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Recent news articles

• Euro 2000: Dutch coach, Trotman, says Scots and Irish still equal (18 August 2000)
• European Championships - Day 5 Results (28 July 2000)
• European Championships - Day 4 Results (26 July 2000)
• England, Holland head for Euro showdown (25 July 2000)
• European Championships - Day 3 Results (24 July 2000)
• European Championships - Day 2 Results (23 July 2000)

Gibraltar profile

History
The game of cricket has been played on the Rock of Gibraltar since the late eighteenth century. Initially played by British Servicemen, it was not long before some of the local inhabitants took up the game. We know that by the year 1800 there was a cricket ground on the land immediately to the north of the Rock, and the first recorded game was in 1822 there were civilians playing the game as well as Servicemen. The Gibraltar Cricket Club was established in 1883 and it was to form the backbone of civilian cricket on the Rock until well into the twentieth century.

The first touring side came in 1890, when the liner "Liguria", carrying the Australian cricket team to England, collided with two other ships whilst entering Gibraltar harbour, and whilst repairs were being carried out, the Australians played a game against a Gibraltar Garrison team numbering seventeen players! The local side was skittled out for 25, and the Australians replied with 150 for 8

By the 1930's Gibraltar was producing many local-born cricketers and the game flourished. The occasional touring side came along, but this was hardly a regular feature. During the Second World War the game came to a temporary halt, and the playing fields at the North Front disappeared to make way for the construction of an airfield. After the War the Gibraltar Cricket Club was given a site adjacent to the airfield - the location of the present-day Victoria Stadium.

The 1950's saw an increase of civilian cricketers and the emergence of Clubs other than the Gibraltar Cricket Club. In May 1960, the Gibraltar Cricket Association was formed, to be responsible for the running of civilian cricket on the Rock. In 1969 the Association achieved full recognition as a cricketing body when elected an Associate Member of the International Cricket Council. Visits from UK sides then became a regular feature of the cricketing calendar, and this continues to this day. Gibraltar took part in the 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1997 and 2001 ICC Trophy Competitions, as well as in all three European Championships in 1996, 1998 and 2000. An outstanding event during the 1992 season was the visit of Israel to the Rock, the first ever by a fellow Associate Member. Three matches were played, all resulting in close contests, Israel emerging victorious against a Gibraltar XI and the President's XI and going down to a Rock XI. The following season an MCC side, including Mushtaq Mohammed, visited Gibraltar and played a series of matches. It was during this tour that Gibraltar first established links with Richard Cox, a member of the touring side, and who has now been National Coach for a number of years.

Over the past few years there have been dramatic changes to the cricketing scene on the Rock. Wider television coverage has encouraged many youngsters to take up the game.