Beijing Cricket Club is a cricket club based in Beijing, China which was founded in 2005. The club organises league cricket in Beijing and arranges fixtures against other clubs and touring teams in the East Asia region.
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Cricket has been played on-and-off in Beijing for many years. There were regular games in the 1980s and 1990s, mainly inter-Embassy matches. There was also an International Cricket Sixes tournament held annually but this sadly ended after 1996. However the lack of a suitable ground and the small size of the cricket-playing community meant that it was difficult to sustain interest.
During the 2000s irregular cricket was sustained by a passionate and dedicated group of mostly expatriates who took it upon themselves to revive the interest in the sport in Beijing. Numbers grew and eventually it was decided to formally establish a club. A club charter was drawn up and the establishment of Beijing Cricket Club was ratified at the first committee meeting on 3 September 2006.
The club’s aims include venturing out to play in matches throughout China and the Asian region as well as welcoming all touring teams interested in sampling cricket with Chinese characteristics. The club's inauguaral home match was against the world-famous Marylebone Cricket Club in October 2006 during their China/Hong Kong tour.
The main focus of the club is to develop regular cricket in Beijing for all those interested and willing to join in. In order to stimulate friendly competition the club formed three teams during 2007: Warriors, First XI and Phoenix - and in 2008, the Kremlin XI was formed to accommodate growing interest in the Beijing cricket scene.
With the generous support and sponsorship of Santa Fe Relocation Services the club launched the Santa Fe Cricket League which was contested during the Autumn of 2007. The champions of the first league season were First XI after a thrilling run chase in the league final. With an increase in player numbers the fourth team was added in 2008 and the league fixtures expanded, with the 2008 league title again won by First XI. The 2009 Santa Fe Cricket League will run from April to September.
The club hosted a Sixes tournament in September 2008 which involved 10 local teams playing over two days. An expanded Sixes tournament including international teams with a total of 16 teams playing over three days is scheduled to be held in July 2009.
The club has participated in the Asian International Cricket Sixes tournaments at both Shanghai and Hong Kong in recent years. A bi-annual match for the China Cup is played against Shanghai Cricket Club.
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