The first game of modern cricket in Belgium appears to have been a match played by British soldiers before the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, though research has suggested that cricket may be related to a game exported from Flanders to England in the Sixteenth Century. The first record of organised cricket is a painting dated 1870 that hangs in the pavilion of Lord's Cricket Ground in London that depicts the opening of the Brussels cricket ground in 1866 by mayor Jules Anspach. The national team first played a match in 1905 when they played against the Netherlands. The match was played almost every year until 1986. Belgium hosted a tournament as part of the 1910 Brussels Exhibition also involving France, the MCC and the Netherlands. Belgium lost their match against the MCC by an innings and lost to the Netherlands by 116 runs.
ICC membership
Belgium became an affiliate member of the ICC in 1991. They began to play in European tournaments, playing in the ECC Trophyfor the first time in 1999 when they finished last. They fared better in the next tournament, reaching the semi finals of the 2001 ECC Trophy in Austria. They finished sixth in the ECC Trophy in 2003, and gained associate membership of the ICC two years later. Belgium finished fourth in the European Affiliates Championship in 2005 and both played and hosted Division Three of the newly restructured European Championship in August 2007, they finished fifth. In 2009 Belgium played in La Manga Club Ground, again in Division 3. Richard Nash captained the team and finished fourth. In 2011 Belgium hosted the new 2011 ICC European T20 Championship Division Two where they won the championship undefeated. The captain for the T20 squad was André Wagener. Belgium got promoted to Division 1 where they finished a credible 7th out of 12 teams having fielded a weakened team because of visa issues. Their performance qualified them for the WCL 8 qualifier the following year. In 2012 Belgium played the World Cricket League 8 Qualifier in La Manga Club Ground where they beat Gibraltar, Austria and France to qualify for the World Cricket league for the first time. Captained by Sheriyar Butt and Simon Newport in this tournament, they will travel to Samoa in September. On July 31st, the Under-19 Belgium Cricket Team, travelled to Essex to participate in the U19 Cricket World Cup Qualifier Europe Division 2.
Current Squad
Belgium's squad for their first ever T20I Series against Germany from 11–12 May 2019.
Corey Leigh Rutgers was appointed head coach in August 2019. Rutgers, who was born in 1989 at Footscray, Victoria, is a former country and grade cricketer who played in Western Australia. He was an assistant coach for Pakistan Super League team Islamabad United and was the cricket academy head coach for Dutch domestic side VOC Rotterdam. In December 2019, Rutgers was also named as head coach of Falcon Hunters in the Qatar T10 league. He has also been an assistance coach for the Netherlands Men’s Cricket Team.
Grounds
Tournament history
European Affiliates Championship
One-Day
1999: 7th place
2001: Semi-finals
2003: 6th place
2005: 4th place
2007: 5th place
2009: 4th place
2012: 1st place World Cricket League 8 qualifier. Tournament in September in Samoa.
