Myanmar national cricket team

Myanmar
Flag of Myanmar
ICC membership granted	2006
ICC member status	Affiliate member
ICC development region	Asia
World Cricket League division	n/a
Captain	Ye Myo Tun
Coach	Ashfaqul Islam
First recorded match	12 January 1927 v MCC at Rangoon
First class cricket
First class matches played	1
First class wins/losses	0/1
As of 5 December 2010

The Myanmar cricket team is the team that represents the country of Myanmar aka Burma in international cricket matches. It has been a member of the International Cricket Council since 2006.^[1]

History

British rule

Cricket in Myanmar dates back to when Burma was a province of British India. The British brought the game there, as they did to the rest of India, and the game progressed to the level where the Marylebone Cricket Club played two two-day first class matches there on a tour to India in 1926/1927. The first of these was played at the Gymkhana ground in Rangoon against a Rangoon Gymkhana cricket team. That game was drawn with the MCC on top after forcing the home side to follow-on.^[2] The second game was against the Burma team themselves at the BAA Ground, also in Rangoon. The MCC won this game restricting Burma to low scores in both their innings, and only having to chase 7 runs to win in their second innings.^[3] This remains the country's only first class game.

Present Day

Following independence cricket remained very much a minority sport in Myanmar, and was nowhere to be seen between 1988 and 1995. In 2002 the game was seeing a resurgence, with a seven team league organised by former Bengal first class player Naresh Kumar, with some former first class players taking part in games attended by around 250 people. Cricket has also been featured on TV news reports. The Myanmar Cricket Federation received a visit from the ICC in 2004^[4] and became an affiliate member of the organisation in 2006. The game is currently played primarily by ex-pats, but the game has recently been introduced into schools.^[5]

Just two months after gaining ICC membership, Myanmar headed to Malaysia to take part in the 2006 ACC Trophy for the first time. They did not have the best of experiences, with a series of heavy defeats to Kuwait by 9 wickets, Hong Kong by 422 runs (Myanmar scored just 20 when they batted) and to Bhutan by 9 wickets. Bhutan, who had also received heavy defeats in their previous games, chased a target of 77 inside seven overs. The nadir of their tournament came against Nepal. Myanmar were bowled out for just 10 runs, with no batsman scoring more than a single and half the total being made up of extras. The Nepal reply started with three runs off the first ball, followed by three wide deliveries that went for five runs and another three runs from the second legitimate delivery. Nepal therefore reached their target in just two legitimate deliveries. Some called it the greatest mismatch in the history of international cricket.^[6]

With the separation of the ACC Trophy into Elite and Challenge divisions, following their performance at the 2006 ACC Trophy Myanmar have since competed in the Challenge divisions in both 2009, in which they came 8th and last, and in the 2010 competition. Despite the cricket being of a lesser quality than the Elite division, Myanmar have continued to suffer from heavy defeats.

Current squad

The following list contains the 14 players in Myanmar's squad for the 2010 ACC Trophy Challenge:^[7]

• Ye Myo Tun (Captain)
• Aye Min Than
• Sai Sai Wunna
• Kyaw Min Aung
• Zarn Thein
• Myat Min Hein (Wicketkeeper)
• Win Maw
• Myo Khaw
• Khin Aye
• Ya Naing Tun
• Yen Wie
• Kyaw Ze Za
• Ye Min Soe
• Aung Aung

References

1. ^ CricketArchive - Myanmar
2. ^ Rangoon Gymkhana v Marylebone Cricket Club, 1926/1927
3. ^ Burma v Marylebone Cricket Club, 1926/1927
4. ^ Cricinfo report mentioning ICC membership
5. ^ Wisden Almanack on minor cricketing nations
6. ^ The greatest mismatch in international history, Cricket Europe, 2006
7. ^ "ACC Trophy Challenge 2010 - Myanmar". Asian Cricket Council. 6 December 2010. http://www.asiancricket.org/index.php/tournaments/acc-trophy-challenge-2010/2032. Retrieved 6 December 2010. 

External links

• ACC Myanmar page