History of cricket
Cricket was initially introduced into the Seychelles by the British during the colonial times in the late 20th century. An area named Gordon Square was rented from the government by the Seychelles Amateur Cricket Club. Matches were played against visiting ship crews and during World War II, matches were organised between nationalities that were posted in Seychelles at the time.
The late governor, Sir John Thorpe, played cricket in the late 1950s and the game was played at Seychelles College, where they played Inter-House cricket. In 1966, Gustave Commarmond retired as Chairman and Ayub Adam took over until his retirement in 1995. During this time, he served a term of 20 years for which he was honoured by the National Sports Council. In 1983, the then Minister of Sport, Esme Jumeau, requested that all clubs should form Federations or Associations and thus the Seychelles Cricket Association was formed.
In 2010, Seychelles was recognised as an Affiliate Member of the International Cricket Council, becoming the 105th Member.
International cricket and developing the game
- In 1976, the first touring team, Kathiwar CC from Kenya, visited Seychelles. This was followed by Parlands CC, Lohana Youth and Pagani CC, all from Kenya. A tour to Mauritius was organised in November 1992 when the Islanders XI played two limited-over matches, which it won to clinch the series. Over the years, there have been other tours including the Mauritius tour of the Seychelles.
Seychelles made its international debut at the 2011 ICC Africa Twenty20 Division Three tournament in Ghana. The team won its first three matches, against Mali, Gambia and Morocco, ultimately losing to Rwanda by eight runs in the tournament final. Seychelles finished runner-up to Zambia at the 2012 ICC Africa Twenty20 Division Three tournament. The team was captained by the current Chairman of the Association, Kaushal Patel. They played eight matches in five days, winning six and losing two games, both to Zambia. They notably defended a total of 71 runs against Cameroon, winning by nine runs, and defeated Saint Helena in a super over with a six off the last ball.
In April 2018, the ICC decided to grant full Twenty20 International (T20I) status to all its members. Therefore, all Twenty20 matches played between the Seychelles and other ICC members after 1 January 2019 will be a full T20I.
- There is a total of 17 of senior men’s teams playing in competitions with three tournaments being held during the year. Seychelles also has 5 women’s teams playing three domestic competitions and two teams playing in the children’s league. Although the game is not very popular with the local populace, SCA has been trying to create awareness by using the local media, newspapers and television.