The story of Moroccan cricket is a tragedy in which cynicism, corruption and scandalous neglect have, at least for the time being, triumphed over energy, enthusiasm and considerable talent. It began with the vision of an Emirati businessman, Abdul Rahman Bukhatir who, in the short-lived heyday of offshore ODIs, established a purpose-built National Cricket Stadium in Tangier, where in 2002 South Africa, Pakistan and Sri Lanka played a triangular tournament.

This gave a huge boost to the development of the game, and the national team played in several African regional tournaments between 2006 and 2012. A succession of coaches, Surinder and Mohinder Armanath (India), Gary Cosier (Australia) and Riaz Richards (South Africa), developed a strong group of Moroccan players, several of whom went on to become coaches themselves. Unusually for an emerging cricket country, the players were overwhelmingly Moroccan, with a relatively small dependence on expatriates.

Unfortunately, the national body fell into the hands of administrators with little interest in cricket and a great deal of interest in money. At the grassroots, development programmes at club level involved impressive numbers of boys, and some women and girls were also involved. But the clubs were unable to wrest control from an inactive, corrupt Board which refused to hold general meetings, and the ICC suspended and then, in 2019, expelled Morocco from membership.

Enthusiasm for the game remains strong in several centres, but with the only ground in the country, at Salé, near Rabat, under threat, it may require some external support if Moroccan cricket is to survive.