A Cricket World First as Falkland Cricket Club Tours the Falkland Islands
Falkland Cricket Club (FCC) from Newbury, Berkshire, will today travel over 7,000 miles to the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic to play its international namesake, the Falkland Islands Cricket Association (FICA). Included in the three-match tour of the Falklands will be a thrilling return-leg on 5 March, during which FICA will hope to avenge their 22-run defeat to FCC in July 2007, during FICA’s seven-game tour of England. FCC will be the first sporting team in history to visit the Falkland Islands with the purpose of playing sport, although teams from visiting naval and cruise ships have played in the Islands.
The visiting Falkland CC team will commence their three-match tour by playing Stanley, a team from the Islands’ capital, on 1 March. Their next match (3 March) will be against Mount Pleasant, a team representing the military personnel serving in the Islands. Finally they will face the FICA, a combined team of civilians and military players, on 5 March. The team will then tour Chile, where they have arranged to play a further three matches.
The FCC tour coincides with the week-long ‘Spirit of Cricket’ festival being held in the Falkland Islands to celebrate the centenary of the founding of the International Cricket Council (ICC). The Falkland Islands Cricket Association was awarded Affiliate membership of the ICC in 2007. During the festival week there will be six matches, including two juniors’ games, and also social events for the players and their families. The festival will end on 7 March with the closing match of the annual South Atlantic Ashes series between the Governor’s XI and the Commander of the British Forces’ XI.
Another cricket first will take place in July 2010, when FICA will send a team to Scotland to compete in a tournament with Falkland CC, Newbury, and Falkland CC, Fife, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the founding of Falkland CC, Fife. This will be the first time the three ‘Falkland’ teams will meet; whatever the outcome, it will make for an interesting ‘sporting triangle’.
The Falkland Islands are a UK Overseas Territory and as such have a love of all things British, including cricket. Laying claim to the southernmost cricket ground in the world, cricket in the Islands is going from strength to strength. The population of around 3,000 boasts four teams, which may be the largest ratio of players per head of population of any country. In April, the Junior Team will embark on a four-match, week-long tour of Chile. Developing closer links with the Chilean Cricket Association is a key part of the strategy for developing the junior game in the Falklands which should lead to a much stronger adult game.
Looking to the future of cricket in the Falklands, planning permission has been granted for the development of a new cricket pitch in Stanley on part of the Golf Club site. The long term aim is to build a joint clubhouse with indoor facilities. The formation of a women’s team is also being actively encouraged, with several ladies already attending practice sessions.
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