Cricket has been played in Denmark since the mid-19th century, with the first club being formed in 1865 by English railway engineers. The first organised match was played the following year between two teams of English players, with the first matches involving Danish players taking place in 1866. The game expanded greatly over the following twenty years, with 30 new clubs being formed in 1883.[7]
Several touring sides from England and Scotland visited the country in the early part of the 20th century, including the famous Marylebone Cricket Club. In 1933, an attempt to organise the first international match against the Netherlands failed, and the Danish national side did not play their first match until 1954, against Oxford University, the year after the current Danish Cricket Federation was formed.[7]
They then began to play against other national sides, primarily the Netherlands, who they first played in 1955. They played their first match against Scotland in 1961.[7]
ICC membership
Denmark became an associate member of the ICC in 1966,[5] drawing their international against Scotland that year. They played Bermuda for the first time in 1969 and drew their first match against Ireland in 1970. They finally picked up their first international win against the Netherlands in 1972.[7]
They played their first matches against Canada in 1974, losing a three-day match but winning the limited overs match. They played home internationals against East Africa and Sri Lanka, beating East Africa. They toured East Africa the following year, drawing with both East Africa and Kenya.[7]
They took part in the first ICC Trophy in 1979, reaching the semi-final where they lost to Sri Lanka.[8] They did not take part in the 1982 tournament.[9] In 1983, Ole Mortensen became the first Danish player to play county cricket.[7] Denmark returned to the ICC Trophy in 1986 and finished third after beating Bermuda in the third place play-off.[10]
In 1989, Denmark hosted Australia for two one-day matches. They lost the first match in Brøndby by 45 runs[11] and lost the second in Copenhagen by 54 runs.[12] They fared better at home against Canada that year, winning twice against them. After playing both home and away against Bangladesh in 1990,[7] they played in the ICC Trophy, reaching the second round.[13]
Denmark again played in the ICC Trophy in 1994, finishing tenth in the tournament after losing to Namibia in the plate final.[14] They played their first matches against France in 1995, and hosted the first European Cricket Championship in 1996,[7] finishing third.[15] They finished fifth in the following years ICC Trophy[16] and were runners up in the European Championship in 1998.[17]
In 1999, Denmark took part in the NatWest Trophy for the first time.[7] The following year, they took part in the ICC Emerging Nations Tournament in Zimbabwe, where they finished fourth,[18] and the European Championship, where they finished last, without winning a game.[19] The following year, they took part in the ICC Trophy in Canada, finishing eighth.[20] The MCC toured Denmark in 2002, and Denmark won all three matches.[7] They won just one match at that year's European Championship, finishing fifth ahead of Italy.[21]
2000-2017
The Netherlands visited Denmark in 2003, winning both matches. Denmark played a two match series against Ireland later in the year, losing both matches and missing out on qualification for the ICC Intercontinental Cup.[7] They again finished last in the European Championship the following year.[22] In 2005, they played their final match in the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy, losing heavily to Northamptonshire at Svanholm Park before taking part in the 2005 ICC Trophy, where they again finished eighth.[23]
In 2006, Denmark again took part in the European Championship, finishing fourth after winning only against Italy.[24] At the end of that year, it was announced that they would join the ICC's High Performance Programme from 1 April 2007.[6]
In August 2007, Denmark registered a win over Bermuda, an ODI playing country, and towards the end of October 2007 they played in Kenya against domestic teams and Kenya A. Denmark, led by Freddie Klokker who scored consecutive centuries in all their matches, clean swept the Kenyan sides and Kenya A. Denmark bowled, batted and fielded exceptionally well.
In April 2018, the ICC decided to grant full Twenty20 International (T20I) status to all its members. Therefore, all Twenty20 matches played between Denmark and other ICC members after 1 January 2019 will be a full T20I.[25]
This lists all the active players who have played for the Denmark in the past 12 months and the forms in which they have played, or any players who have been selected in the team's most recent List A or T20 squad. Uncapped players are listed in italics.
Jersey at King George V Sports Ground, Castel; 16 June 2019
Scotland at Goldenacre Sports Ground, Edinburgh; 28 July 2023
