The Estonian Cricket Association was formed in 1998 and they were granted Affiliate status in 2008. According to the ICC the game started when an Estonian businessman returned from Australia and having fallen in love with the game was determined to make a success of it in Estonia. He arranged a match against a local Indian restaurant and the rest they say is history.

They played their first international matches in 2000 with a four-game series against Finland, which they lost heavily.

Estonia celebrate their 2012 European Division 3 triumph

They held a regular winter six-a-side on ice at Jeti Hall on the site of the former Soviet Missile factory near Lake Harku which attracted numerous club sides.

The main ground is called The Hippodrome located in the centre of Tallinn’s racecourse, and in 2004 the Estonian Cricket Association was formed.

Their first foray into ICC European tournaments came in 2009 when they played in the Division Five competition in Corfu. They made a winning start beating Turkey by six wickets thanks to 68 not out from Tim Heath. It went downhill after that as they lost to Hellas, Sweden, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic. Sivalingham Arunachalam took five wickets in the loss to the Czechs, while Murali Obil was both their top run scorer (185) and top wicket taker (13), while they awarded the Spirit of Cricket award.

Estonia squad: Timothy Heath, Sivalingham Arunachalam, Richard Barnwell, Glebs Bihanovs, Andres Burget, Martin Dungay, Vineeth Govind, Andrus Kambre, Kristjan Kogerman, Murali Obili, Mart Tammoja, Marko Vaik, Kalle Vilslapuu, James Ramsden (Manager), Timothy Filer (Coach)

Tim Heath with his family after scoring a century against Bulgaria in 2011

They were back in tournament action in 2011 when they travelled to Slovenia and Austria for Division Three and what a start they had, as they shocked tournament co-hosts Slovenia at the scenic Velden ground, just across the border in Austria, on the opening morning running up a massive 236 for seven and then restricting the Slovenians to 172. Estonian captain Tim Heath smashed a remarkable 45-ball 113, hitting 13 fours and eight sixes in the process, and reaching his century from just 40 deliveries, but he was helped by some indifferent catching by Slovenia, who had put him down twice by the time he reached 23. They had victories over Bulgaria and Turkey but were beaten by Sweden and the Czech Republic to finish second.

Murali Obili took a hat trick against Bulgaria in 2012

They hosted Division Three the following year when the format saw them playing Slovenia and Bulgaria twice. The competition was most noticeable for the appearance of Shane Warne and his girlfriend Liz Hurley, through his association with betting company 888.com On the field Tim Heath was the leading run scorer (182) as he was named the MVP player of the tournament, pipping Murali Obil was also in the runs and wickets, including a hat-trick against Bulgaria.

Phil Hudson presents the 2012 European Division 3 trophy to Tim Heath

Their win saw them promoted to Division Two, also in 2012 which was held in Corfu. They found the going tough finishing eighth in the twelve-team event. They did record wins against Luxembourg and Malta in the group stages. Nand Riar scored two half centuries while Marko Vaik was the leading wicket-keeper (9 dismissals).

Estonia squad: Timothy Heath, Vineeth Govind, Sivalingam Arunachalam, Timothy Filer, Murali Obili, Moshiur Rahman, Remo Raud, Nand Lal Riar, Sasha Ruut, Mart Tammoja, Mario Tammoja, Michael Tiffin, Marko Vaik, Karel Peter Van Buuren, Ryan Heywood (Coach), Daniel Renwick (Manager).

This was to be the last involvement for Estonia in official ICC Europe tournaments as the great purge started and competitions gradually disappeared.

That’s not to say they haven’t continued to be active. In 2013 they played six matches against Latvia for the Baltic Cup, while in the same year Estonia Women played matches against Denmark, Gibraltar, Italy and Belgium. The men continued to play matches against Latvia and Lithuania in 2014 and 15. In June 2016 they took part in a tri-series with the Czech Republic and Switzerland. They also played Finland and Sweden in the Nordic-Baltic Cup.

In 2019 they travelled to La Manga for a tri-series where they lost all six matches against Malta and Spain.

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