The China national cricket team is the team that represents the People’s Republic of China in international cricket. The team is organized by the Chinese Cricket Association, which became an affiliate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2004 and an associate member in 2017. China Cricket Team History.
The first goal of the China Cricket Association was to field a men’s and women’s team for the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou. So the ACC Country Development Officer, national coach, and other local coaches completed an extensive search for talent in 2008.
Twenty-five schools from Beijing, Tianjin, Shenyang, and Shanghai participated in the program. Five hundred players were initially selected after comprehensive skill training and game simulation and 289 were sent to special training programs to form the core squad for the Asian Games.
Asian Cricket Council
China has since participated in several other Asian Cricket Council (ACC) tournaments as well as the 2010 and 2014 Asian Games cricket events. Hong Kong (a Special Administrative Region of China) and Taiwan (claimed as China’s 23rd province) both field separate teams in international cricket.
In April 2018, the ICC decided to grant full Twenty20 International (T20I) status to all its members. Therefore, all T20 matches played between China and other ICC members after January 1, 2019, will be full T20 matches.
Between 1858 and 1948, the Shanghai Cricket Club, the country’s largest club, played games against several touring sides but was not recognized as an official national team.
China Cricket Association
Since September 2005, the Chinese Cricket Association has organized eight coaching/umpiring training courses with the support of the Asian Cricket Council. The game is now played in nine cities in China, namely Beijing, Shanghai, Shenyang, Dalian, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chongqing, Tianjin, and Jinan. It includes more than 150 schools.
China participated in the 2009 ACC Trophy Challenge, their first appearance in a representative tournament. The Chinese team lost all their group matches, including against Iran and Maldives where they lost by 307 and 315 runs respectively. In the seventh-place play-off, China recorded their first international win when they defeated Myanmar by 118 runs.
ACC T20 Cup
China participated in the 2014 ACC Twenty20 Cup in the United Arab Emirates. The team lost their first match against Afghanistan by 9 wickets after being bowl out for just 37. China lost all five of their group games by wide margins, including a record low total and a record margin of defeat in a representative Twenty20 match. In reply, they piled on 27 runs, 15 of which came in overs. They lost to Bahrain in the play-off for eleventh place, thus finishing the tournament in twelfth and last place.
China participated in the 2010 Asian Games where, as hosts, it played against Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and the United Arab Emirates. It will once again host the 2022 Asian Games.
National Cricket Championship
The talent pool in China is improving and 48 schools participated in the 2011 National Cricket Championship, 21 more than the previous year. The growing popularity of cricket is indicate by the fact that the northeastern city of Daqing and the northeastern province of Heilongjiang became China’s ninth province to host cricket, even though they were part of the snowy and cold climate, and played cricket there was not easy.
In 2015, the Chinese women’s team played in Group B of the 2015 ICC Women’s World T20 qualifiers. But failed to progress to the 2016 ICC Women’s World Twenty20.
The ICC reported around 45,000 male and 35,000 female players in China as of April 2016. And is working closely with the CCA to develop a long-term development strategy.
Cricket is the most Popular Sport
Being “the second most popular sport on the planet”, cricket is truly a global sport. Although you might not know it if you look at its popularity in China.
If you’re not familiar with cricket – can’t tell your offside from your league side, T20 from Test matches. Or batting from bowling well get Googling because it’s not really all explained here. China Cricket Team History.
Cricket is often quoted as having a global fan base of 2.5 billion people. Although the exact source of this figure is a bit unclear – second only to football with 3.5 billion fans.
Cricket in China
However, over recent decades, the game’s growth in the potentially lucrative Chinese market has been modest, to put it diplomatically. Hong Kong, with its history as a British colony before being return to China, has a stronger cricket scene than mainland China.
In fact, the word “chain” is better associated among cricket fans with a specific and somewhat unorthodox bowling technique. For more details click here