The Nepal National Cricket Team is the team that represents the country of Nepal in international cricket matches. They have been an associate member of the International Cricket Council since 1996, having previously been an affiliate member since 1988.[1]
They have been participating in international matches since 1996, including every ACC Trophy tournament,[2] the 2001 ICC Trophy[3] and two ICC
Intercontinental Cups.[2]
Beginnings
Cricket was introduced to Nepal by the ruling Rana dynasty when they returned from studies in England and India in the 1920s, though the game was kept very much for themselves and the other elite. The Cricket Association of Nepal was formed in 1946 to promote cricket amongst the aristocracy.[2]
When King Tribhuvan overthrew the Rana family in 1951, cricket began to spread to the rest of the population. A team of Nepali players visited India in 1954, and in 1961 the Cricket Association of Nepal became part of the National Sports Council, to attempt to promote cricket in the whole of Nepal, though this tended to be limited to Kathmandu until the 1980s.[2]
[edit]ICC membership
Improvements to the communication and transport infrastructures in Nepal allowed the game to expand outside Kathmandu in the 1980s[2] and Nepal became an affiliate member of the International Cricket Council in 1988.[1] A major development programme was begun in the early 1990s, with regional and district tournaments established and cricket being promoted in schools.[2]
The interest in cricket increased quickly, and demand to play was such that teams in tournaments had to be restricted until more facilities were built in the mid 1990s.[2] Nepal became an associate member of the International Cricket Council in 1996,[1] which was the year the national side played for the first time, in the ACC Trophy in Kuala Lumpur, in which Nepal finished fourth out of six teams in their first round group, beating Brunei and Japan.[4]
The facilities in Nepal had improved enough by 1998 to allow them to host that year's ACC Trophy at grounds in Lalitpur, Kirtipur (at Tribhuvan University) and Kathmandu.[5] Nepal themselves were unsuccessful in the tournament, going without a win.[6]
