Unlike other Commonwealth countries, the island nation of Cyprus did not take up cricket during the years of colonial rule. Instead, the game was brought to these shores by the British military stationed in Cyprus after WWII but confined to the British Bases.
More than 70 years later, this relationship is still going strong with the British base in Episkopi set to host the ICC Men’s 2028 T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier A later this year in May.
“This is the same ground that also hosted our very first ICC event in 2009, the ICC European World Cricket League Division 4 Championship,” exclaims Muhammad Hussain, speaking to Emerging Cricket.
Hussain, who is the President of Cyprus Cricket Federation (CCF), expressed his excitement at welcoming nine other European teams coming over to play in the T20 qualifier. “The real work starts now. We only have around five months left and so we are keen to make a good impression as hosts.”
As one of Europe’s lower-ranked teams in T20Is (65), the President admits that it will be a tall ask for the Cypriots to qualify for the regional European final, with only the top-placed finisher from a group including the hosts, Austria, Croatia, France, Guernsey, Jersey, Malta, Slovenia, Sweden and Switzerland progressing to the next stage.
However, he hopes that home conditions will provide an advantage.
“It is always nice to have local support; the players enjoy that. Hopefully, that can make a difference, and the team can do well on the field.”
Cricket’s Home on Military Bases
Cyprus’ Mediterranean climate of scorching summers, mild winters, balmy springs and autumns closely resembles that of Perth, Western Australia. With most annual rainfall confined to the three winter months of December to February, the island offers ideal year-round weather conditions for cricket.
Other than Episkopi, the game is played on artificial pitches at the British bases in Akrotiri and Larnaca District, as well as the United Nations (UN) base in Nicosia.
Hussain is grateful to the British forces for providing access to their facilities, without which he says cricket would struggle to gain a foothold nationally.
“I cannot thank them enough. They have been very supportive of Cyprus cricket for a very long time. In fact, the captain of the Cyprus national team, Scott Buredkin, works for the British Royal Air Force.”
The People Behind Cyprus Cricket
Like Buredkin, the national team is made up entirely of expats from Commonwealth Nations, a reflection of the domestic cricket scene and its participants. Initially, the wave of immigration consisted of Cypriots returning to the island after the Troubles of 1974. They had grown up in cricketing countries like England, Australia and South Africa and so brought back their love of the game to properly kickstart the national cricket scene in the 1980s. In 1999, Cyprus became an ICC member.
More recently, as with the rest of Europe, the number of participants has received a healthy boost with the arrival of Asian workers from the likes of India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka in large numbers.
“Since the early 2000s, we have seen an increase in the number of civilian teams. And now we have more than 25 men’s teams playing hardball cricket in Cyprus on a regular basis. This is really something that we are looking at, helping these teams to take the next step and establish themselves as full-fledged clubs,” states Hussain.
The tennis ball cricket scene is even bigger with around 50 to 60 teams. While on the women’s side, the small hardball scene is dominated by participants of Sri Lankan heritage. As for Hussain himself, he migrated to Cyprus in 1998 from his native Pakistan, first getting involved with Cyprus cricket as a player and then as a board member.
“In 2010, I was elected the Chairman of the organisation. After recent constitutional reforms, the role of Chairman has been replaced by that of the President. So, I have assumed the role of CCF President since 2023,” Hussain chuckles.
While his cricket role is on a voluntary basis, professionally, Hussain works as a full-time chartered marketer and is a Fellow of the UK’s Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM).
Olympic Funding Making a Difference
Over the last couple of years, cricket on the island has slowly gained an elevated profile thanks to Olympics inclusion, which according to Hussain has opened lots of new doors.
“It has definitely helped us in making a stronger case for cricket to the Ministry of Education and try to introduce the game to a wider audience. The government actually took our proposal quite positively and gave us permission to access public and primary schools to introduce cricket to kids.”
Despite only having two coaches, the Federation managed to visit 50 schools in the first year in 2024. These numbers have since doubled in 2025.
“The support from Andy Wright (ICC Europe Regional Development Manager) and Esther de Lange (ICC Europe Development Officer) was instrumental in translating ICC’s Criiio programme into the Greek language. We visited nearly 100 different schools last year to introduce Criiio, sparking interest not only from students but also from some teachers keen to learn a new sport. I am sincerely thankful to both ICC and the Ministry of Education for making this possible,” states Hussain.
Later on, CCF organised a 2-day Level 1 ICC coaching course in Limassol, which was attended by 25 teachers. They were familiarised with the Criiio programme, so that they could go to schools and teach cricket by themselves.
“Now, suddenly we have 50 teachers who are Level 1 cricket coaches. We actually reached around 15,000 kids over the last couple of years. Considering our small population, this was an impressive achievement,” Hussain says.
Collaboration with Cricket for Care and ECN
Additionally, CCF collaborated with Shyam Bhatia’s Cricket for Care foundation which donated equipment to facilitate cricket sessions in schools, as well as Dan Weston’s European Cricket Network (ECN) which funded the project through their Cricket’s Cool program.
“There were a lot of partners and external stakeholders who all came together to help us make this happen. We are so grateful to all of them,” exclaims the President.
Future of Cypriot Cricket
When it comes to future goals, the Federation is laser focused on continuing to introduce cricket to kids through the schools’ program. Hussain states that its vital for cricket’s future sustainability that a wider base of interest is created amongst native Cypriots on the island, outside just the expat community.
“We need to develop our schools’ pathways into the national team and get underage boys and girls to play more hardball cricket. It is never easy as an alien to gain market share on the island, when you are competing with another 60-70 sports federations registered nationally.” However, Hussain is quick to point out that “unlike big participation sports like football or basketball, cricket can offer a much quicker pathway to the national team due to the small player base.”
The second goal is to improve the academies and training facilities on the island. The President also emphasises the need for the men’s and women’s national teams to improve their rankings to rise up the ICC Associate scorecard. The women’s team only made its international debut in 2024 at the Happy Valley ground in Cyprus, but got off to a flying start, beating Estonia by 49 runs.
“The men’s team are currently ranked 65 but have jumped 20 places in rankings last year. The women on the other hand are doing a bit better than the men with a ranking of 42, which is not bad at all for a small country like us,” he smiles.
Lastly, Hussain wants further collaboration with the Hellenic Cricket Federation to develop a strong cricketing relationship.
“We know the Hellenic Cricket Federation very well. In fact, I was there in November helping them deliver three Level 1 coaching courses, one in Corfu and two in Athens. Greeks hold a very special place in Cypriot hearts.”
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