Our History

Oman Cricket was formed in 1979 with Mr. Kanaksi G. Khimji as President and the other founder members. The first Patron in Chief was the Late H.H. Sayyid Abbas Bin Faisal. Oman is currently the 38th associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) and has International Status in Twenty20 from 2015-2017. The current Patron in Chief is the H.H. Said Haitham Bin Tarik Al Said.

hh-sayyid-haitham-patron-in-chief Oman became an affiliate member of the ICC and associate members of the ACC in 2000. Oman’s senior international debut came at the 2002 ACC Trophy. In 2007, Oman was the joint winner of ACC Twenty20 Cup. This was followed up by runners-up positions at the ICC World Cricket League Division 2, 2007 and the ACC U-17 Challenge Cup, 2008. 2009 & 2010 years were successful with wins in the ACC Trophy Challenge, 2009 and the ACC U-16 Challenge Cup, 2010.

Oman Cricket Chairman, Mr. Kanak Khimji was awarded the ICC award for Lifetime Service in 2011. His outstanding contribution to the growth of Cricket in Oman was recognized and commended by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

A major milestone for Oman Cricket took place on Wednesday, 17th October 2012 at 4.00 pm, when the first full turf facility with lush green out fields at the plot of land allocated by the Ministry of Sports Affairs Al Amerat was inaugurated. Mr. Syed Ashraful Huq, Chief Executive of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC). Mr. Mohammed Iqbal Sikander, Cricket Development Officer, ACC together with the Chairman of Oman Cricket Mr. Kanak Khimji, Board Members, other dignitaries, heads of Corporates and well-wishers were present at this momentous occasion.

Oman Cricket was awarded the Best Cricket Development Programme Award for National Youth Development Project, at 2014 Asian Cricket Council Conference.

At the ICC Annual Conference, held in Melbourne, Australia (June 2014) Oman was upgraded from an affiliate member of the ICC to an associate member.

By defeating Namibia in a sudden-death match at the World Twenty20 Qualifier, Oman reached the top six teams at the tournament, thus qualifying for the 2016 World Twenty20.

Oman participated at the 2016 World Twenty20 in India, and also at the 2016 Asia Cup Qualifier and performed admirably. Entering as unknowns and massive underdogs, Oman made headlines on the biggest stage by beating Ireland in their first match. The lessons learnt in their defeats in the hands of UAE and Afghanistan held them in good stead during the crunch situations and led to an unprecedented victory. The WT20 marked the first time any sporting team from Oman has represented the nation is a Global World Cup sporting event. The boys did the nation proud on the world stage. Even though they lost to Bangladesh in their final league match, causing them to bow out of the event – it was by no means a failure. The exposure gained by playing at the elite level and taste of the Cricket at its highest level has only further fueled the fire to reach those heights again.

Following the euphoric heights of the WT20, Oman augmented its progress in the 50 over format by finishing runners-up in the World Cricket League 5 tournament in Jersey, May 2016.

As of August 2016, Oman was upgraded to non test playing full members of the ACC.

Oman Cricket Club began its development projects in regional Oman in mid 2016 by appointing committees in Sohar and Salalah to manage the Cricket activities in their respective regions. They committees will function independently but under the supervision of the Oman Cricket Club head office in Muscat and will be named ‘Oman Cricket-Sohar’ and ‘Oman Cricket-Salalah’ respectively.

Oman has all the ingredients for success, including a vigorous national association. Artificial turf wickets have been introduced that simulate grass to better prepare for international competition. As of October 2011 they now also have turf facilities, albeit on a small-scale, which can only help them in their quest to become a cricketing force. Arab Omanis are being encouraged to play in increasing numbers. Currently a huge ground development phase with the construction of a second turf ground, academy building with indoor training facilities is in progress.

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