ICC status Associate (2001) | ICC region ICC Africa Coach Zulfikar Rehemtullah Icc membership granted 2001 | |
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The Tanzania national cricket team is the team that represents the country of Tanzania in international cricket matches. Cricket has been played in what is now Tanzania since 1890, and the national side first played in 1951. The Tanzania Cricket Association became an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2001, having previously been part of the East and Central Africa Cricket Conference, which was a member of the ICC in its own right. The national side is currently in Division Five of the World Cricket League.
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Beginnings of cricket in Tanzania
Cricket was first played in what is now Tanzania on the island of Zanzibar by the British Navy as recreation for the officers and crew. Cricket spread to Tanganyika after the British took over the League of Nations mandate in 1919.
Cricket began to be concentrated mostly on the coast and on Zanzibar, with particular development in Dar-es-Salaam. The Indian population quickly took up the game and by the 1930s formed the majority of the players, with a significant European minority.
Early matches
Distance between Tanganyika and other countries in the African Great Lakes meant that the first international was not played until 1951, when Tanganyika lost by an innings to Kenya. Occasional matches against Kenya and Uganda continued throughout the 1950s and Zanzibar also played matches against Uganda, beginning in 1956.
Other opponents from further afield also toured, with Tanganyika playing the MCC in 1957 and 1963, a South African Non-Europeans side in 1958 (who also played Zanzibar) and Pakistan International Airlines in 1964. The occasional matches against Kenya and Uganda eventually led to a formal triangular tournament being introduced in 1967, later to become a quadrangular tournament with the addition of Zambia.
Decline
As many businesses were nationalised in the early 1970s, much of the Indian and British population began to left the country. Cricketers, including John Solanky, who went on to play for Glamorgan, were amongst those who left the country, and standards went into decline.
Since the 1970s, the Tanzania Cricket Association has concentrated on developing the game amongst the African communities, and the national side now contains between 20–25% African players. The national side returned to form in the mid-1990s, when they were runners-up in two Africa-wide tournaments in 1994 and 1995, though there was again a slight decline in the late 1990s.
ICC membership
The Tanzania Cricket Association became an associate member of the ICC in 2001 (Tanzania had previously played international cricket as part of the combined East Africa and East and Central Africa teams) opening up new opportunities for Tanzanian cricket. The first matches for the national side as an ICC member were in the 2002 Africa Cup where they lost all four of their matches.
They showed improvement by the Africa Cricket Association Championship in 2004, where they still finished last, but did beat Zambia in the final match of the tournament, which was a qualifying event for the 2005 ICC Trophy. Even more improvement was shown in the equivalent tournament two years later, when they won Division Two of the World Cricket League Africa Region. This result qualified Tanzania for Division Three of the World Cricket League in Darwin in 2007. Tanzania finished sixth in that tournament after losing to Hong Kong in a play-off, which relegated them to Division Four.
In 2008, Tanzania hosted Division Four of the World Cricket League. In this tournament they finished fourth, which meant that they remained in Division Four for the next tournament in 2010, played in Italy, where they came 4th again,thus remaining for 2012 ICC World Cricket League Division Four
World Cup
World Cricket League
ICC World Cup Qualifier
World Cricket League Africa Region
Division Two
The future
In 2012, they will again compete in Division Four of the World Cricket League.
Records
Performances by Tanzanian cricketers in World Cricket League since 2007
Highest Scores
Athumani Kakonzi - 82 vs Cayman Islands at Tracy Village Oval, Darwin on 27 May 2007
Seif Khalifa - 72 vs Argentina at Centro Sportivo Dozza, Bologna on 19 August 2010
Abhik Patwa - 67 vs Malaysia at Bayuemas Oval, Kuala Lumpur on 10 September 2012
Kassim Nassoro - 66* vs Nigeria at Royal Selangor Club, Kuala Lumpur on 13 March 2014
Benson Nyaikini - 60 vs Nigeria at Royal Selangor Club, Kuala Lumpur on 13 March 2014
Best Bowling Figures
Kassim Nassoro - 6/42 vs Argentina at Centro Sportivo Dozza, Bologna on 19 August 2010
Benson Nyaikini - 4/14 vs Cayman Islands at Royal Selangor Club, Kuala Lumpur on 12 March 2014
Benson Mwita - 4/23 vs Uganda at Nightcliff Oval, Darwin on 28 May 2007
Khalil Rehmtullah - 4/32 vs Italy at University Ground, Dar-es-Salaam on 11 October 2008
Hamisi Abdullah - 4/34 vs Nigeria at Royal Selangor Club, Kuala Lumpur on 13 March 2014
Recent squad
The following players are recently representing Tanzania
Other players
The following players played for Tanzania or Tanganyika and also played first-class or List A cricket: