The Austrian Cricket Association (Österreichischer Cricket Verband) is the national governing body of cricket in Austria. It was founded in 1981 by Kerry Tattersall as the Austrian Cricketers Association, following the re-introduction of cricket to Austria in 1975 with the founding of Vienna Cricket Club – as 1. Vienna Cricket Verein. Cricket was recorded as being played in Vienna as far back as the 1890s, traditionally by gardeners of mercantile families. During the post-war occupation of Austria, cricket was also played by allied forces members. Since 2017, the Austrian Cricket Association has been an associate member[1] of the International Cricket Council, and it is one of the founding members of the European Cricket Council. The European Cricket Council, now succeeded by ICC Europe, is responsible for the administration of the ICC's European Development Program.
Executive committee
The executive committee of the ACA is elected every two years and usually consists of three elected members
all of which are volunteer workers.
Current executive committee
Name
Position
Mohammad Bilal ZALMAI
Chairman
Lakhvir HIRA
Secretary
Mehar Partap S. CHEEMA
Treasurer
List of chairmen of the Austrian Cricket Association
From
To
Chairman
1996
March 2005
Andrew Simpson-Parker
March 2005
April 2008
Michael Bailey
May 2008
June 2009
Marcel Biersteker
June 2009
January 2013
Naresh Laddha
January 2013
February 2014
Hammad Hassan
March 2014
February 2024
Muhammad Ashfaq
February 2024
Mohammad Bilal ZALMAI
List of secretaries of the Austrian Cricket Association
From
To
Secretary
March 2002
March 2005
Michael Bailey
March 2006
March 2007
Sandeep Khanna
May 2008
June 2009
June 2009
February 2014
Thomas Pühringer
March 2014
March 2018
Wolfgang Tesar
March 2018
Lakhvir HIRA
Member clubs
The association's members are 13 cricket clubs, each holding a single vote, with clubs having to be registered with the Austrian Vereinspolizei. Currently there are clubs from four of Austria's 9 federal provinces: Whilst the majority of clubs are based in Vienna, there are also clubs in Graz, Salzburg, Steyr and Velden.
The Austrian Cricket Association is responsible amongst other duties for the administration of organised cricket competitions in Austria, with the ACA Open League perceived to be its premier competition. In 2008 the ACA Trophy, which had been a 40 over knockout tournament, and which had been geographically split since 2002 was replaced with a 20 overs competition, with a development remit.
ACA Open League
The ACA Open League is a single innings league, and in 2006 was split into two parallel conferences (Austrian Conference and National Conference) to allow more teams to enter the league. The top three teams of each conference qualified for the Super Sixes stage, with the top two contesting a final to decide the Open League Champions. Teams not qualifying for the Super Sixes stage played in localised plate competitions – the Viennese Plate and the Southern Plate.
The league is played as a 50 overs tournament, with the exception of 2009, where due to difficulties in scheduling the League due to the unavailability of Austria CC Wien's ground in the Markomannenstrasse, it has been necessary to reduce the competition to a 35 overs format to ensure that the competition can be played to a conclusion. In 2008 logistical issues had meant that the parallel conference system was in abeyance, with a regionalised structure (a Vienna group and a non-Vienna group) with a knock-out stage for the top 6 Viennese teams joined by the top 2 from the non-Vienna group. The 2008 Open League champions were Pakistan CC, retaining the title they had won in 2007.
The first winners of the Open League since its split into parallel conferences was Vienna Lions CC in 2006, defeating Five Continents CC in the final played in September 2006 in Seebarn. United Nations CC won the Viennese Plate competition, with CC Velden '91 winning the Southern Plate competition.
ACA Open League Champions and Runners-up 1991–2018
Year
Open League Champions
Open League Runners-Up
1991
Concordia CC
Vienna CC
1992
Vienna CC
Concordia CC
1993
Concordia CC
Vienna CC
1994
Pakistan CC
Vienna CC
1995
Pakistan CC
Vienna CC
1996
Concordia CC
Pakistan CC
1997
Lords CC
1998
Lords CC
1999
Lords CC
2000
Lords CC
United Nations CC
2001
Concordia CC
Pakistan Falken CC
2002
Pakistan Falken CC
Pakistan CC
2003
Concordia CC
Five Continents CC
2004
Vienna CC
Austria CC Wien
2005
Austria CC Wien
Pakistan CC
2006
Vienna Lions CC
Five Continents CC
2007
Pakistan CC
Salzburg CC
2008
Pakistan CC
Austria CC Wien
2009
Pakistan CC
Vienna CC
2010
Pakistan CC
Lords CC
2011
Pakistan Cricket Wien
Vienna CC
2012
Austria CC Wien
Vienna Lions CC
2013
Pakistan CC
Austria CC Wien
2014
Austria CC Wien
Vienna CC
2015
Vienna CC
2016
Pakistan CC
Lords CC
2017
ACT
ICCV
2018
Vienna CC
Lords CC
Champions:
8: Concordia CC/Austria CC Wien
7: Pakistan CC
4: Lords CC
2: Vienna CC
1: Pakistan Falken CC, Vienna Lions CC, Pakistan Cricket Wien
ACA Trophy
Pakistan CC were the last winners of the ACA Trophy (North), in 2007, defeating reigning ACA Trophy (North) holders Vienna Lions CC in the final in Seebarn. Vienna Lions CC had won the 2006 ACA Trophy (North). The competition was split into two tournaments (North and South) in 2002, with Salzburg CC having dominated the ACA Trophy (South).
ACA Trophy Champions and Runners-Up
Year
Champions
Runners Up
2000
Vienna CC
Pakistan CC
2001
Pakistan CC
Vienna CC
2002
N: Lords CC S: Salzburg CC
N: Five Continents CC S: Ljubljana CC
2003
N: Pakistan CC S: Salzburg CC
N: Concordia CC S: Ljubljana CC
2004
N: Austria CC Wien S: in abeyance
N: Sri Lankan CC S: in abeyance
2005
N: Austria CC Wien S: Salzburg CC
N: Lords CC S: Graz CC
2006
N: Vienna Lions CC
N:
2007
N: Pakistan CC
N: Vienna Lions CC
ACA Twenty20 tournament
The inaugural Twenty20 tournament was contested by five teams in Vienna in 2008, with Pakistan CC defeating Pakistan Falken CC in the final to become champions. In 2009, United Nations CC defeated the reigning champions to win the second Twenty20 tournament, contested by six clubs. In 2010 the tournament was contested by 7 teams. In 2011 the competition split into two groups due to demand for the competition, although in 2012 the nine teams in the tournament played in a single group again. A plate competition was introduced to ensure extra cricket for sides eliminated in the group stage of the competition.
ACA Twenty20 Champions 2008–present
Season
Winner
Runner-up
Plate Winners
Plate Runner-up
Participating teams
2008
Pakistan CC
Pakistan Falken CC
–
–
5
2009
United Nations CC
Pakistan CC
–
–
6
2010
Pakistan CC
Pakistan Falken CC
–
–
7
2011
Vienna Lions CC
Pakistan CC
United Nations CC
Vienna CC
12
2012
9
2013
9
2014
Afghan Steiermark CC
Austrian Cricket Tigers
13*
Austrian national team
The Austrian national team is open to players who are qualified to play for Austria under the International Cricket Council's qualification criteria and fulfil a nationality and development criteria. The Austrian national team made its competitive début in 1990 in Guernsey and played regularly until 2003. In 2006 the national team was revived, playing two international matches against the Czech Republic.
The team's return to competitive cricket was to ICC Europe's European Championships Division 4, held in Cyprus in September 2009,[2] with the team finishing third after wins against Luxembourg, Cyprus, Slovenia and Finland and a loss against Switzerland.
