The Israel national cricket team represents Israel in international cricket. Despite being geographically part of the Middle East, they are members of the ICC Europe.
They regularly take part in the European Championship, and are currently ranked the 28th best non-Test team in Europe by the International Cricket Council (ICC),ICC's one-day rankings having been an associate member of that organisation since 1974.Israel at CricketArchive
In April 2018, the ICC decided to grant full Twenty20 International (T20I) status to all its members. Therefore, all Twenty20 matches played between Israel and other ICC members after 1 January 2019 hold the T20I status.
History Beginnings
As is most often the case, cricket was introduced to Israel by the British. Local enthusiasts managed to keep the game going once the British had left in 1948, but the game was struggling until the mid-1960s, when an influx of Jewish immigrants from cricket-playing countries, mainly South Africa, United Kingdom, and the Indian subcontinent, revived the game.History of Israeli cricket
The first national league was formed in 1966, which led to the formation of the Israel Cricket Association (ICA) in 1968. The league prospered despite conditions ill-suited to cricket. Games were played on dusty, grass-less football fields, on matting wickets. However, the enthusiasm of the players has overcome these drawbacks.
ICC membership
Israel became an associate member of the ICC in 1974, with only Pakistan opposing their membership. Israel competed in the first ICC Trophy in 1979, failing to get past the first round.1979 ICC Trophy at Cricinfo They also failed to progress beyond the first round in the 19821982 ICC Trophy at Cricinfo and 19861986 ICC Trophy at Cricinfo tournaments.
They reached the plate competition of the ICC Trophy in 19901990 ICC Trophy at Cricinfo and 19941994 ICC Trophy at Cricinfo and in 1996 competed in the first European Championship in Denmark, finishing eighth in the eight team tournament.1996 European Championship at CricketEurope The 1997 ICC Trophy in Malaysia gave them a brief, though unwanted, moment in the spotlight. Malaysia does not recognise the state of Israel, and they faced political demonstrations throughout the tournament from the Islamic Party of Malaysia. They were the first Israeli sports team to play in the country and finished in 22nd and last place.1997 ICC Trophy at Cricinfo
In 1998, they finished ninth in the European Championship ahead of only Gibraltar1998 European Championship at CricketEurope and the following year travelled to Gibraltar to take part in a quadrangular tournament also involving France and Italy, losing to France in the third place play-off.Scorecard of France v Israel, 25 September 1999 at Cricinfo
21st century
Israel have been playing in Division Two of the European Championships since 2000, finishing fifth in 2000,2000 European Championship at CricketEurope fourth in 20022002 European Championship Official Site results page and sixth in 2004.2004 European Championship second division results , European Cricket Council website In the 2006 tournament, the Israeli team were again met with protests, due to the then ongoing crisis in the Middle East. Their first match, against Jersey was cancelledConflict affects sport and arts, BBC and their remaining two group games were met by protests.Protests at Israeli cricket game, BBC Their play-off games were then moved to RAF Lossiemouth to be played under armed guard. The second of these games, against Greece was forfeited by the Greeks, who had travel problems.Israeli cricket match cancelled, BBC Israel thus finished in seventh place.2006 European Championship Division Two at CricketEurope
In November 2007, Israel were defeated in a relegation match against Croatia, in the first international cricket game played in Israel. The loss meant that they were relegated from the 2nd European division, to the 3rd Division. In 2009 they got promoted to Second division with a win over Croatia.Israel relegated to European Division 3 after narrow loss to Croatia by Israel Cricket Association, 23 September 2007
Men's T20 World Cup qualifiers Israel participated in T20 World Cup qualification for the first time when it took part in qualifiers in the Netherlands for the 2021 T20 World Cup.It was in Group C along with Norway, Guernsey, Sweden, Czech Republic and Gibraltar. Its lone win was a 52 run victory over Gibraltar.
Israel was to participate in qualifiers in Finland for the 2022 T20 World Cup. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic these were cancelled.
Given the change in the ICC laws, despite playing matches in previous years, Israel's participation in the qualifiers in Belgium for the 2024 T20 World Cup was recognised as its first official T20 internationals. Israel was in Group 2 of Qualifier C along with Spain, Portugal and Malta. Israel didn't win a game in pool play, losing to Portugal by 47 runs, to Spain by 7 wickets and to Malta by 16 runs. In the 7th place play-off, it defeated Hungary by 12 runs with Gabriel Schachat adjudged man of the match.
These are the details of the match against Portugal, its first-ever official T20 International.
Israel participated in qualifiers in Italy for the 2026 T20 World Cup. It was in Group 2 of Qualifier A along with Austria, Hungary, Portugal, and Romania.
Tournament history ICC Trophy/World Cup Qualifier Men's Cricket World Cup Qualifier recordsYearRoundPositionGPWLTNR 1979Group stage12/1541300 1982Group stage16/1670502 1986Group stage16/1680800 1990Plate competition17/1771600 1994Plate competition15/2071600 1997Plate competition=21/2270700 2001Division two22/24505002005 – 2023Did not qualifyTotal7/120 Titles 4534002
Other tournaments T20 World Cup Europe Sub-regional Qualifiers European Cricket Championship (defunct) European T20 Championship (defunct) 2018: 4th place 2022: 6th place 2024: 7th place 1996 (Division one): 8th place — remained 1998 (Division one): 9th place — relegated 2000 (Division two): 5th place — remained 2002 (Division two): 4th place — remained 2004 (Division two): 6th place — remained 2006 (Division two): 7th place — remained 2007 (Division two playoff): Lost to Croatia — relegated 2008 (Division three): Winners — promoted 2007 (Division two playoff): Won — promoted 2010 (Division two): 5th place 2011 (Division one): 11th place — relegated 2012 (Division two): 4th place — relegated 2014 (Division two): 3rd place 2016 (Division two): 4th place
Records and statistics
International Match Summary — Portugal
Last updated 21 August 2026 Playing Record Format M W L T NR Inaugural Match Twenty20 Internationals 18 5 13 0 0 28 June 2022
Twenty20 International T20I record versus other nations
Records complete to T20I #4095. Last updated 21 August 2026. Opponent M W L T NR First match First win vs Associate Members 2 0 2 0 0 10 June 2024 1 1 0 0 0 18 August 2026 18 August 2026 1 0 1 0 0 29 July 2026 1 0 1 0 0 17 August 2026 1 1 0 0 0 20 August 2026 20 August 2026 2 1 1 0 0 3 July 2022 3 July 2022 1 0 1 0 0 21 August 2026 1 1 0 0 0 16 June 2024 16 June 2024 1 0 1 0 0 1 July 2022 3 1 2 0 0 28 June 2022 13 June 2024 2 0 2 0 0 15 June 2024 1 0 1 0 0 29 June 2022 1 0 1 0 0 28 July 2026
Other matches For a list of selected international matches played by Israel, see Cricket Archive.
Current squad Updated as of 9 August 2024.
This lists all the players who were part of the Israeli squad for the 2024 Men's T20 World Cup Europe Sub-regional Qualifier A.
Name Age Batting style Bowling style Last T20I Notes Batters Eshkol Solomon Right-handed Right-arm medium 2024 Captain Yogev Nagavkar Right-handed Right-arm medium 2024 Warna Narayana Right-handed Right-arm medium 2024 All-rounder Josh Evans Right-handed Leg break 2024 Yarden Divekar Right-handed Right-arm medium 2024 Tomer Kahamker Right-handed Right-arm medium 2024 Virendra Kumar Right-handed Right-arm medium 2025 Niv Nagavkar Right-handed Left-arm medium 2024 Yair Nagavkar Right-handed Right-arm off break 2024 Aviel Warsulkar Right-handed Right-arm medium 2024 Wicket-keeper Shailesh Bangera Right-handed 2024 Eyal Bhonkar Right-handed 2024 Prathapa Siriwardhana Right-handed Right-arm medium-fast 2024 Pace Bowlers Elan Talker Right-handed Right-arm medium 2024
See also List of Israel Twenty20 International cricketers Sports in Israel
References