The Uganda national cricket team, nicknamed the Cricket Cranes, represents Uganda in men's international cricket. The team is organised by Cricket Uganda, which has been an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) since 1998.Uganda at CricketArchive
Uganda first fielded an international team as early as 1914, against the East Africa Protectorate, but only began competing regularly in the early 1950s,Other matches played by Uganda – CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 September 2015. playing frequent series against regional rivals Kenya and Tanzania (then Tanganyika).History of Kenyan cricket From 1966, Uganda contributed players to a combined East African team, which was reconstituted as East and Central Africa in 1989.
The country's first ICC tournament played in its own right was the 2001 ICC Trophy in Canada. Uganda played in the next three editions of the tournament, renamed the ICC World Cup Qualifier, but did not come close to qualifying for the Cricket World Cup. In the World Cricket League (WCL), Uganda reached ICC World Cricket League Division Two on three occasions, but was relegated to Division Three each time.
The team participated in six editions of the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier. They qualified for the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup, making it their first time in the ICC T20 WC after they finished 2nd in 2023 Africa Qualifier.
History East Africa team
Uganda combined with their regional rivals Kenya and Tanzania to form the East Africa team. The first known match for this team was against a South African "Non-Europeans" team captained by Basil D'Oliveira in September 1958 in Nairobi, with the visitors winning by seven wickets.Scorecard of East Africa v South African Non-Europeans, 13 September 1958 at Cricket Archive East Africa became an associate member of the ICC in 1966.East Africa at Cricket Archive
East Africa toured England in 1972East Africa in England 1972 at Cricket Archive and the Marylebone Cricket Club played a first-class match against East Africa in January 1974, winning by 237 runs.Scorecard of East Africa v MCC, 18 January 1974 The following year, East Africa played in the 1975 Cricket World Cup in England. After various warm-up games, including a 3 wicket win against Glamorgan,Scorecard of Glamorgan v East Africa], 5 June 1975 at Cricket Archive they played New Zealand, India and England in the World Cup itself, losing all three matches.1975 World Cup at Cricinfo The World Cup was followed by a first-class match against Sri Lanka at the County Ground, Taunton, which the Sri Lankans won by 115 runs.Scorecard of East Africa v Sri Lanka, 23 June 1975 at Cricket Archive East Africa played in the ICC Trophies of 1979,1979 ICC Trophy at Cricinfo 19821982 ICC Trophy at Cricinfo and 1986,1986 ICC Trophy at Cricinfo without qualifying for the World Cup from any of them.
Uganda continued playing their regular matches against Kenya and Tanzania, despite Kenya leaving the East Africa combination in Kenya at Cricket Archive and the triangular tournament became a quadrangular tournament in 1966 when Zambia joined in. From then until the tournament's end in 1980, Uganda won the tournament just once.
East and Central Africa cricket team
The East Africa team left the ICC in 1989 and was replaced by the East and Central Africa team the same year.East and Central Africa at Cricket Archive This new team was a combination of Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, and they took part in the ICC Trophy for the first time in 1990, also taking part in the 1994, 1997 and 2001 editions.ICC Trophy matches played by East and Central Africa at Cricket Archive
Independent National Team Uganda left the East and Central Africa combination and became an associate member of the ICC in their own right in 1998. Their first international tournament was the 2001 ICC Trophy. After winning all five of their first round games, they lost a play-off match against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the right to enter the second stage of the tournament.2001 ICC Trophy at Cricinfo The following year, they finished third in their group in the Africa Cup.2002 Africa Cup at CricketEurope
In 2004, Uganda played their first first-class matches in the ICC Intercontinental Cup against Kenya and Namibia, winning against Namibia.2004 ICC Intercontinental Cup at CricketEurope In August that year, they finished second to Namibia in the Africa Cricket Association Championships in Zambia.African qualifying for the 2005 ICC Trophy at CricketEurope This qualified them for the following year's ICC Trophy, in which they finished in the twelfth and last place after losing to Papua New Guinea in their final play-off match.2005 ICC Trophy at Cricinfo Earlier in the year, they again played against Namibia and Kenya in the 2005 ICC Intercontinental Cup, losing both games.2005 ICC Intercontinental Cup at CricketEurope
2007-2018
In January 2007, Uganda faced BermudaScorecard of Bermuda v Uganda, 27 January 2007 at Cricket Archive and CanadaScorecard of Canada v Uganda, 28 January 2007 at Cricket Archive as those two teams prepared for Division One of the World Cricket League in Nairobi.2007 ICC World Cricket League Division One at Cricket Archive This also served as preparation for Uganda's visit to Darwin, Australia, for Division Three of the same tournament. Uganda won their Group B games against the Cayman Islands, Hong Kong, and Tanzania before beating Papua New Guinea in the semi-final2007 ICC World Cricket League Division Three at CricketEurope and Argentina in the tournament final.Uganda lift Division Three title by Andrew Nixon, 2 June 2007 at CricketEurope Winning Division Three earned Uganda a spot in the ICC's High Performance Program,Denmark added to ICC High Performance Program , ICC Europe Media Release at European Cricket Council official site and promotion to Division Two.
Uganda took part in a four-team Twenty20 tournament before the 2007 Twenty20 World Cup, playing games against Pakistan, Kenya, and Bangladesh in Nairobi. As expected, they lost against Pakistan and Bangladesh before upsetting their African rivals Kenya with a two-wicket win.Uganda Win All-African Clash As Kenya Disappoint, 2 September 2007, www.cricketworld.com
Their next matches were two one-day games against Bermuda, also in Nairobi, in October 2007. They surprised their more experienced rivals, and although they lost the first game by just seven runs after Nandikishore Patel scored a half-century,http://www.cricketworld.com/bermuda-hang-on-to-clinch-narrow-win-over-uganda/13675.htm Bermuda Hang On To Clinch Narrow Win Over Uganda, 23 October 2007, www.cricketworld.com they won the second match by 43 runs with Joel Olwenyi scoring a half-century of his own.http://www.cricketworld.com/uganda-hit-back-with-43-run-win-over-bermuda/13680.htm Uganda Hit Back With 43-Run Win Over Bermuda, 24 October 2007, www.cricketworld.com
In November 2007, Uganda travelled to Windhoek, Namibia to participate in the WCL Division Two tournament. Uganda lost their group matches against; Denmark, Namibia, Oman, and the UAE but did defeat Argentina in their group match and also their positional playoff to finish fifth.Cricinfo, Accessed 22 February 2009 Uganda's bottom two finish saw them relegated to Division Three.World Cricket League structure
In January 2009, Uganda won four of their five group matches and edged Papua New Guinea on run rate, to finish second in the ICC Division 3 competition in Buenos Aires, Argentina and earn the final place at the 2009 ICC World Cup Qualifier.Cricinfo, Accessed 4 May 2009
In April 2009, Uganda travelled to South Africa for the 2009 ICC World Cup Qualifier. Despite a first up win against Namibia, Uganda lost their remaining four Group A matches and failed to make the Super Eight stage, thus ending their chance to qualify for the 2011 Cricket World Cup.Cricinfo, Accessed 4 May 2009 Uganda finished 10th overall after defeating Denmark but losing to Bermuda in position playoff matches, and thus was relegated to 2013 ICC World Cricket League Division Three.Cricinfo, Accessed 4 May 2009
In August 2018, Uganda replaced Ghana in the 2018 Africa T20 Cup, after Ghana had declined Cricket South Africa's invite to compete in the tournament. Uganda played in the 2019 T20 World Cup Qualifier Africa but got to the fourth position of the table.
2018–present In April 2018, the ICC decided to grant full Twenty20 International (T20I) status to all its members. Therefore, all Twenty20 cricket matches played between Uganda and other ICC members since 1 January 2019 have been full T20I matches.
After April 2019, Uganda played in the 2019–21 ICC Cricket World Cup Challenge League.
In 2021 and 2023, Uganda toured Namibia.
On 26 November 2023, Uganda registered their first win against an ICC Full Member by defeating Zimbabwe in the T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier.
Governing body
The Uganda Cricket Association (UCA) is responsible for all matches played in Uganda and by the Uganda cricket team. It was admitted to the International Cricket Council in 1998 as an associate member. Its current headquarters are in Kampala, Uganda.
International Grounds +StadiumCityTest matchesODI matchesT20I matchesLugogo StadiumKampala005Kyambogo Cricket OvalKampala005Entebbe Cricket OvalEntebbe0010Jinja Cricket GroundJinja002
Tournament history Legend
Promoted Remained in the same division Relegated
Cricket World Cup Cricket World Cup recordQualification recordYearRoundPosition 1975Part of East Africa Part of East Africa 1979 1983 1987 1992 1996 1999 2003Did not qualify 65100 2007 125601 2011 23131000 2015 1861200 2019 188901 2023 1511400 2027To be determined15*10302 Total 0/13 – – – – – 107 58 45 0 4
Cricket World Cup Qualifier Cricket World Cup Qualifier recordsYearRoundPosition 1979Part of East Africa 1982 1986 1990Part of East and Central African 1994 1997 2001Play-offs9/2465100DNQ 2005Play-offs12/1271501DNQ 2009Play-offs10/1272500DNQ 2014Play-offs10/1060600DNQ 2018Did not qualify 2023 2027To be determined Total 0 Titles 4/12 26 8 17 0 1
Men's T20 World Cup
Men's T20 World Cup recordQualification recordYearRoundPosition 2007Not eligible Not eligible 2009 2010 2012 Did not qualify 18 9 9 0 0 2014 16 9 6 0 1 2016 5 3 2 0 0 2021 11 6 4 0 1 2022 17 14 3 0 0 2024 Group stage 16/20 4 1 3 0 0 6 5 1 0 0 2026Did not qualify 5 3 2 0 0 2028To be determinedTo be determined Total0 Titles1/104130078492702
T20 World Cup Qualifier T20 World Cup Qualifier recordsYearRoundPosition 2008Not eligible 2010 2012Play-offs14/1692700DNQ 2013Play-offs13/1682501DNQDid not qualify 2019 2022Play-offs5/853200DNQ 2028To be determined Total 0 Titles 3/8 22 7 14 0 1
African Games African Games recordYearRoundPosition 2023 Semi-finals 3/8 5 4 1 0 0 Total 0 titles 1/1 5 4 1 0 0
Other global tournaments CWC Challenge League (List A) ICC Intercontinental Cup (FC) World Cricket League (LA/ODI/50 overs) 2019–22 (B): Runners-up () 2024–26 (B): Runners-up2004: First round 2005: First round 2006: Did not participate2006 ICC Intercontinental Cup at CricketEurope 2007–08: Did not participate2007 (Division Three) : Winners () 2007 (Division Two) : 5th place () 2009 (Division Three) : Runners-up () 2011 (Division Two) : 5th place () 2013 (Division Three) : Runners-up () 2014 (Division Three) : Runners-up () 2015 (Division Two) : 5th place () 2017 (Division Three) : 5th place () 2018 (Division Four) : Winners () 2018 (Division Three) : 6th place
Other regional tournaments T20WC Africa Regional Final (T20I) T20WC Africa Sub-regional Qualifiers (T20I) ACA Africa T20 Cup (T20I) Continent Cup T20 Africa (T20I) East Africa T20 Cup (T20I) 2019 : 4th place (DNQ) 2021 : Winners (Q) 2023 : Runners-up (Q) 2025 : 5th place (DNQ) 2018: Runners-up (Q) 2021: Winners (Q) 2022: Received a bye 2024: Received a bye 2026: To be determined 2022: Winners 2023: Winners 2023: Winners 2024: Winners 2026: Runners-up2022: Winners 2023: Winners