of the Malayan Cricket Association in 1948. With more regional cricket association like Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore joining it, the Malaysian Cricket Association was founded in 1963, although Singapore broke away in 1965 after its independence.
Thus the first team to represent Malaysia was in 1970, three years after they became an ICC associate member, when they played an MCC side captained by Tony Lewis in a two-day match, losing by 230 runs. The same year, Malaysia played the first Saudara Cup match against Singapore, drawing the three-day match.
The Saudara Cup match continued annually, and in 1979 Malaysia participated in the first ICC Trophy, failing to progress beyond the first round, a performance they repeated in 1982 and 1986. They reached the plate competition in 1990 and 1994.
1990s
The first Stan Nagaiah Trophy was played in Singapore in February 1995 with Singapore beating Malaysia 2–1 in the three match one-day series. After winning the Stan Nagaiah Trophy and drawing the Saudara Cup match in 1996 Malaysia hosted the first ACC Trophy tournament, finishing third in their first round group.
Malaysia began to host major international tournaments in 1997, starting with the 1997 ICC Trophy in which Malaysia finished 16th after losing a play-off to Namibia. They played one season in Pakistani domestic cricket in 1998, losing all four of their preliminary round matches. Cricket made its first and, to date, only appearance in the Commonwealth Games later that year, with Malaysia hosting that year's games. The cricket tournament saw Malaysia participate as hosts though they lost all three of their first round matches. They reached the final of the ACC Trophy that same year, losing to Bangladesh.
2000–2009
In 2000, Malaysia reached the semi-final of the ACC Trophy before losing to hosts the UAE. They failed to progress beyond the first round of the 2001 ICC Trophy and lost to Nepal in the semi-finals of the 2002 ACC Trophy.
Malaysia played their first first-class matches in 2004 as part of that year's ICC Intercontinental Cup. They lost to both Nepal and the UAE and failed to reach the semi-final stage of the tournament. Malaysia hosted the ACC Trophy in 2004, which was the first stage of qualification for the 2005 ICC Trophy and the 2007 World Cup, finishing joint seventh with Bhutan. They finished last in the ACC Fast Track Countries Tournament in 2004, thus failing to qualify for the 2005 ICC Intercontinental Cup. They played in the tournament again in 2005, this time finishing third.
In 2006, Malaysia competed in the ACC Premier League, finishing fourth. They again hosted the ACC Trophy that year, again finishing seventh after beating Qatar in a play-off.
Malaysia have played in the ACC Twenty20 Cup thrice. They did not win a match in 2007 but finished seventh in 2009 after winning 3 Group B matches and a positional playoff against Saudi Arabia.
2010–present
In 2011, they finished sixth after winning 4 Group A matches and losing a positional playoff against UAE.
Grounds
World Cricket League
Commonwealth Games
ICC Intercontinental Cup
ICC Trophy
ACC Fast Track Countries Tournament
ACC Trophy
ACC Twenty20 Cup
Asian Games
ACC U/19 Cup
Records and Statistics
Performances by Malaysian cricketers in World Cricket League matches and ACC Premier League matches, as of 29 June 2014
Centuries
Nasir Shafiq – 151* vs Cayman Islands at Bayuemas Oval, Kuala Lumpur on 7 March 2014
Rakesh Madhavan - 129 vs Hong Kong at KOCU Ground, Ahmadi City on 9 April 2010
Suresh Navaratnam - 115 vs Nepal at KOCH Ground, Ahmadi City on 7 April 2010
Rakesh Madhavan – 115* vs Botswana at Kallang Ground, Singapore on 3 September 2009
Suhan Alagaratnam - 107 vs Singapore at Bayuemas Oval, Kuala Lumpur on 1 August 2008
Ahmed Faiz – 103 vs Guernsey at Kinrara Academy Ground, Kuala Lumpur on 10 March 2014
Rakesh Madhavan – 102* vs Tanzania at Selangor Turf Club, Kuala Lumpur on 9 September 2012
Rakesh Madhavan - 101 vs Saudi Arabia at Kinrara Academy Oval, Kuala Lumpur on 30 July 2008
Suhan Alagaratnam - 100 vs Saudi Arabia at Kinrara Academy Oval, Kuala Lumpur on 30 July 2008
5 wicket hauls
Dinesh Sockalingham - 6/39 vs U.A.E at Selangor Turf Club, Kuala Lumpur on 29 July 2008
Nazril Rahman - 5/18 vs Oman at Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi on 6 October 2012
Anwar Rahman - 5/27 vs Maldives at Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah on 7 October 2012
Eszrafiq Aziz – 5/36 vs Fiji at Kinrara Academy Oval, Kuala Lumpur on 20 September 2011
Hassan Mohammed – 5/49 vs Botswana at Kallang Ground, Singapore on 3 September 2009
Shahrulnizam Yusof - 5/49 vs Italy at Indian Association Ground, Singapore on 25 June 2014
Khizar Hayat – 5/62 vs Jersey at Kinrara Academy Ground, Kuala Lumpur on 13 March 2014
Scorer Manogaran Manickam -- Ex-Malaysian Cricket Player and Scorer