Fiji national cricket team

Fiji
Association Cricket Fiji
ICC status Associate (1965)
ICC region ICC East Asia-Pacific
WCL 2015 Division Six
Coach Shane Jurgensen
Captain Josefa Rika
First international
United Kingdom Fiji v. Australia 
(Suva, Fiji; 27 March 1905)
First-class debut
United Kingdom Fiji v. Auckland New Zealand
(Auckland, New Zealand; 25 January 1895)
World Cup Qualifier
Appearances 7 (first in 1979)
Best result 11th place (1997)
As of 4 September 2015

The Fiji national cricket team is the team that represents the country of Fiji in international cricket matches. They have been an associate member of the International Cricket Council since 1965,[1] although the team's history goes back to the late 19th century.[2]

History

Early days

Cricket was introduced to Fiji by European settlers in 1874, and the native population began taking up the game in 1878. The governor of Fiji at the time listed introducing cricket to the native Fijians as one of the achievements of his tenure in his memoirs.[2]

Early tours

Fiji was playing first-class cricket just 21 years after cricket was introduced to the country, when they toured New Zealand in early 1895.[3]

1895 tour of New Zealand

Fiji's team on the tour in 1895 was captained by John Udal, whose great-grandson Shaun would eventually play Test cricket for England.[4] The first match of the tour was a two-day match against Auckland, which Fiji lost by an innings.[5]

A low scoring second match against Otago was drawn after rain washed out the first of the two days.[6] The third match against Canterbury was also lost by an innings,[7] before a draw against Wellington.[8]

The final two matches of the tour went much better for the Fijians, winning against Hawke's Bay by an innings after a century from John Collins,[9] and beating Taranaki by two wickets.[10]

1908 tour of Australia

In January 1908, Fiji toured Australia. Only one result is known from this tour,[11] a draw against Queensland in a two-day match, highlighted by a seven wicket haul for Pope Cakobau.[12] The team played 26 matches against state, university and district sides between 11 December 1907 and 30 March 1908.[11]

Post War period

Fiji toured New Zealand twice more, in 1948[13] and 1954.[14] Fiji's first match against a Test-playing nation came in 1956, when the West Indies visited. Fiji won the match against a team featuring the likes of Garfield Sobers by 28 runs despite being bowled out for 91, largely thanks to a six wicket haul from John Gosling.[15]

1948 tour of New Zealand

Like the tour in 1895, the 1948 tour started with a defeat to Auckland, by 168 runs.[16] Fiji won their next match against Wellington by one wicket,[17] before losing to Canterbury by 36 runs.[18]

The tour continued with a 46 run defeat by Otago[19] and concluded with a 115 run win against Auckland.[20] One notable player for Fiji on this tour was IL Bula, who scored the most runs and the only century on the tour.[21] Bula's full name is Ilikena Lasarusa Talebulamainavaleniveivakabulaimainakulalakebalau, and his name is thought to be the longest of any first class cricketer.[22]

1954 tour of New Zealand

Just four matches were played on the 1954 tour,[14] which started with a two wicket defeat to Otago.[23] The tour continued with another two wicket defeat, this time to Canterbury,[24] before a 117 run defeat to Wellington.[25] The tour ended with a seven wicket win against Auckland.[26] The team included Ratu Kamisese Mara who would go on to become the Prime Minister and President of Fiji.

ICC membership

Fiji gained associate membership of the ICC in 1965.[1] They played in the first ICC Trophy tournament in 1979, and played in every one until 2001.[27] They also played in the first ACC Trophy in 1996, losing in the semi-final to the UAE.[28]

In 2001, Fiji played in the first Pacifica Cup in Auckland, reaching the final where they lost to the New Zealand Māori by three wickets.[29] They played in the 2002 tournament in Samoa, finishing third after beating the Cook Islands in a play-off.[30]

In 2003, Fiji hosted the South Pacific Games. The cricket tournament saw the hosts lose to Papua New Guinea in the final.[31] The following year, they took part in the EAP Challenge in Fuji City, Japan, winning after beating Tonga in the final. This qualified them for the repêchage tournament for the 2005 ICC Trophy.[32] At that tournament in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, they reached the final, where they lost to Papua New Guinea by 30 runs, thus missing out on the 2005 ICC Trophy.[33]

In 2006, Fiji played in the 2006 ICC EAP Cricket Trophy in Brisbane, Australia. They won the tournament winning all of their matches against the Cook Islands and Japan, qualifying them for Division Three of the World Cricket League in Darwin, Australia. They warmed up for the tournament with a three match series at home against Vanuatu, winning all three matches,[34] but were unsuccessful in the tournament itself, losing all five games they played,[35] thus meaning they will have to take part in Division Four in 2008.[36]

Later in 2007, they took part in the cricket tournament at the 2007 South Pacific Games, losing to Papua New Guinea in the final group game, meaning that they went home with the silver medal.[37]

Fiji took part in the 2010 ICC World Cricket League Division Five in Nepal, where they finished sixth and last and in doing so failed to win a single match in the tournament. Fiji then played in the 2011 ICC World Cricket League Division Six and finished sixth and last and in doing so were relegated to 2013 ICC World Cricket League Division Seven.

Tournament history

World Cricket League

ICC Trophy

ACC Trophy

South Pacific Games

Players

Fiji's most famous player is Neil Maxwell, who played first-class cricket for New South Wales and Victoria in Australia, and for Canterbury in New Zealand in addition to representing Australia A.[46] Nat Uluiviti is the other Fijian to have played first-class cricket for a team other than Fiji, playing for Auckland in the 1950s.[47]

Current squad

The following table lists the players in the Fiji squad for the 2013 East Asia Pacific T20 World Cup Qualifier

References

  1. 1 2 Fiji at Cricket Archive
  2. 1 2 History page at official site
  3. ↑ Fiji in New Zealand, 1894/95 at Cricket Archive
  4. ↑ John Udal at Cricket Archive
  5. ↑ Scorecard of Auckland v Fiji, 25 January 1895 at Cricket Archive
  6. ↑ Scorecard of Otago v Fiji, 1 February 1895 at Cricket Archive
  7. ↑ Scorecard of Canterbury v Fiji, 8 February 1895 at Cricket Archive
  8. ↑ Scorecard of Wellington v Fiji, 15 February 1895 at Cricket Archive
  9. ↑ Scorecard of Hawke's Bay v Fiji, 19 February 1895 at Cricket Archive
  10. ↑ Scorecard of Taranaki v Fiji, 22 February 1895 at Cricket Archive
  11. 1 2 Fiji in Australia, 1907/08 at Cricket Archive
  12. ↑ Scorecard of Queensland v Fiji, 1 January 1908 at Cricket Archive
  13. ↑ Fiji in New Zealand, 1947/48 at Cricket Archive
  14. 1 2 Fiji in New Zealand, 1953/54 at Cricket Archive
  15. ↑ Scorecard of Fiji v West Indies, 12 January 1956 at Cricket Archive
  16. ↑ Scorecard of Auckland v Fiji, 13 February 1948 at Cricket Archive
  17. ↑ Scorecard of Wellington v Fiji, 1 March 1948 at Cricket Archive
  18. ↑ Scorecard of Canterbury v Fiji, 5 March 1948 at Cricket Archive
  19. ↑ Scorecard of Otago v Fiji, 13 March 1948 at Cricket Archive
  20. ↑ Scorecard of Auckland v Fiji, 3 April 1948 at Cricket Archive
  21. ↑ First-class Batting and Fielding for Fiji in New Zealand 1947/48 at Cricket Archive
  22. ↑ IL Bula at Cricinfo
  23. ↑ Scorecard of Otago v Fiji, 12 February 1954 at Cricket Archive
  24. ↑ Scorecard of Canterbury v Fiji, 19 February 1954 at Cricket Archive
  25. ↑ Scorecard of Wellington v Fiji, 26 February 1954 at Cricket Archive
  26. ↑ Scorecard of Auckland v Fiji, 6 March 1954 at Cricket Archive
  27. ↑ ICC Trophy matches played by Fiji at Cricket Archive
  28. 1 2 1996 ACC Trophy results summary at Cricinfo
  29. ↑ 2001 Pacifica Cup at CricketEurope
  30. ↑ 2002 Pacifica Cup at CricketEurope
  31. 1 2 Report from final of the 2003 South Pacific Games
  32. ↑ EAP qualifying for the 2005 ICC Trophy at the official website of the 2005 ICC Trophy
  33. ↑ Scorecard of Fiji v Papua New Guinea, 27 February 2005 at Cricket Archive
  34. ↑ Vanuatu in Fiji, 2006/07 at Cricket Archive
  35. ↑ 2007 ICC World Cricket League Division Three at CricketEurope
  36. ↑ WCL structure for 2006–2009
  37. 1 2 Papua New Guinea take home the gold, by Andrew Nixon, 2 September 2007 at CricketEurope
  38. ↑ 1979 ICC Trophy at Cricinfo
  39. ↑ 1982 ICC Trophy at Cricinfo
  40. ↑ 1986 ICC Trophy at Cricinfo
  41. ↑ 1990 ICC Trophy at Cricinfo
  42. ↑ 1994 ICC Trophy at Cricinfo
  43. ↑ 1997 ICC Trophy at Cricinfo
  44. ↑ 2001 ICC Trophy at Cricinfo
  45. ↑ 2005 ICC Trophy at Cricinfo
  46. ↑ Neil Maxwell at Cricket Archive
  47. ↑ Nat Uluiviti at Cricket Archive

External links

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