The Spanish national cricket team represents Spain in international cricket. They became an affiliate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 1992 and an associate member in 2017. They made their international debut in the ECC Trophy in 2001, finishing in 6th place. They played in the tournament again in 2001, this time finishing seventh. In the equivalent tournament in 2005, the European Affiliates Championship, they put in a much improved performance to finish third, just missing out on promotion to Division Two of the European Championship. They played in Division Three of that tournament in 2007 and again in 2009.
In April 2018, the ICC decided to grant full Twenty20 International (T20I) status to all its members. Therefore, all Twenty20 matches played between Spain and other ICC members after 1 January 2019 were to have the T20I status.
History
Cricket is first recorded as being played in Spain in the year 1809 by soldiers of General Lord Wellesley (later the Duke of Wellington). During the Peninsular War the soldiers played the game in and around Ciudad Rodrigo, Lugo and Orense. There are many records of the game being played by visiting British land and sea forces, either among themselves or against local British expatriate communities.
The game entered a new era in Spain with the founding of Madrid Cricket Club in 1975. It was based at first on British and Indian players, but soon West Indian and Spanish members joined.
In June 1989, a National Executive Committee was formed and the first steps were taken to unify all of the cricket playing clubs in Spain.
First International Tournament (ECC Trophy/ICC Europe Championships) Spain played their first tournament in 2001 in Austria. It was the ECC Trophy 2001. They also played their first match of their international cricket history in that tournament. They were in the Seebern Group amongst 2 groups. In their group there were Portugal, Malta, Finland and Sweden. Every match of the tournament was 35 overs.
They played their first match on13 August 2001 at the Seebarn Cricket Centre No 1 Ground, Lower Austria against Portugal. After winning the toss Portugal came down to bat and scored 229/6 in 35 overs. Opener Nadeem Butt scored 69. But due to their slow overrate Spain could play 32 overs. In 32 overs Portugal made 166/7. G Howe made 40 the highest score of Spain's innings. Portuguese bowler Bagvanadaia made 3/19 in 4 overs. So Spain lost their 1st international match against Portugal by 63 runs.
Spain's next matches was against Finland. It was on 14 August 2001 at Seebarn Cricket Centre No. 2 Ground, Lower Austria. After winning toss Spain came down to bat. They made 222/3 in 35 overs. Batsman G Howe made 103 which was the highest of Spain's innings. Finish bowler Scott Thurling took 2/36 in 7 overs. In bowling Spain smashed their opponent Finland. Finland could make 141/9 in 35 overs. Scott Thurling made highest 43 in Finland's innings. G Howe took 3/29 in 7 overs. Spain got a victory of 81 runs and got their first win in international cricket.
2018–present In April 2018, the ICC decided to grant full Twenty20 International (T20I) status to all its members. Therefore, all Twenty20 matches played between Spain and other ICC members since 1 January 2019 have been full T20I.
Spain played its first ever T20I against Malta on 29 March 2019, during the 2019 Spain Triangular T20I Series. The match was played at La Manga Club, Murcia, Spain.
Tournament history
European Cricket Championship 2001: 6th place 2003: 7th place 2022: 3rd place 2023: 3rd place
European Affiliates Championship 2005: 3rd place
ICC Europe Division 3 Championship 2007: Runners-up 2009: 3rd place
Iberia Cup 2019: Winners
Current squad
This lists all the players who have played for Spain in the past 12 months or has been part of the latest T20I squad. Updated as of 28 August 2024.
Name Age Batting style Bowling style Notes Batters Christian Munoz-Mills Right-handed Right-arm off break Captain Daniel Doyle-Calle Right-handed Mohammad Ihsan Right-handed Hamza Dar Left-handed Right-arm medium Mohammad Yasin Left-handed All-rounders Yasir Ali Right-handed Right-arm off break Shafat Ali Syed Left-handed Left-arm medium Wicket-keeper Alec Davidson-Soler Right-handed Spin Bowlers Lorne Burns Right-handed Right-arm leg break Vice-captain Charlie Rumistrzewicz Right-handed Slow left-arm orthodox Sebastian Hughes-Piñan Left-handed Slow left-arm orthodox Pace Bowlers Atif Mehmood Right-handed Left-arm medium-fast Mohammad Kamran Right-handed Left-arm medium-fast Raja Adeel Right-handed Right-arm fast Mohammad Atif Right-handed Left-arm medium
Head coach Corey Leigh Rutgers (born 28 May 1989 in Footscray, Victoria) is a former Western Australia country and grade cricketer. He was cricket academy head coach for VOC Rotterdam in the Netherlands and also worked as assistant coach for Pakistan Super League team Islamabad United for almost two years.
In August 2019, Rutgers was appointed head coach of the Belgium national cricket team. He resigned in July 2021 after a dispute with Belgium cricket board officials over team selection.
In November 2021, Rutgers signed with the Espana National cricket federation as head coach.
International grounds
Ground City Region Capacity Matches hosted Notes Desert Springs Cricket Ground Cuevas del Almanzora Andalusia 600 T20Is, ICC Europe events Spain’s only fully ICC‑approved international venue () La Manga Club La Manga Club Murcia 500 T20Is, Women’s T20Is Venue for European Cricket Series and ICC events () Cartama Oval Cártama Andalusia 800 T10s, T20Is Host of European Cricket League/New European tournaments () La Elipa Madrid Madrid 1,000 T10s, T20 tournaments Site of 2025 European Cricket Series Madrid
Records and statistics
International Match Summary — Spain
Last updated 21 August 2026 Playing Record Format M W L T NR Inaugural Match Twenty20 Internationals 54 44 9 0 1 29 March 2019
Twenty20 International Highest team total: 290/3 v Croatia, 7 December 2025 at La Manga Club Ground, Cartagena Highest individual score: 160, Mohammad Ihsan v Croatia, 7 December 2025 at La Manga Club Ground, Cartagena Best individual bowling figures: 6/28, Yasir Ali v Croatia, 2 August 2024 at Mladost Cricket Ground, Zagreb
Most T20I runs for Spain PlayerRunsAverageCareer spanYasir Ali 953 28.02 2019–2026Daniel Doyle-Calle 904 33.48 2022–2026Mohammad Ihsan 903 41.04 2022–2026Hamza Dar 701 31.86 2019–2026Christian Munoz-Mills 388 25.86 2019–2026
Most T20I wickets for Spain PlayerWicketsAverageCareer spanLorne Burns 57 12.77 2022–2026Yasir Ali 56 12.80 2019–2026Charlie Rumistrzewicz 51 10.78 2021–2026Atif Mehmood 36 15.88 2019–2026Raja Adeel 35 16.88 2019–2026
T20I record versus other nations
Records complete to T20I #4096. Last updated 21 August 2026. Opponent M W L T NR First match First win vs Associate Members 1 0 1 0 0 4 July 2022 1 1 0 0 0 18 August 2026 18 August 2026 10 10 0 0 0 2 August 2024 2 August 2024 1 1 0 0 0 21 August 2024 21 August 2024 1 1 0 0 0 22 August 2024 22 August 2024 1 0 1 0 0 2 July 2022 5 4 1 0 0 17 August 2019 17 August 2019 7 4 3 0 0 8 March 2020 8 March 2020 2 2 0 0 0 26 October 2019 26 October 2019 1 1 0 0 0 25 August 2024 25 August 2024 2 1 1 0 0 30 April 2022 30 April 2022 7 6 0 0 1 24 February 2023 24 February 2023 1 1 0 0 0 29 June 2022 29 June 2022 2 1 1 0 0 5 November 2022 5 November 2022 2 2 0 0 0 14 April 2024 14 April 2024 1 1 0 0 0 17 August 2026 17 August 2026 3 3 0 0 0 29 March 2019 29 March 2019 2 2 0 0 0 30 April 2022 30 April 2022 4 3 1 0 0 25 October 2019 25 October 2019
See also List of Spain Twenty20 International cricketers
References
Spain in ICC's Official Site ECC Trophy 2001
External links
ICC profile