Lesser Known Cricketing Nations Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Which team won the first-ever Baltic Cricket Cup held in June 2005?

Answer: Belarus

Belarus cricket team, like other Baltic countries, is composed largely of Asian players, but efforts are being made to attract more local youths.

2. Which team made 455 runs for nine wickets in 1986, and set a record at the time for the highest score in the ICC World Cup qualifier?

Answer: Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea beat Gibraltar with a massive total of 369 runs, in the 1986 World Cup qualifier held in England. The ICC World Cup qualifier is an event in which only non-test playing nations take part, as the Test playing nations are directly granted entry to the World Cup.

3. Which is the only cricket team, which is geographically a part of Asia, but is a member of the European Cricket Council since its formation in 1996, and has played in the tournaments of that organization?

Answer: Israel

Israel was the founding member of the European Cricket Council, along with Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, Gibraltar, and Holland in 1996. Since then, Israel has participated in all the European Cricket Championships held.

4. Which country's cricket official promised to give an additional bonus to the bowler who dismissed Sachin Tendulkar, the great batsman from India, in the match against India in 2004?

Answer: United Arab Emirates

Asim Saeed, the left seamer from UAE got a large sum just for getting Sachin Tendulkar out in the second match of Asia Cup, held in Sri Lanka, in 2004.

5. Which of these teams is not a part of the ICC's High Performance Program after 2007 World Cup?

Answer: United Arab Emirates

The High Performance Program was launched in 2001 to prepare the top Assoiate member teams for the 2003 World Cup. The program continued to run even after the World Cup. It then focused on Kenya, Bermuda, Scotland, Netherlands, Canada, and Ireland, which had qualified for the 2007 World Cup.

After the 2007 World Cup, the teams involved in the program were Denmark, Uganda, Argentina, and Namibia.

6. This country's first football match took place on a cricket field in 1867. Which team is it?

Answer: Argentina

Cricket in Argentina had been played as early as 1806, but after the WWII, it declined. The first football match in Argentina took place in a cricket field with the permission of the Buenos Aires Cricket Club in 1867. Another interesting fact about Argentine cricket is that for their first match against Chile, the players had to cross the Andes by mule to reach Santiago, taking three and a half days.

7. The first official international cricket match was played in 1844, between two teams that do not have a test status. Which two teams were these?

Answer: Canada and USA

The match was played on 25-27 September, 1844, at the St George's Cricket Club, Bloomingdale Park in New York. Canada beat USA by 23 runs. Cricket was very popular in Canada until the start of 20th century. In fact, it was declared the national sport in 1867 by the nation's first Prime Minister John A. Macdonald. The game was also very popular in the USA until the middle of the 19th century, but after that its popularity declined due to the rise of baseball.

8. In 2003, which team became the first non-test playing nation to reach the semifinals of a World Cup?

Answer: Kenya

Kenya reached the semi-finals of the 2003 World Cup (held in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Kenya). They beat Canada, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Zimbabwe. New Zealand forfeited their match against Kenya due to security reasons. They lost in the semi-final to India by 91 runs.

9. A player of a non-test playing nation hit the fastest century in a World Cup at the time in 2003. Which nation did he belong to?

Answer: Canada

John Davison of Canada hit 111 runs off just 76 balls, the first 100 runs of it coming from only 67 balls, against West Indies in the 2003 World Cup. His record was broken in the 2007 World Cup by Matthew Hayden, who took 66 balls.

10. Which country's national team fielded 22 players in the their first game in 1881?

Answer: Netherlands

The Netherlands national team played their first game against Uxbridge Cricket Club XI in 1881. Despite fielding 22 players, they lost by an innings.

Source: Author puitpankaj

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Nightmare before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Welcome to this quiz on interesting facts about lesser known cricketing nations.

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>