National League Cricket was an annual cricket tournament held in Nepal. It was administered by the Cricket Association of Nepal.
History The first organized league cricket in Nepal was held in 2002 as Birendra Memorial National League Cricket. Due to heavy rain, the final game set on 18 May between Biratnagar and Bhairahawa had to be cancelled and winners were declared on the basis of net run rate achieved before the final match. Biratnagar won the trophy with a run rate of +1.33 compared to +1.023 of Bhairahawa. The initial tournament was sponsored by Carlsberg.
In 2007, CAN signed sponsorship deals with Surya Nepal’s Shikhar Filter Kings, John Players and Standard Chartered Bank as the major sponsors of the revised national league and the national team for 5 years worth रु 20 Lakhs.
In 2008, the league was sponsored by Surya Nepal under the name of Springwood One Day National League held from March 28 to April 7. The event had all teams competing in round-robin league rather than in groups of three as used in past. In 2009, the league was sponsored by Pepsi and Standard Chartered Bank and the tournaments were held under the name Pepsi Standard Chartered National One Day and Twenty20 Cricket Tournament for the next five years. From the year 2011, two new departmental teams, the APF cricket team and Nepal Police cricket team joined the league. APF won the league in their first attempt. Nepal Police lost to APF in the one-day tournament but they won the Twenty20 tournament by defeating APF. Nepal Army cricket team joined the league in 2013. They also won the Twenty20 tournament in their first attempt. Nepal Police participated in the league only in 2011.
The 2015 edition of the tournament was solely sponsored by CAN itself as previous sponsors, Pepsi and Standard Chartered Bank's agreement ran out earlier that year.
Teams Region-I (Biratnagar) Region-II (Birgunj) Region-III (Kathmandu) Region-IV (Bhairahawa) Region-V (Nepalgunj) Region-VI (Baitadi) Region-VII (Janakpur) Region-VIII (Pokhara) Region-IX (Dhangadhi) Armed Police Force Club Tribhuwan Army Club Nepal Police Club
Tournament history
Senior Men's One Day
Tournament YearFinal VenueFinalWinnerResultRunner-up2002N/ABiratnagar+1.33Biratnagar won by superior net run rateReportBhairahawa+1.0232003N/ABiratnagarBiratnagar won by 4 runsKathmandu2004N/ABiratnagarBiratnagar won because Bhairahawa walked out due to foggy conditionReportBhairahawa2005TU Cricket GroundKirtipurBiratnagar163/9 (34.2 overs)Biratnagar won by 1 wicketKathmandu162/8 (35.0 overs)2006N/ABirgunjBirgunj wonReport, Report, ReportBhairahawa2007TU Cricket GroundKirtipurBhairahawa212/8 (50.0 overs)Bhairahawa won by 94 runsMatch ReportKathmandu118 (40.0 overs)2008TU Cricket GroundKirtipurKathmandu199 (49.3 overs)Kathmandu won by 1 run (D/L method)Match ReportBhairahawa167/9 (36.0 overs)2009N/AKathmanduKathmandu wonReport, Report2010TU Cricket GroundKirtipurKathmandu149/4 (36.5 overs)Kathmandu won by 6 wicketsMatch ReportBiratnagar148 (39.0 overs)2011TU Cricket GroundKirtipurAPF Club217/2 (42.2 overs)APF won by 8 wicketsMatch ReportNepal Police Club216 (49.5 overs)2012TU Cricket GroundKirtipurAPF Club222/4APF won by 6 wicketsMatch ReportBhairahawa2212014TU Cricket GroundKirtipurBirgunj214/7 (48.5 overs)Birgunj won by 3 wicketsScorecard, Match ReportAPF Club213 (46.1 overs)2015TU Cricket GroundKirtipurNepal Army Club169/5 (40.5 overs)Nepal Army won by 5 wicketsScorecard, Match ReportAPF Club164/9 (45.0 overs)
Senior Men's Twenty20
Tournament YearFinal VenueFinalWinnerResultRunner-up2009TU Cricket GroundKirtipurKathmandu94 (19.3 overs)Kathmandu won by 3 runsMatch Report Bhairahawa91 (19.5 overs)2010Pulchowk Engineering Campus GroundLalitpurBiratnagar104 (20.0 overs)Biratnagar won by 8 runsMatch ReportBhairahawa96/7 (20.0 overs)2011TU Cricket GroundKirtipurNepal Police Club85 (19.3 overs)Nepal Police won by 4 wicketsMatch Report APF Club86/6 (19.5 overs)2012TU Cricket GroundKirtipurAPF Club167/5 (20.0 overs)APF won by 95 runsScorecard, Match Report Baitadi72 (14.4 overs)2013TU Cricket GroundKirtipurNepal Army Club113/5 (15.2 overs)Nepal Army won by 5 wicketsMatch Report APF Club112/7 (16.0 overs)
Controversies In May 2010, 18 members of the national cricket team held a press conference and said they will not play the national league because of the behavior of Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN). However, they said they would continue their closed-camp training for 2010 ICC World Cricket League Division Four.
Players boycotted the national one-day cricket championship for the second time in April 2014 in protest against the leadership of CAN and ignorance of players' needs.
See also Nepal Premier League Prime Minister One Day Cup
References