The Isle of Man Cricket Association was formed in 1930, and up until it was elected an Affiliate Member of ICC in 2004, it had existed as an affiliate member of the Lancashire County Cricket Club.

They played a small number of matches each year between a representative Island team and club sides from England as well as the MCC.

Keith Brew boewling against Finland in the 2005 European Associates' tournament in Belgium (©CricketEurope)

Their first foray into ICC European competition came in 2005 when they took part in the Affiliates (Division Three) tournament in Belgium, where they came eighth out of the nine sides that took part.

Their squad was as follows: Robert Webber (Captain), Christian Steriopulos, Keith Brew, Graeme Garrett, Gareth Morris, Oliver Webster, Graham Webb, Juan Corlett, Neil Holmes, Duncan Miller, Adam Peel, Connor Byrne, Peter Richards, James Aitchison, Manager: Douglas Hind.

They lost in the group stages to Greece and Portugal, with Graeme Garrett’s 51 their highlight. In the classification matches they were beaten by Croatia, but beat Finland twice, with Connor Byrne and Nicky Holmes both bowling well, while Robert Webber had five dismissals behind the stumps against Finland.

In 2007 they were back in Belgium and improved displays saw them claim third. They beat the hosts thanks to 60 from Garrett, and four wickets apiece for Gareth Morris, and Chris Pearce. Half centuries for Morris and Peter Richards saw them defeat Malta comfortably. They lost the semi-final against Spain having lost more wickets with the scores tied on 179 apiece, but got third place the following day beating Malta again, by six wickets.

The 2009 Division Three competition in La Manga saw them pipped to the title on NRR – just 0.13 separating them and winners Israel who had beaten them in what proved to be the crucial group game. Wins were secured over Belgium, Spain, Portugal and Malta. Ollie Webster (123) was their top scorer, while Max Stokoe (11) was their leading wicket taker. Arne van den Berg took five wickets in their win against Portugal.

The Isle of Man team that won the European Under 17 Division 2 title in 2010 (©CricketEurope)

Isle of Man hosted their first tournament in 2010 when ten teams played in the Under 17 Division Two tournament. They beat Italy in the final by five wickets, having beaten Spain, Switzerland, Germany and Austria in the group stages. Ryan Burns (151) was their top scorer, while Sebastian Aycock was the tournaments leading wicket taker with 14.

The senior side returned to Belgium for the expanded Division Two competition which now had 11 teams. They looked favourites for the tournament as they stormed the group stages winning all four matches impressively beating Luxembourg, Cyprus, Finland and Portugal. However they surprisingly lost to Austria having been at one stage 10 for 7! Gareth Morris (141*) made their first European century against Cyprus, and also hit 95 versus Luxembourg to finish leading run scorer (289 at 57.80). Van Den Berg (12 wkts) was second in the bowling charts behind Andrew Naudi of Malta.

Oliver Webster hits a boundary against Portugal in the 2011 European Division 2 tournament (©CricketEurope)

They came good in 2012 when they were victorious in the Division Two tournament in Corfu. They had made an indifferent start in the group stages losing twice, but managed to secure second place and a semi-final berth by beating Cyprus, Hellas and Croatia. They peaked at the right time and secured the trophy with comfortable victories against Israel and Sweden. Gareth Morris was yet again their best batsman (275 runs at 39.29), while Arne van den Berg was their top bowler (11 wkts at 9.00), while Ollie Webster took the most catches, with eight.

The Isle of Man squad that won the 2012 European Division 2 tournament in Corfu (© CricketEurope)

The win saw them promoted to Division One which was held in Sussex during July 2013, and served as a qualifying competition for the World Cup Qualifiers. The step up proved a tough one for the IOM who won only one of their five group matches, against Belgium, while they beat Gibraltar in the classification match. Philip Littlejohns (212) was their leading run scorer and Alex Stokoe (12) their main wicket taker. Their squad for the competition was as follows: Matthew Ansell, Daniel Hawke, Christopher Hawke, Jaco Jansen, Luke Lacey, Philip Littlejohns, Adam McAuley, Garreth Roome, Alexander Stokoe, Max Stokoe, Arne van den Berg, Carl Wagstaffe, Oliver Webster, Mark Williams, Gareth Dawson (Coach), Andrew Parkin Coates (Assistant Coach), Barry Smith (Manager).

Luke Lacey bowling against Jersey in the 2013 European Division 1 tournament (©CricketEurope)

In Division Two in 2014 they finished fifth out of six teams behind winners Norway, and in the 2016 tournament held in Stockholm, they again finished five out of six teams, with their only win coming against Gibraltar.

Their final European involvement to date came in 2018 when they were one of eighteen sides playing in the T20 World Cup pathway competition held in the Netherlands. They found the going tough finishing bottom of their six-team group, losing to qualifiers Italy and Jersey, as well as Spain and Belgium – their only win coming over Finland.

They had been granted Associate status in 2017, and played their first T20 International in 2020, then they and their youth teams went on a special tour of Guernsey.They were well beaten in the game losing by eight wickets despite 43 from Adam McCauley. Their current ICC ranking is 66th.

This article was written by Roy Morgan in 2006 and has been updated by CricketEurope.