Madrid Cricket Club

The Madrid Cricket Club ( _es. Club de Críquet de Madrid) is a cricket club located in Madrid, Spain, and the only team of its kind in the Community of Madrid.

The current club was founded in 2002, although its origin can be traced back to 1975. The team is formed by players of several nationalities, mainly from the United Kingdom, Australia and Pakistan, who are resident in Spain. The club is open to Spanish players and other nationals. In fact, there are already a few Spaniards interested in practising this sport.

The club made a huge effort in managing to finish runners-up in the inaugural National League, especially considering that all matches were played 400km away in La Manga, Murcia, in the south of Spain and often on a Sunday. The League was made up of 8 teams that were divided into 2 groups and each team had to play the other members of its group twice. Madrid finished top of its group, and played its semi-final match against the Jávea cricket team, whom they beat by 3 wickets. The final was played on September the 8th 2007, and Madrid took to the field against the Sporting Alfas Cricket Club's 1st XI but unfortunately lost by 64 runs.

The club also plays in other tournaments, such as the annual UK tournament in Stony Stratford in August, and the 20/20 tournament in La Manga in October.

Some of the club players are also members of the Spanish National Cricket Team.

Awards

In 2007, Madrid Cricket Club teamed up with UNICEF to host a 20/20 tournament in Madrid, raising over €2,000 for the UNAIDS charity and winning the prestigious "Best Spirit of Cricket Initiative" award from the International Cricket Council (ICC) Development Program.

See also

* Cricket

External links

* [http://www.cricketeurope.net/SPAIN/index.shtml Cricket Spain]
* [http://www.cricketinmadrid.com/ Madrid Cricket Club Official Web Site]
* [http://www.icc-europe.org/ECC/DATABASE/AWARDS/2007.shtml ICC Development Program Annual Awards 2007]