 | |
| Association | Zambia Cricket Union |
|---|---|
| International Cricket Council | |
| ICC status | Associate member (2003) |
| ICC region | Africa |
| International cricket | |
| First international |  Northern Rhodesia v.MCC (Livingstone; 11 December 1930) |
| As of 3 May 2019 | |
TheZambia national cricket team is the team that represents theRepublic of Zambia ininternational cricket. It is administered by theZambia Cricket Union, which became anassociate member of theInternational Cricket Council (ICC) in 2003.[1] The team made its international debut in 1930 during the country's colonial period asNorthern Rhodesia.[2]
Regular matches against other East African sides began in the 1950s, and Zambia contributed players to the combinedEast African cricket team that was an ICC member in its own right for much of the remainder of the 20th century (later transformed into theEast and Central Africa Cricket Conference).
From the late 1990s onward, Zambia has been a regular participant inICC Africatournaments, although it has generally played in the lower divisions. The team has been promoted into theWorld Cricket League structure only once, placing fourth at the2010 Division Eight tournament.[3]
In April 2018, the ICC decided to grant fullTwenty20 International (T20I) status to all its members, starting from 1 January 2019.[4] The ICC terminated Zambia's membership due to "continued non-compliance" to amend multiple breaches of the ICC's Membership Criteria in 2021 ICC AGM. Zambia's membership was formally restored by ICC on 2025.[5]
ThenNorthern Rhodesia, cricket was introduced into Zambia from neighbouringZimbabwe (thenSouthern Rhodesia), in the early 1900s. With the number of the British settlers relatively low compared toSouthern Rhodesia, cricket was slow to develop.[6]
Despite the slow rate of development, the MCC travelled toLivingstone in December 1930 during their tour of South Africa,[7] easily beating Northern Rhodesia by 9 wickets in their first international. By the late 1930s, cricket in Northern Rhodesia was being integrated with cricket in Southern Rhodesia, though it was rare to see players from the North playing forRhodesia.[6]
AfterWorld War II, cricket was more formally organised with the formation of the Northern Rhodesia Cricket Union, and in 1948 an annual series of matches was begun against Southern Rhodesia. This lasted only until 1954 as the Southern Rhodesia side were much too strong to make any sort of decent contest. The North won only once, in 1952. One match was drawn and the other five all went the way of the South.[6]
With the formation of theFederation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland in 1954, cricket was fully integrated with Southern Rhodesia but investment was concentrated aroundHarare andBulawayo, meaning that cricket began to decline in the country.[6] Nevertheless, a team was still organised to playAustralia in October 1957[8] to start off the Australians tour of South Africa.[6] Australia scored 302/6declared in theirinnings andRichie Benaud took 9/16 as the home team were dismissed for 85 in their first innings, but they managed to hold out for a draw in the two-day match.[9]
No further matches were played by Northern Rhodesia, but Rhodesia did play twofirst-class matches atEk Park,Kitwe in 1962, one against an International XI and one against aCommonwealth XI.[10]
With Zambia gaining independence in 1964, cricket began a resurgence. Whereas previously representative cricket had been confined to the white population due to Rhodesian cricket's links withapartheid South Africa, this separation meant the non-white population was now allowed to take part.
The Zambian Cricket Union was formed almost immediately and multi-racial cricket began. Zambia took part in East African regional tournaments withKenya,Tanzania andUganda in 1968,[6] playing their first match as Zambia against Kenya inNairobi in September 1968.[11] For instance, the 1975 Quadrangular was played in Kampala, sadly with rain spoiling much of the schedule, the scorecard from Zambia v Kenya 1975[12] and the Zambian team photograph from that tour to Uganda.[13]
The 1970s were the most successful period for Zambian cricket, as the country became a favoured destination for English sides.Gloucestershire toured in 1971,Glamorgan in 1972,[14] the MCC in 1974[6] andWarwickshire in 1977.[15]
However, in the early 1980s the government began to invest less money in sport and withathletics and soccer being of more interest, cricket was a lower priority. A combinedMinor Counties side toured in 1982, but this was the last match played by the national side until the mid-1990s, though some Zambian players played as part of theEast African cricket team andEast and Central African cricket team.[6]
By the mid-1990s, cricket was confined almost entirely toLusaka,[6] but the national side returned to play in the African Cricket Association Championships in 1994.[16] Zambia took part in the Africa Cup in 2002, beatingNamibia and Tanzania[17] and the Zambian Cricket Union became an associate member of the ICC in 2003, enabling the national side to take part in ICC tournaments for the first time.[1]
Zambia hosted the African Cricket Association Championship in 2004, the tournament being part of the qualification process for the2005 ICC Trophy in Ireland. Zambia finished third behind Namibia and Uganda, qualifying them for therepêchage tournament.[18] This tournament took place inKuala Lumpur in February 2005 and Zambia finished eighth and last after losing toItaly in the seventh place play-off.[19]
Zambia finished fourth in theWorld Cricket League Africa Region Division Two tournament in 2006, beating onlyNigeria[20] and did better in the same tournament in 2008 when they finished third behindBotswana andNigeria.[21] In 2010, they went better once again, winning the tournament. This then granted them entry into the2010 ICC World Cricket League Division Eight.
Below is a record of international matches played in the one-day format by Zambia between 2004 and 2017.[22]
| Opponent | M | W | L | T | NR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Bahamas | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
 Botswana | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
 Cayman Islands | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
 Eswatini | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
 Fiji | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
 Germany | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
 Ghana | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
 Gibraltar | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
 Italy | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
 Kuwait | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
 Malawi | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
 Mozambique | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
 Namibia | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
 Nigeria | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
 Qatar | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
 Sierra Leone | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
 Tanzania | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
 Uganda | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
 Vanuatu | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 33 | 13 | 20 | 0 | 0 |
The following players played for Northern Rhodesia/Zambia and also played representative cricket includingfirst-class,List A cricket orminor counties:
