 | ||||||||||
| Nickname | Cricket Bible | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Israel Cricket Association | |||||||||
| Personnel | ||||||||||
| Captain | Eshkol Solomon | |||||||||
| International Cricket Council | ||||||||||
| ICC status | Associate member (1974) | |||||||||
| ICC region | Europe | |||||||||
| ||||||||||
| International cricket | ||||||||||
| First international | 22 May 1979 vUSA atSolihull, England | |||||||||
| One Day Internationals | ||||||||||
| World Cup Qualifier appearances | 7 (first in1979) | |||||||||
| Best result | Plate competition,1990 and1994 | |||||||||
| T20 Internationals | ||||||||||
| First T20I | v Portugal atRoyal Brussels Cricket Club,Waterloo; 28 June 2022 | |||||||||
| Last T20I | v Luxembourg atRoma Cricket Ground,Rome; 16 June 2024 | |||||||||
| ||||||||||
| As of 16 June 2024 | ||||||||||
TheIsrael national cricket team is the team that representsIsrael ininternational cricket. Despite being geographically part of theMiddle East, they are members of theEuropean Cricket Council.[4]
They regularly take part in theEuropean Championship, and are currently ranked the 12th best non-Test team in Europe by theInternational Cricket Council (ICC),[5] having been anassociate member of that organisation since 1974.[6]
In April 2018, the ICC decided to grant fullTwenty20 International (T20I) status to all its members. Therefore, allTwenty20 matches played between Israel and otherICC members after 1 January 2019 hold the T20I status.[7]
As is most often the case, cricket was introduced to Israel by the British. Local enthusiasts managed to keep the game going once the British had left in 1948, but the game was struggling until the mid-1960s, when an influx of Jewish immigrants from cricket-playing countries, mainly South Africa, United Kingdom, and theIndian subcontinent, revived the game.[8]
The first national league was formed in 1966, which led to the formation of theIsrael Cricket Association (ICA) in 1968. The league prospered despite conditions ill-suited to cricket. Games were played on dusty, grass-less football fields, on matting wickets. However, the enthusiasm of the players has overcome these drawbacks.[8]
Israel became an associate member of theICC in 1974,[6] with onlyPakistan opposing their membership.[8] Israel competed in the firstICC Trophy in1979, failing to get past the first round.[9] They also failed to progress beyond the first round in the1982[10] and1986[11] tournaments.
They reached the plate competition of the ICC Trophy in1990[12] and1994[13] and in 1996 competed in the first European Championship inDenmark, finishing eighth in the eight team tournament.[14] The1997 ICC Trophy in Malaysia gave them a brief, though unwanted, moment in the spotlight. Malaysia does not recognise the state of Israel, and they faced political demonstrations throughout the tournament from theIslamic Party of Malaysia. They were the first Israeli sports team to play in the country[8] and finished in 22nd and last place.[15]
In 1998, they finished ninth in the European Championship ahead of onlyGibraltar[16] and the following year travelled toGibraltar to take part in a quadrangular tournament also involvingFrance andItaly, losing to France in the third place play-off.[17]
Israel have been playing in Division Two of the European Championships since 2000, finishing fifth in 2000,[18] fourth in 2002[19] and sixth in 2004.[20] In the 2006 tournament, the Israeli team were again met with protests, due to the thenongoing crisis in the Middle East. Their first match, againstJersey was cancelled[21] and their remaining two group games were met by protests.[22] Their play-off games were then moved toRAF Lossiemouth to be played under armed guard. The second of these games, againstGreece was forfeited by the Greeks, who had travel problems.[23] Israel thus finished in seventh place.[24]
In November 2007, Israel were defeated in a relegation match againstCroatia, in the first international cricket game played in Israel. The loss meant that they were relegated from the 2nd European division, to the 3rd Division. In 2009 they got promoted to Second division with a win over Croatia.[25]
Israel participated in T20 World Cup qualification for the first time when it took part inqualifiers in the Netherlands for the2021 T20 World Cup.It was in Group C along with Norway, Guernsey, Sweden, Czech Republic and Gibraltar. Its lone win was a 52 run victory over Gibraltar.
Israel was to participate in qualifiers in Finland for the 2022 T20 World Cup. Due to theCOVID-19 pandemic these were cancelled.
Given the change in the ICC laws, despite playing matches in previous years, Israel's participation in thequalifiers in Belgium for the2024 T20 World Cup was recognised as its first official T20 internationals. Israel was in Group 2 of Qualifier C along with Spain, Portugal and Malta. Israel didn't win a game in pool play, losing to Portugal by 47 runs, to Spain by 7 wickets and to Malta by 16 runs. In the 7th place play-off, it defeated Hungary by 12 runs with Gabriel Schachat adjudged man of the match.
These are the details of the match against Portugal, its first-ever official T20 International.
v | ||
Kuldeep 39 (29) Niv Nagavkar 2/19 (3 overs) | Michael Cohen 27* (29) Amandeep Singh 3/11 (4 overs) |
Portugal won by 47 runs Royal Brussels Cricket Club,Waterloo Umpires: Mark Jameson (Ger) and Ryan Milne (Sco) Player of the match: Amandeep Singh (Por) |
Israel participated inqualifiers in Italy for the2026 T20 World Cup. It was in Group 2 of Qualifier A along withAustria,Hungary, Portugal, andRomania.
| Men's Cricket World Cup Qualifier records | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | GP | W | L | T | NR | |
 1979 | Group stage | 12/15 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1982 | Group stage | 16/16 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | |
| 1986 | Group stage | 16/16 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | |
 1990 | Plate competition | 17/17 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | |
 1994 | Plate competition | 15/20 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | |
 1997 | Plate competition | =21/22 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | |
 2001 | Division two | 22/24 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2005 –2023 | Did not qualify | |||||||
| Total | 7/12 | 0 Titles | 45 | 3 | 40 | 0 | 2 | |
| T20 World Cup Europe Sub-regional Qualifiers | European Cricket Championship (defunct) | European T20 Championship (defunct) |
|---|---|---|
|
|
International Match Summary — Portugal[26]
Last updated 16 June 2024
| Playing Record | ||||||
| Format | M | W | L | T | NR | Inaugural Match |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Twenty20 Internationals | 9 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 28 June 2022 |
T20I record versus other nations[26]
Records complete to T20I #2691. Last updated 16 June 2024.
| Opponent | M | W | L | T | NR | First match | First win |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| vs Associate Members | |||||||
 Austria | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 June 2024 | |
 Hungary | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 July 2022 | 3 July 2022 |
| Luxembourg | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 June 2024 | 16 June 2024 |
 Malta | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 July 2022 | |
| Portugal | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 28 June 2022 | 13 June 2024 |
 Romania | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 15 June 2024 | |
 Spain | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 29 June 2022 | |
For a list of selected international matches played by Israel, seeCricket Archive.
Updated as of 9 August 2024.
This lists all the players who were part of the Israeli squad for the2024 Men's T20 World Cup Europe Sub-regional Qualifier A.
| Name | Age | Batting style | Bowling style | Last T20I | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batters | |||||
| Eshkol Solomon | 40 | Right-handed | Right-armmedium | 2024 | Captain |
| Yogev Nagavkar | 24 | Right-handed | Right-armmedium | 2024 | |
| Warna Narayana | 33 | Right-handed | Right-armmedium | 2024 | |
| All-rounder | |||||
| Josh Evans | 33 | Right-handed | Leg break | 2024 | |
| Yarden Divekar | 29 | Right-handed | Right-armmedium | 2024 | |
| Tomer Kahamker | 15 | Right-handed | Right-armmedium | 2024 | |
| Virendra Kumar | 44 | Right-handed | Right-armmedium | 2025 | |
| Niv Nagavkar | 22 | Right-handed | Left-armmedium | 2024 | |
| Yair Nagavkar | 23 | Right-handed | Right-armoff break | 2024 | |
| Aviel Warsulkar | 28 | Right-handed | Right-armmedium | 2024 | |
| Wicket-keeper | |||||
| Shailesh Bangera | 47 | Right-handed | — | 2024 | |
| Eyal Bhonkar | 26 | Right-handed | — | 2024 | |
| Prathapa Siriwardhana | 36 | Right-handed | Right-armmedium-fast | 2024 | |
| Pace Bowlers | |||||
| Elan Talker | 31 | Right-handed | Right-armmedium | 2024 | |
| |
