Iceland all set to play their first international match in England

In a historic move, two of the unknown names of the cricketing world will face off against each other in July 2018. The cricket teams of Iceland and Switzerland are set to play two international matches in the last week of July. The cricket board of Iceland proposed the same to the Swiss board, and the latter obliged. The news was confirmed on the website of the Switzerland cricket.

The news report suggest that the two teams will play an ODI game and a T20I in England. The ODI fixture will be played on July 28 and the T20I will kick off on July 29. The venue for both the matches has been shortlisted as the St. George’s College in Weybridge in Surrey, England. The match will be the first ever international match for the Iceland cricket team. The Icelandic side has not been in the thick of cricket action.

The Swiss side, on the other hand, do not have regular fixture either. But they have other cricketing commitments this season. Switzerland will be playing in the European Central League 3-nation ODI in Prague (15-17.6.2018) and 6-nation Twenty20 competition in Warsaw (12-15.7.2018). The teams for the historical face off are yet to be announced. It is the predominant Asian population that plays the sport of cricket in both nations.

Iceland gets funds for the tour

Cricket in Switzerland has been gaining steady momentum. Recently, the St. Moritz Ice cricket competition was played in the country that has garnered a lot of attention. Meanwhile, Iceland cricket has been making news via their Twitter handle. They have been trying to get the attention of the ICC for a long time now. Recently, press release from Krikketsamband Islands (Icelandic Cricket Board) had announced the proposed fixtures in England, which have now been confirmed.

Also, the cricket board started a campaign in r/cricket subreddit to crowdfund the sponsorship fee of 2000 GBP for the team’s tour of England. Things went well for them and they got funds from the reddit community. Expressing their delight, Iceland cricket tweeted- ″We are delighted to announce the https://www.reddit.com/r/Cricket/ community as the official sponsor of the Iceland cricket team, and its UK tours, for the next two years. We urge you to join their community and to follow @reddit_cricket. We’ll be launching our 2018 kit with them soon.″

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