Austrian Cricket Association

The Austrian Cricket Association (Österreichischer Cricket Verband) is the national governing body of cricket in Austria. It was founded in 1981 by Kerry Tattersall as the Austrian Cricketers Association, following the re-introduction of cricket to Austria in 1975 with the founding of Vienna Cricket Club – as 1. Vienna Cricket Verein. Cricket was recorded as being played in Vienna as far back as the 1890s, traditionally by gardeners of mercantile families. During the post-war occupation of Austria, cricket was also played by allied forces members. Since 2017, the Austrian Cricket Association has been an associate member[1] of the International Cricket Council, and it is one of the founding members of the European Cricket Council. The European Cricket Council, now succeeded by ICC Europe, is responsible for the administration of the ICC's European Development Program.

Austrian Cricket Association
SportCricket
Founded1981
AffiliationInternational Cricket Council
Regional affiliationICC Europe
Official website
austriacricket.at
Austria

Executive committee

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The executive committee of the ACA is elected every two years and usually consists of three elected members all of which are volunteer workers.

Current executive committee

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Name Position
Mohammad Bilal ZALMAI Chairman
Lakhvir HIRA Secretary
Mehar Partap S. CHEEMA Treasurer

List of chairmen of the Austrian Cricket Association

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From To Chairman
1996 March 2005 Andrew Simpson-Parker
March 2005 April 2008 Michael Bailey
May 2008 June 2009 Marcel Biersteker
June 2009 January 2013 Naresh Laddha
January 2013 February 2014 Hammad Hassan
March 2014 February 2024 Muhammad Ashfaq
February 2024 Mohammad Bilal ZALMAI

List of secretaries of the Austrian Cricket Association

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From To Secretary
March 2002 March 2005 Michael Bailey
March 2006 March 2007 Sandeep Khanna
May 2008 June 2009
June 2009 February 2014 Thomas Pühringer
March 2014 March 2018 Wolfgang Tesar
March 2018 Lakhvir HIRA

Member clubs

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The association's members are 13 cricket clubs, each holding a single vote, with clubs having to be registered with the Austrian Vereinspolizei. Currently there are clubs from four of Austria's 9 federal provinces: Whilst the majority of clubs are based in Vienna, there are also clubs in Graz, Salzburg, Steyr and Velden.

List of current member clubs

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List of former member clubs

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  • Graz Cricket Club (GCC)
  • Pakistan United Cricket Club (PUCC)
  • Sri Lankan Sports Club (SLSC)
  • St Pölten Cricket Club (SPCC)

Competitions organised

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The Austrian Cricket Association is responsible amongst other duties for the administration of organised cricket competitions in Austria, with the ACA Open League perceived to be its premier competition. In 2008 the ACA Trophy, which had been a 40 over knockout tournament, and which had been geographically split since 2002 was replaced with a 20 overs competition, with a development remit.

ACA Open League

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The ACA Open League is a single innings league, and in 2006 was split into two parallel conferences (Austrian Conference and National Conference) to allow more teams to enter the league. The top three teams of each conference qualified for the Super Sixes stage, with the top two contesting a final to decide the Open League Champions. Teams not qualifying for the Super Sixes stage played in localised plate competitions – the Viennese Plate and the Southern Plate.

The league is played as a 50 overs tournament, with the exception of 2009, where due to difficulties in scheduling the League due to the unavailability of Austria CC Wien's ground in the Markomannenstrasse, it has been necessary to reduce the competition to a 35 overs format to ensure that the competition can be played to a conclusion. In 2008 logistical issues had meant that the parallel conference system was in abeyance, with a regionalised structure (a Vienna group and a non-Vienna group) with a knock-out stage for the top 6 Viennese teams joined by the top 2 from the non-Vienna group. The 2008 Open League champions were Pakistan CC, retaining the title they had won in 2007.

The first winners of the Open League since its split into parallel conferences was Vienna Lions CC in 2006, defeating Five Continents CC in the final played in September 2006 in Seebarn. United Nations CC won the Viennese Plate competition, with CC Velden '91 winning the Southern Plate competition.

ACA Open League Champions and Runners-up 1991–2018

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Year Open League Champions Open League Runners-Up
1991 Concordia CC Vienna CC
1992 Vienna CC Concordia CC
1993 Concordia CC Vienna CC
1994 Pakistan CC Vienna CC
1995 Pakistan CC Vienna CC
1996 Concordia CC Pakistan CC
1997 Lords CC
1998 Lords CC
1999 Lords CC
2000 Lords CC United Nations CC
2001 Concordia CC Pakistan Falken CC
2002 Pakistan Falken CC Pakistan CC
2003 Concordia CC Five Continents CC
2004 Vienna CC Austria CC Wien
2005 Austria CC Wien Pakistan CC
2006 Vienna Lions CC Five Continents CC
2007 Pakistan CC Salzburg CC
2008 Pakistan CC Austria CC Wien
2009 Pakistan CC Vienna CC
2010 Pakistan CC Lords CC
2011 Pakistan Cricket Wien Vienna CC
2012 Austria CC Wien Vienna Lions CC
2013 Pakistan CC Austria CC Wien
2014 Austria CC Wien Vienna CC
2015 Vienna CC
2016 Pakistan CC Lords CC
2017 ACT ICCV
2018 Vienna CC Lords CC

Champions:

8: Concordia CC/Austria CC Wien 7: Pakistan CC 4: Lords CC 2: Vienna CC 1: Pakistan Falken CC, Vienna Lions CC, Pakistan Cricket Wien

ACA Trophy

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Pakistan CC were the last winners of the ACA Trophy (North), in 2007, defeating reigning ACA Trophy (North) holders Vienna Lions CC in the final in Seebarn. Vienna Lions CC had won the 2006 ACA Trophy (North). The competition was split into two tournaments (North and South) in 2002, with Salzburg CC having dominated the ACA Trophy (South).

ACA Trophy Champions and Runners-Up

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Year Champions Runners Up
2000 Vienna CC Pakistan CC
2001 Pakistan CC Vienna CC
2002 N: Lords CC
S: Salzburg CC
N: Five Continents CC
S: Ljubljana CC
2003 N: Pakistan CC
S: Salzburg CC
N: Concordia CC
S: Ljubljana CC
2004 N: Austria CC Wien
S: in abeyance
N: Sri Lankan CC
S: in abeyance
2005 N: Austria CC Wien
S: Salzburg CC
N: Lords CC
S: Graz CC
2006 N: Vienna Lions CC N:
2007 N: Pakistan CC N: Vienna Lions CC

ACA Twenty20 tournament

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The inaugural Twenty20 tournament was contested by five teams in Vienna in 2008, with Pakistan CC defeating Pakistan Falken CC in the final to become champions. In 2009, United Nations CC defeated the reigning champions to win the second Twenty20 tournament, contested by six clubs. In 2010 the tournament was contested by 7 teams. In 2011 the competition split into two groups due to demand for the competition, although in 2012 the nine teams in the tournament played in a single group again. A plate competition was introduced to ensure extra cricket for sides eliminated in the group stage of the competition.

ACA Twenty20 Champions 2008–present

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Season Winner Runner-up Plate Winners Plate Runner-up Participating teams
2008 Pakistan CC Pakistan Falken CC 5
2009 United Nations CC Pakistan CC 6
2010 Pakistan CC Pakistan Falken CC 7
2011 Vienna Lions CC Pakistan CC United Nations CC Vienna CC 12
2012 9
2013 9
2014 Afghan Steiermark CC Austrian Cricket Tigers 13*

Austrian national team

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The Austrian national team is open to players who are qualified to play for Austria under the International Cricket Council's qualification criteria and fulfil a nationality and development criteria. The Austrian national team made its competitive début in 1990 in Guernsey and played regularly until 2003. In 2006 the national team was revived, playing two international matches against the Czech Republic.

The team's return to competitive cricket was to ICC Europe's European Championships Division 4, held in Cyprus in September 2009,[2] with the team finishing third after wins against Luxembourg, Cyprus, Slovenia and Finland and a loss against Switzerland.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Ireland and Afghanistan ICC newest full members amid wide-ranging governance reform". International Cricket Council. 22 June 2017. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  2. ^ "ICC European Division 4 Championship 2009". Archived from the original on 19 August 2009. Retrieved 25 October 2009.
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