Israel Cricket Association

The ICA is the central organization described in reporting on Israeli cricket, linking national-team competition, domestic clubs, youth development, community programs, and public funding. Historical reports describe Israel as an ICC Associate Member since 1974 and as a participant in European competition despite its Middle Eastern location.[1][2] In 2023, the association was listed among Israel’s non-Olympic sports bodies receiving state support.[3]

Cricket has been played in Israel since the British Mandate period. Later accounts associate its growth with Australians, English people, and Indians who settled in the country.[4][5] Among the most tenacious early practitioners were Indian immigrants who began arriving in Ashdod in 1957. For eight years, they practiced on a concrete strip, persisting despite being regarded by fellow citizens as “eccentric lunatics.”[6] Support eventually came from kibbutzim Beit Ha’emek and Amiad, whose backing helped the sport gain a modest foothold.

Sources differ on the association’s precise founding year. A Jerusalem Post retrospective places its establishment in 1966, while a 2019 Jerusalem Post commentary gives 1968.[6][1] The England-based Israel Cricket Supporters Association played an early organizing role, raising funds for equipment, including pitch mats, and arranging the first English club tour to Israel, made by Bournemouth’s 5705 Club in September 1968.[6] During that tour, Ken Barrington scored a century at Beit Ha’emek; one of his sixes struck his wife on the big toe.[6]

By 1970, the ICA had arranged for an Israeli national side to tour England. The team was composed entirely of immigrants originally from India and South Africa, reflecting the communities that had helped establish the sport.[6]

Israel’s admission to the International Cricket Council as an Associate Member was secured through the efforts of cricket supporters including Geoffrey Davis, Denis Compton, and Colin Cowdrey.[6] Israel first participated in the Associate Members’ Trophy in 1979, with Jerrold Kessel serving as captain.[6] A 2019 Jerusalem Post commentary places Israel’s ICC Associate Membership from 1974.[1] The same date appeared in coverage of Israel’s 2007 match against Croatia in Tel Aviv, which was described as the first cricket match between two ICC member nations held in Israel.[2]

Despite its geographic location in the Middle East, Israel competes within European cricket structures and has regularly taken part in European Championship competition.[2] In 2005, the ICA announced plans to host the European Cricket Council Under-17 second-division championship in August 2006, with matches scheduled for Tel Aviv and Ashdod and participants from six nations, including Belgium, Italy, and France.[7] At that time, the ICA reported 18 domestic clubs organized in three divisions, 270 senior players, 270 junior players, and approximately 1,000 young people involved in development programs.[7]

The Beersheba club, established in the 1950s, was described in 2011 as Israel’s oldest and largest cricket club.[8] That year, Israel had 19 cricket clubs and roughly 1,000 players, including around 400 teenagers.[8] In August 2026, the national team competed in World Cup qualifying matches in Finland. Israel lost its opening matches against Portugal and Germany, defeated the Czech Republic, and was scheduled to face Greece next.[9]

The ICA formally launched its youth program in September 2000.[7] That year, it also introduced Hit Poverty 4 Six, an initiative intended to teach cricket to children from lower-income backgrounds in Dimona and Yeroham, with the stated goal of building self-esteem and self-confidence.[10]

The ICA subsequently partnered with the British NGO Cricket for Change on Cross Border Cricket, conceived by ICA coach George Sheader. The initiative brought together mixed teams of Jewish and Bedouin children in the Negev.[10] Building on this model, the ICA joined the Peres Center for Peace and the Ramallah-based Al-Kuds Association for Democracy and Dialog to launch Cricket 4 Peace. Its inaugural event in Beersheba brought together 60 Israeli and Palestinian children aged five to 13, drawn from Yeroham and Dimona on the Israeli side and Yatta and Samua on the Palestinian side.[10] Children of similar ages practiced separately at their schools and came together for mixed matches accompanied by activities about peace and tolerance. ICA chairman Stanley Perlman said: “We’re putting idealism into practice here.”[10]

Cricket 4 Peace received the Spirit of Cricket Award at the ICC Development Program Awards in 2011, recognizing a cross-border peace-building project serving children from disadvantaged communities.[11] The European Cricket Association had selected the ICA for a promotion award the previous year, recognizing its cricket programs for Bedouin and Jewish children in the Negev.[8] During a 2012 visit, the UK’s Lords and Commons Cricket Club planned to play with Cricket 4 Peace participants in Beersheba and with Bedouin children in Hura.[11]

Leadership of the ICA has passed through several hands. Stanley Perlman served as chairman during the mid-2000s expansion of its youth and community programs.[7] Naor Drucker was identified as chairman in a 2011 report, when the association was credited with growing participation among young people.[8] By 2017, Stephen Lee was reported as chairman, with Naor Godkar serving as the association’s CEO.[12]

In 2023, a government sports-funding report listed an allocation of 153,717 shekels for the Israel Cricket Association, placing cricket among non-Olympic sports whose overall allocations had increased but remained subject to a limited ceiling. The allocations were still under review and had not received final approval at the time of the report.[3]

In 2017, the ICA sought permission for Naomi Eitan, then 14.5 years old, to play with the boys’ youth national team at the Maccabiah Games. Maccabiah organizers rejected the request on the grounds that it did not comply with the international regulations underpinning the event. CEO Naor Godkar argued for flexibility, citing a precedent in which a female player from Beersheba had competed with men at a European championship.[12] An Israeli court ultimately ruled against Eitan’s participation, citing the lateness of the legal challenge and the potential unfairness to girls who had adhered to existing eligibility rules.[13]

At the 2026 World Cup qualifying tournament in Finland, Mako reported protests during Israel’s matches. Eric Kaplan, president of Ayelet, Israel’s federation for non-Olympic sports, described an atmosphere of increasing hostility toward Israeli athletes. These accounts rest on testimony and social-media material reported by Mako and have not been independently verified.[9]