Captain: TBA
Ranking: *
Website: United Cricket League of Russia
Early beginnings - the British Victorians
Cricket has a long and interesting history in Russia and the game was first played in the country by British expats in St Petersburg as early as the 1870s.
In 1875 the British residents challenged the officers and crew of the Prince of Wales’ Royal Yacht Osbourne, during its visit to the city. By 1880 cricket was reasonably well established and soon afterwards an annual match was started between British diplomats and merchants and the British managers and foremen of the textile mills.
In 1896 there were four clubs in the city, Nevski, Neva and Neka and a fourth at Scuheuseelburg. The standard of cricket had been high since many of the players had been educated in British public schools and some such as A.L Gibson of Essex had played first-class cricket.
Demise - the communist years
The Russian revolution of 1917 put paid to the development of cricket in Russia as communism swept through the country and the sport was seen as distinctly “bourgeois” Western game and was not encouraged.
St Petersburg, which had been the spiritual home of the game in the country, was the epicentre of the revolution and as the British left the game quickly disappeared.
Cricket did not return to Russia until the 1960s when occasional attempts to play were made by ambassadorial staff from Test-playing countries in the capital Moscow, but these were occasional games at best.
Rebirth - the fall of communism
Mikhail Gorbachev became leader of the Soviet Union in 1985 and his policy of of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) meant the Russia's relationship with the west became less contrite. The result of this was that the game in the 1990s was reborn on an organised footing in the capital Moscow.
There were enough players attached to the embassies of the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, India and Pakistan for matches to take place on a regular basis.
A seminal moment was after the fall of communism in the summer of 2000 that the Moscow International Cricket League was inaugurated with four teams. 83 years after the 1917 revolution and league cricket returned to Russia.
Matches were played at the Dynamo Sports Stadium - home of the Dynamo Moscow football club - with some games even staged under floodlights!
United Cricket League of Russia - a step in the right direction
The Moscow International Cricket League developed into the United Cricket League of Russia (UCLR) and games moved from the Dynamo Sports Stadium to the Moscow International Baseball Stadium which proved more suitable for cricket purposes.
The stadium is overlooked by the striking gothic spire of Moscow State University and rivals Worcestershire's New Road in terms of its spectacular backdrop. The UCLR has also expanded to include six teams - Finestar1, M.Mongrels1, Omega XI, MCC, Friends and Sprandi - and is very competitive.
In the summer of 2007 Carmel & District CC became the first touring side to play against a Russia national team made of UCLR players in Moscow. Russia, who included some players who had played for India ‘A’ and state cricket in Pakistan, claimed a crushing five-wicket victory over Carmel.
There are also sporadic games of cricket played in St Petersburg and a mini six-a-side tournament was held in the city in 2006.
A St Petersburg XI, made up primarily of students from the Mechnikov State Medical Academy also contested two Twenty20 matches against Carmel. This was believed to be the first organised match in the city since the 1917 revolution! Honours were even with both sides winning one match.
The future - ICC Affiliate Member status
Unlike a number of other ICC Europe Russia’s geographical location makes it difficult for regular international fixtures to take place although they did undertake a tour of Holland a few years ago.
Over-suspicious Russian custom officials have not helped the development of the game. An artificial pitch was purchased and shipped from India to St Petersburg to enable matches to be played on a proper wicket and a cricket ball used.
But the pitch remains locked away in a customs depot with Russian officials demanding an unreasonable amount of tax to be paid because they suspect the pitch will cut up an sold as door mats!
It may be whimsical to suggest but with a population of over 100 million and strong sporting tradition Russia certainly has the potential to make serious strides in the game. Moving towards ICC Affiliate Member status is their next goal.
*Unofficial world ranking