Cricket Finland has announced its team that will be playing in the World Cup Sub-Regional Qualifier A. Nathan Collins has been the Bears’ captain for over five years continuously taking the squad in a more professional direction and leading by example most recently in the #FINEST T20I series with 79 runs in a single game.
Alongside of Collins, the Bears’ squad consists of distinguished players such as Mahesh Tambe, who was nominated as the Best Athlete in Cricket for 2021 by the Finnish Sportswriters’ Association, and wicket keeper Jonathan Scamans who has played in the team over 15 years starting the early age of 16.
The squad also includes a few rookies who have showed promising skills from the outset, such as Mohammad Asaduzzaman and Sapan Mehta, who both played their first T20I match in May against Denmark, and Raaz Mohammad and Naveed Shahid, who started their national team journey during the Finland-Sweden tournament in 2021. Furthermore, the team’s player-coach Matthew Jenkinson, who previously played as a part of the team at the European Cricket Championship (ECC) tournament last October, will be seen on the field.
“On behalf of the whole national team I would like to give thanks to our families, all the volunteer staff, volunteers and of course Cricket Finland management for providing us the opportunity to compete at this high level. To host these world cup qualifiers is a testament to all the hard work done by many over many years. The squad is ready to go and the time has come to see where Finland Cricket truly is in the world rankings. We look forward to your continuing support. See you at the ground”, says Matthew Jenkinson.
“I’ve always been proud of this squad of players and staff, past and present. The amount of sacrifices it takes from the players, management group and their immediate families is the big unseen factor from the outside community. My big hope for this entire squad is that our performances reflect those sacrifices and result in a sense of pride amongst ourselves and in turn, the cricket community. It’s exciting to be able to do it at home, in Finland, in front of family, friends and all new and old Finnish Bears fans. We’d love to have everyone’s support and we promise you our best”, adds captain Nathan Collins.
The Finnish Bears’ WCQ team is:
- Nathan Collins, Captain
- Mohammad Asaduzzaman
- Peter Gallagher
- Matthew Jenkinson
- Sapan Mehta
- Raaz Mohammad
- Aravind Kumar Mohan
- Vanraaj Padhaal
- Atif Rasheed
- Muhammad Zia Ur Rehman
- Jonathan Scamans
- Naveed Shahid
- Amjad Sher
- Mahesh Tambe
And as reserves
- Hariharan Dandapani
- Muhammad Imran
- Parveen Kumar
- Areeb Abdul Quadir.
Cricket T20 World Cup Sub-Regional Qualifier A & Finland’s games
Finland will host two World Cup Sub-Regional Qualifiers. The Finnish Bears will be playing in Qualifier A together with Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Isle of Man, Italy, Romania, Serbia, Sweden, and Turkey. The games are played at Tikkurila Urheilupuisto and at Kerava National Cricket Ground, two matches at each ground on each match day day.
Finland games at Tikkurila
- 12.7.2022 at 16.00 EEST, Sweden vs Finland
- 18.7.2022 at 16.00 EEST, Croatia vs Finland
Finland games at Kerava
- 13.7.2022 at 16.00 EEST Finland vs Italy
- 16.7.2022 at 11.00 EEST Greece vs Finland
The Qualifier A final will be played at the Kerava ground on 19 July 2022 starting at 16:00 EEST.
For more information and interview requests:
Maija Hyötyläinen, Communications, Cricket Finland, 050 572 9679,
