Tanzania
Nickname(s)The Cows
AssociationTanzania Cricket Association
Personnel
CaptainAbhik Patwa
CoachDuncan Allan
International Cricket Council
ICC statusAssociate member (2001)
ICC regionAfrica
ICC Rankings Current[1] Best-ever
T20I 30th 30th (17 Nov 2021)
International cricket
First internationalTanganyika Territory Tanganyika v. Kenya 
(Nairobi; 1 December 1951)
Twenty20 Internationals
First T20Iv  Mozambique at Gahanga International Cricket Stadium, Kigali; 2 November 2021
Last T20Iv  Rwanda at Wanderers Cricket Ground, Windhoek; 29 November 2023
T20Is Played Won/Lost
Total[2] 57 35/19 (0 ties, 3 no results)
This year[3] 0 0/0 (0 ties, 0 no results)
T20 World Cup Qualifier appearances1[lower-alpha 1] (first in 2023)
Best result6th (2023)
As of 1 January 2024

The Tanzania national cricket team is the men's team that represents Tanzania in international cricket. Cricket has been played in what is now Tanzania since 1890, and the national side first played in 1951.[4] The Tanzania Cricket Association became an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2001,[5] having previously been part of the East and Central Africa Cricket Conference, which was a member of the ICC in its own right.

In April 2018, the ICC decided to grant full Twenty20 International (T20I) status to all its members. Therefore, all Twenty20 matches played between Tanzania and other ICC members since 1 January 2019 have had the full T20Is status.[6]

History

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.[4]

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.[4]

National side

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[4] and Zanzibar also played matches against Uganda, beginning in 1956.[7]

Other opponents from further afield also toured, with Tanganyika playing the MCC in 1957[8] and 1963,[9] a South African Non-Europeans side in 1958 (who also played Zanzibar)[10] and Pakistan International Airlines in 1964.[11] 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.[4]

Decline

As many businesses were nationalised in the early 1970s, much of the Indian and British population began to leave 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.[4]

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 and 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.[4]

ICC membership

The Tanzania Cricket Association became an associate member of the ICC in 2001[5] (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[4] where they lost all four of their matches.[12]

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.[13] Even more improvement was shown in the equivalent tournament two years later, when they won Division Two of the World Cricket League Africa Region.[14] 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.[15]

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.

Tournament history

World Cup

World Cricket League

ICC World Cup Qualifier

ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier (Africa Regional Final)

  • 2023 (Africa Regional Final): 6th place

World Cricket League Africa Region

  • Division Two 2006: Winners[14]

ACA Africa T20 Cup

Records and Statistics

International Match Summary — Tanzania[16]

Last updated 29 November 2023

Playing Record
FormatMWLTNRInaugural Match
Twenty20 Internationals573519032 November 2021

Twenty20 International

T20I record versus other nations[16]

Records complete to T20I #2374. Last updated 29 November 2023.

OpponentMWLTNRFirst matchFirst win
vs Full Members
 Zimbabwe1010023 November 2023
vs Associate Members
 Botswana220007 November 20217 November 2021
 Cameroon330006 November 20216 November 2021
 Eswatini110006 December 20226 December 2022
 Gambia110006 December 20226 December 2022
 Ghana110004 December 20224 December 2022
 Kenya4220017 November 202117 November 2021
 Malawi1100020 September 202220 September 2022
 Mozambique220002 November 20212 November 2021
 Namibia1010028 November 2023
 Nigeria4210117 November 202117 November 2021
 Rwanda181620031 October 202231 October 2022
 Sierra Leone220003 November 20213 November 2021
 Uganda162120218 November 202119 December 2022

Players

Current squad

This lists all the players who have played for Tanzania in the past 12 months or has been part of the latest T20I squad. Updated as of 31 August 2023

Name Age Batting style Bowling style Notes
Batters
Ivan Selemani23Right-handedRight-arm off break
Omary Kitunda24Right-handedRight-arm medium
Abhik Patwa36Right-handedRight-arm off breakCaptain
Jitin Singh39Right-handedRight-arm medium
Dhrumit Mehta20Right-handedRight-arm off break
All-rounders
Kassim Nassoro35Right-handedRight-arm off breakVice-captain
Md. Yunusu Issa22Right-handedRight-arm medium
Shaik Basha18Left-handedSlow left-arm unorthodox
Wicket-keepers
Amal Rajeevan26Right-handedSlow left-arm orthodox
Spin Bowlers
Yalinde Nkanya20Right-handedSlow left-arm orthodox
Sanjay Thakor33Right-handedRight-arm leg break
Akhil Anil26Left-handedRight-arm off break
Pace Bowlers
Ally Kimote31Right-handedRight-arm medium
Salum Jumbe26Left-handedRight-arm medium-fast
Johnson Nyambo18Right-handedRight-arm medium-fast

Other notable players

The following players played for Tanzania or Tanganyika and also played first-class or List A cricket:

International grounds

Locations of all stadiums which have hosted international cricket matches within Tanzania

See also

Notes

  1. T20 World Cup Qualifier refers to the Regional Final of the ICC Africa region from the 2023 edition.

References

  1. "ICC Rankings". International Cricket Council.
  2. "T20I matches - Team records". ESPNcricinfo.
  3. "T20I matches - 2024 Team records". ESPNcricinfo.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Encyclopedia of World Cricket by Roy Morgan, Sportsbooks Publishing, 2007
  5. 1 2 Tanzania at CricketArchive
  6. "All T20 matches between ICC members to get international status". International Cricket Council. 26 April 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  7. Uganda in Zanzibar 1956 at CricketArchive
  8. Scorecard of Tanganyika v MCC, 28 December 1957 at CricketArchive
  9. MCC in East Africa 1963/64 at CricketArchive
  10. South African Non-Europeans in East Africa 1958/59 at CricketArchive
  11. Pakistan International Airlines in East Africa 1964 at CricketArchive
  12. 2002 Africa Cup at CricketEurope
  13. 1 2 3 Africa qualifying for the 2005 ICC Trophy at tournament official website
  14. 1 2 Points Table for ICC World Cricket League Africa Region Division Two 2006 at CricketArchive
  15. 1 2 Uganda lift Division Three title by Andrew Nixon, 2 June 2007 at CricketEurope
  16. 1 2 "Records / Tanzania / Twenty20 Internationals / Result summary". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  17. "Records / Tanzania / Twenty20 Internationals / Highest totals". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  18. "Records / Tanzania / Twenty20 Internationals / High scores". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  19. "Records / Tanzania / Twenty20 Internationals / Best bowling figures". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  20. "Records / Tanzania / Twenty20 Internationals / Most runs". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  21. "Records / Tanzania/ Twenty20 Internationals / Most wickets". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  22. Pranlal Divecha at CricketArchive
  23. Praful Mehta at CricketArchive
  24. CD Patel at CricketArchive
  25. RD Patel at CricketArchive
  26. Malcolm Ronaldson at CricketArchive
  27. John Solanky at CricketArchive
  28. Shiraz Sumar at CricketArchive
  29. Vasant Tapu at CricketArchive
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