Murali admired in South America too!
July 25, 2010, 9:11 pm
By Rossana Favero-Karunaratna
While we celebrate the outstanding record of Muttiah Muralitharan ,it is fantastic to get to know that his achievement will reach Latin America too, the land of soccer. Why? Because cricket is starting to become really popular in that region, although the first international cricket match was registered in the XIX century!!
The oldest international cricket match, registered in South America was played in 1868. It was the first international match of the MVCC-Montevideo Cricket Club from Uruguay against the Buenos Aires Cricket Club from Argentina. It took place at the MVCCground called La Blanqueada.
The Montevideo Cricket Club (MVCC) is a multisport club founded in 1861 by English immigrants. Its predecessor was the Victoria Cricket Club, which was founded in 1842. Later rugby was played as well.
Argentine cricket claims to be really old. too. They celebrated their 200th anniversary on 21 October 2006. Cricket Argentina reports that "An event was held at San Antonio College, where the first recorded match was played back in 1806 by British Soldiers. The history of cricket in Argentina can roughly be divided into various phases. From 1806 to 1900 cricket was established in Argentina, with the first international matches played, the major clubs founded, and the great North v South contest beginning. The Buenos Aires Cricket Club in Palermo was inaugurated in 1864, and is the historical reference for cricket in the country. Now known as the Buenos Aires Cricket & Rugby Club, a project is in place where cricket will once again hopefully become a practiced sport at this famous club".
While Argentina first played international cricket in 1868 against Uruguay as mentioned above, their international competition against Brazil date back to 1888, and against Chile to 1893, this encounter is known for the Argentine team taking three and a half days to reach Santiago in Chile, crossing the Andes by mule! In 1891 the famous annual three-day North v South fixture was played for the very first time, and is still today a highlight of the domestic calendar. The first league competition was held in 1897.
The Argentine Cricket Association was founded in 1913, and will celebrate their centenary in 2013.The Association reports that the years from 1900 to 1939 are considered the golden years where cricket reached a high standard with many players reaching English county level. Argentina played first class matches between 1911 and 1938. Unfortunately the sport went into decline after World War II, until Argentina became an Associate member of the ICC in 1974, and took part in its first ICC Trophy in 1979.
Brazil became an ICC member in the year 2002. Their international debut came in 2006 after their membership , when they took part in Division Three of the ICC Americas Championship in Suriname.
Brazil won the 2009 ICC Americas Championship Division Three, winning all of its matches against Belize, Chile and Peru. This victory enabled Brazil to qualify for the 2010 ICC Americas Championship Division Two. However, they struggled in this higher grade. They lost all of their four matches and were relegated back to Division Three.
Cricket has been played in Peru for 150 years, at the really splendid Lima Cricket & Football Club. The Lima Cricket and Football Club is the oldest Cricket Club in South America created 151 years ago
Cricket in Peru is undergoing resurgence as a recently-admitted Affiliate Member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) and a founder member of Cricket South America, along with Argentina, Brazil and Chile. Peru gained affiliate membership of the ICC on 29th June 2007. They have played in every edition of the South American Championships from 1997 onwards, hosting in 1999 and 2007. They have competed in the ICC Americas Championship since 2008.
Cricket has been played in Panama for almost one hundred years . It was introduced to the country by West Indians and South Asians who settled during the canal construction days. The game is most popular today among the descendants of these workers.
Their first recorded match was against Trinidad and Tobago in 1964 and in recent years a friendly series played against Venezuela in the year 2000 which they won 1-0. The team was invited to play in the Fourth South American Championships later that year. The team performed well in its first international tournament, finishing fourth of seven teams.
In Chile, cricket was first played in the country in 1829 in the coastal city of Valparaíso between the officers and men of two Royal Navy vessels and the first club, the Valparaiso Cricket Club was formed in 1860.Cricket Chile informs that " The game’s heyday in Chile was in the 1920s when Pelham ‘Plum’ Warner captained a touring side against a Valparaíso XI- regular matches were played between Valparaíso Cricket Club, the Prince of Wales Country Club as well as the Concepción Country Club, whilst the game was also played by St. Peter’s and The Grange School as fiercely as any school in England. The standard of cricket in this era is highlighted by the success of one former St. Peter’s student, Frederick ‘Freddie’ Brown, who went on to successfully captain both Surrey and England in the 1950’s".
The World War II affected the development of cricket in South America. In recent years, the ICC has played a pivotal role to promote cricket in this region. Now, for example in Chile there are now over 2,000 children involved in all levels of junior cricket with a competitive national team at U13, U15 and U19 levels.
The ICC Americas Championship is a one- day cricket tournament organized by the Americas Cricket Association for non- Test national cricket teams in the Americas. As well as providing opportunity for national teams to play international matches against teams of a similar standard, it also provides qualification into the ICC World Cricket League.
There are currently four divisions taking place biannually with promotion and relegation taking place between divisions. In 2010 Division One, for the first time, a Twenty20 tournament took place following the traditional 50 overs competition.
Although cricket remains a hugely minority sport within the sporting and primarily football culture of the countries, soon competitive records at international level will be achieved and will earn respect for all these national teams from the rest of the cricket world. The fantastic performance of Muttiah Muralitharan will be kept in the hearts of cricket lovers all over the world as a role model for all.
Bravo Murali!!
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