Association | Argentine Cricket Association |
---|---|
ICC status | Associate (1974 | )
ICC region | ICC Americas |
WCL | n/a (regional tournaments) |
Coach | Daniel Sutton |
First international | |
Argentina v. Uruguay (1868) |
|
First-class debut | |
Argentina v. MCC (Buenos Aires, Argentina; 18 February 1912) |
|
List A debut | |
Argentina v. Oman (Windhoek, Namibia; 24 November 2007) |
|
World Cup Qualifier | |
Appearances | 6 (first in 1979) |
Best result | First round (1979; 1986–2001) |
As of 4 September 2015 |
The Argentina national cricket team is the team that represents the country of Argentina in international cricket matches. The team is organised by the Argentina Cricket Association (ACA), which became an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 1974.
With the sport having been introduced by British immigrants, Argentina played its first international cricket match in 1868, against Uruguay, with fixtures against Brazil and Chile following in 1888 and 1893, respectively. Beginning in 1912, there were regular visits from English teams, including the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) on two occasions. On four of those tours, matches between the Argentine national side and the visiting team were accorded first-class status, making for thirteen first-class matches in total between 1912 and 1938. Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, the mainstays of South American cricket, commenced regular international matches in the 1920s, which have continued into the present-day (outside of the period surrounding World War II). The South American Championship was created in 1995 by those three teams and Peru, and is now held annually. Argentina has been the dominant team at the championship, winning seven out of the eleven tournaments held, and consequently has sent only development sides since 2000.
Argentina made its ICC tournament debut at the 1979 ICC Trophy in England, which was the first event staged only for associate members. The team failed to appear at the subsequent 1982 edition, but from 1986 to 2001 appeared in five consecutive tournaments. However, Argentina only won its first match at the 1994 tournament, when it defeated East and Central Africa. The team won four matches in division two at the 2001 edition, but has made no further appearances in what has now been renamed the World Cup Qualifier. In the early 2000s, Argentina was one of the leading associates in the ICC Americas region, and in 2007, when the World Cricket League (WCL) was established, the side was placed into Division Three. Promoted into Division Two later in the year, it was immediately relegated, and continued to drop divisions over the following years. Finally, after placing fourth at the 2013 Division Six event, Argentina lost its place in the global tournament system. The team is yet to re-qualify, instead competing only in regional tournaments.