The Belgium national cricket team is the team that represents the country of Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 in international cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

 matches. They have been an associate member of the International Cricket Council

International Cricket Council

The International Cricket Council is the international governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from England, Australia and South Africa, renamed the International Cricket Conference in 1965, and took up its current name in 1989.The...

 since 2005 after previously being an affiliate member since 1991. They currently play in Division Three of the European Cricket Championship

European Cricket Championship

The European Cricket Championship is a group of various tournaments in which national cricket sides throughout Europe compete. The tournament is designed to encourage and develop the best players in countries where cricket is not a major sport and Europe's only Test cricket playing country,...

.

Beginnings

The first game of modern cricket in Belgium appears to have been a match played by British soldiers before the Battle of Waterloo

Battle of Waterloo

The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...

 in 1815, though research has suggested that cricket may be related to a game exported from Flanders

Flanders

Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...

 to England in the Sixteenth Century. The first record of organised cricket is a painting dated 1870 that hangs in the pavilion of Lord's Cricket Ground

Lord's Cricket Ground

Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...

 in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 that depicts the opening of the Brussels cricket ground in 1866 by mayor Jules Anspach

Jules Anspach

Jules Victor Anspach was a Belgian politician, best known for his renovations surrounding the covering of the Senne river. He is buried in the Brussels Cemetery....

.

The national team first played a match in 1905 when they played against the Netherlands. The match was played almost every year until 1986. Belgium hosted a tournament as part of the 1910 Brussels Exhibition also involving France, the MCC

Marylebone Cricket Club

Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...

 and the Netherlands. Belgium lost their match against the MCC by an innings and lost to the Netherlands by 116 runs.

ICC Membership

Belgium became an affiliate member of the ICC in 1991. They began to play in European tournaments, playing in the ECC Trophy

European Affiliates Championship

The European Affiliates Championship, formerly the ECC Trophy was a cricket tournament administered by the European Cricket Council for teams representing European countries. It was first played in 1999 and was last played in 2005...

 for the first time in 1999 when they finished last. They fared better in the next tournament, reaching the semi finals of the 2001 ECC Trophy in Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

.

They finished sixth in the ECC Trophy in 2003, and gained associate membership of the ICC two years later. Belgium finished fourth in the European Affiliates Championship

European Affiliates Championship

The European Affiliates Championship, formerly the ECC Trophy was a cricket tournament administered by the European Cricket Council for teams representing European countries. It was first played in 1999 and was last played in 2005...

 in 2005 and both played and hosted Division Three of the newly restructured European Championship in August 2007, they finished fifth .

In 2009 Belgium played in La Manga, again in Division 3. Richard Nash captained the team and finished fourth. In 2011 Belgium hosted the new 2011 ICC European T20 Championship Division Two

2011 ICC European T20 Championship Division Two

The 2011 ICC European Twenty20 Championship Division Two is a cricket tournament that took place between 20–25 June 2011. It forms part of the European Cricket Championship...

 where they won the championship undefeated. The captain for the T20 squad was André Wagener.

European Affiliates Championship

One-Day

• 1999: 7th place
• 2001: Semi-finals
• 2003: 6th place
• 2005: 4th place
• 2007: 5th place (remaining in division 3)
• 2009: 4th place (remaining in division 3)

T20

• 2011: 1st Place (going up to division 1)

Current squad

The following list contains the players in Belgium's squad for the 2011 ICC European T20 Championship Division Two

2011 ICC European T20 Championship Division Two

The 2011 ICC European Twenty20 Championship Division Two is a cricket tournament that took place between 20–25 June 2011. It forms part of the European Cricket Championship...

• Andre Wagener (Captain)
• Shaheryar Butt
• Jamie Farmiloe
• Javed Iqbal
• Amir Iqbal
• Nadeem Khan
• Faisal Khaliq
• Shaival Mehta
• Sheraz Sheikh Muhammad
• Shahid Muhammad
• Simon Newport
• Ali Raza
• Abdul Rehman
• Nirvam Shah

• Fazil Mahmoud (Coach)
• Jack Richards (Coach)
• Shar Khan (Manager)