Turkey marked a first in its sports history after announcing the country’s inaugural national cricket team on Wednesday.

The sport’s local governing body, the Cricket Branch of Turkey’s Developing Sports Branches Federation (TDSBF), officially known as Türkiye Kriket, announced the team ahead of the 2022-23 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Europe Qualifiers.

Turkey will compete in the sub-regional stage of the qualifiers for the 2024 T20 World Cup. Twenty-eight European countries, divided into three events, will compete in the sub-regional phase of the tournament.

Turkey will face Cyprus, Isle of Man, Romania, and Serbia in Qualifiers A, Group 2 in Finland between July 12 and July 31, 2022.

Qualifiers A will also be hosted in Finland, while Qualifier C will be played in Belgium between June 28 and July 4, 2022.

The winner of each sub-regional qualifier will progress to the regional finals, from which two teams will qualify for the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.

Speaking to Daily Sabah, Türkiye Kriket International Coordinator Şenol Zobooğlu said the tournament will be a great opportunity for Turkey to show the world that cricket is being played in the football-mad country.

"Cricket is a relatively new sport here. Though the sport took off with the help of expats, we’ve reached the stage where we can form our own men’s and women’s national teams."

As a first-time participant in the ICC European Qualifiers Turkey is primarily looking for exposure to the international game, while also aiming to pick up wins.

"It will be a great achievement for us if we can qualify for the next round," Zobooğlu said.

About cricket’s future in Turkey, Zobooğlu said they are planning to hold age-level and school competitions aiming to popularize the sport.

"We want to make Turkey a major cricketing country in Europe over the next decade. We also want to focus on our women’s team and compete in continental and international tournaments in the next five years."

However, there are more than a few hurdles toward that goal.

"First of all, we want to establish an independent cricket federation which might take time and effort."

"There is also an acute shortage of cricket supplies since the game is not widely played. We are collaborating with multiple international cricket organizations and the ICC itself, and hope to solve the issues shortly," Zobooğlu added.

Long history

It may surprise many, but cricket has a long history in Turkey, with games having been played in Istanbul in the early 20th century.

The sports at one point reached such popularity that Fenerbahçe, one of Turkey's biggest football clubs, established its cricket branch in 1911.

However, World War I erased Istanbul’s growing cricket scene and the sport took almost a century to once again take root.

Turkey’s Sports Directorate recognized cricket as a developing sport and attached it to the TDSBF on Dec. 21, 2006, according to the official website of the International Cricket Council (ICC), the sport’s global body.

The newly formed TCB, the predecessor of Türkiye Kriket, then applied for an ICC membership in 2007. The country was made an ICC Affiliate Member in 2008 and is now qualified to play international cricket.

Turkey Squad:

Batuhan Cem Şahin, Hasan Çakır, Erol Ekiz, Tunahan Ulutuna, Emin Kuyumcu, Mohammad İlyas Atahullah, Mohammad İsmael Atahullah, Ali Türkmen, İsmet Türkmen, Mecit Öztürk, Romeo Nath, İshak Eleç, Beşir Kargın, Shamsullah Ehsan, Gökhan Göktuğ Alta, Tunahan Turan, Çağrı Bayraktar, Zafer Durmaz, Deniz Mutu, Murat İpek, and Eren Ishirik.