Malaysia national cricket team

The Malaysia national cricket team represents the country of Malaysia in international cricket matches. The team is organised by the Malaysian Cricket Association which has been an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) since 1967.

During the British colonial period, the Federated Malay States, Straits Settlements and Malaya cricket teams played regularly in Interport matches and against other visiting teams. Following Malaysian independence, the team's most frequent opponent has been Singapore in the Saudara Cup and Stan Nagaiah Trophy. Malaysia made its debut in ICC tournaments in the inaugural 1979 ICC Trophy, making regular appearances until ICC pathways were altered in the 2000s and hosting the 1997 ICC Trophy. Malaysia has regularly hosted Asian Cricket Council (ACC) tournaments and finished runner-up in the 1998 ACC Trophy. In the World Cricket League the team reached as high as Division Three, subsequently being placed in the ICC Cricket World Cup Challenge League.

Early days
Cricket has been played in what is now Malaysia since the 1880s. Various teams represented Malaya, the Federated Malay States and the Straits Settlements, formed in 1884 by the British, Royal Selangor Club (RSC) is the first cricket club founded in present Malaysia (locally called a padang also in Singapore e.g. Padang, Singapore). The Singapore Cricket Club, a former affiliate of the Malayan Cricket Association, is the oldest cricket club in the region (founded in 1852).

The first recorded match was between Selangor and Malacca in 1887. The Selangor-Singapore series was played in 1891. Cricket in Johor was played in the early 20th century, but the first recorded cricketing event is the visit of the Australian team led by C. G. Macartney in 1927. Penang is another historical cricket venue in Malaysia where cricket has been played from British times. The Penang Sports Club was established in the early 1900s. On 6 June 1927 Malaya beat Australia by 39 runs to make history. Lall Singh became the first Malaysia-born Test player (played for India in their debut Test at Lord's against England in 1932).

After World War II, cricket grew in popularity, leading to the founding of the Malayan Cricket Association (MCA) in 1948. Regional cricket associations like Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore joined and in 1963, the MCA was renamed the Malaysian Cricket Association. In 1965, the independence of Singapore led its association to leave the MCA.

The first team to represent Malaysia was in 1970, three years after the MCA became an ICC associate member, when it played an MCC side captained by Tony Lewis in a two-day match, losing by 230 runs. The same year, Malaysia played the first Saudara Cup match against Singapore, drawing the three-day match.

The Saudara Cup match continued annually, and in 1979 Malaysia participated in the first ICC Trophy, failing to progress beyond the first round, a performance they repeated in 1982 and 1986. They reached the plate competition in 1990 and 1994.

1990s
The first Stan Nagaiah Trophy was played in Singapore in February 1995 with Singapore beating Malaysia 2–1 in the three-match one-day series. After winning the Stan Nagaiah Trophy and drawing the Saudara Cup match in 1996 Malaysia hosted the first ACC Trophy tournament, finishing third in their first round group.

Malaysia began to host major international tournaments in 1997, starting with the 1997 ICC Trophy in which Malaysia finished 16th after losing a play-off to Namibia. They played one season in Pakistani domestic cricket in 1998, losing all four of their preliminary round matches. Cricket made its first and, to date, only appearance in the Commonwealth Games later that year, with Malaysia hosting that year's games. The cricket tournament saw Malaysia participate as hosts though they lost all three of their first round matches. They reached the final of the ACC Trophy that same year, losing to Bangladesh.

2000–2017
In 2000, Malaysia reached the semi-final of the ACC Trophy before losing to hosts the UAE. They failed to progress beyond the first round of the 2001 ICC Trophy and lost to Nepal in the semi-finals of the 2002 ACC Trophy.

Malaysia played their first first-class matches in 2004 as part of that year's ICC Intercontinental Cup. They lost to both Nepal and the UAE and failed to reach the semi-final stage of the tournament. Malaysia hosted the ACC Trophy in 2004, which was the first stage of qualification for the 2005 ICC Trophy and the 2007 World Cup, finishing joint seventh with Bhutan. They finished last in the ACC Fast Track Countries Tournament in 2004, thus failing to qualify for the 2005 ICC Intercontinental Cup. They played in the tournament again in 2005, this time finishing third.

In 2006, Malaysia competed in the ACC Premier League, finishing fourth. They again hosted the ACC Trophy that year, again finishing seventh after beating Qatar in a play-off.

Malaysia have played in the ACC Twenty20 Cup thrice. They did not win a match in 2007 but finished seventh in 2009 after winning 3 Group B matches and a positional playoff against Saudi Arabia.

In 2011, they finished sixth after winning 4 Group A matches and losing a positional playoff against the UAE.

In August 2017, Malaysia won two medals in cricket at the 2017 Southeast Asian Games. They won the gold medal in the 50-over tournament and the silver medal in the 20-over tournament.

2018-Present
In April 2018, the ICC decided to grant full Twenty20 International (T20I) status to all its members. Therefore, all Twenty20 matches played between Malaysia and other ICC members after 1 January 2019 have the full T20I status.

Malaysia played their first T20I on 24 June against Thailand during the 2019 Malaysia Tri-Nation Series. They recorded a comfortable win.

After April 2019, Malaysia will play in the 2019–21 ICC Cricket World Cup Challenge League.

Grounds

 * Kinrara Academy Oval, Kuala Lumpur
 * Bayuemas Oval, Kuala Lumpur
 * Selangor Turf Club, Selangor
 * Royal Selangor Club, Selangor
 * UKM-YSD Cricket Oval, Bangi

T20 World Cup Qualifier (Asia Regional Final)

 * 2023: Group stage

World Cricket League

 * 2009 Division Six: Fourth place
 * 2011 Division Six: Second place – promoted
 * 2012 Division Five: Second place – promoted
 * 2012 Division Four: Fifth place – relegated
 * 2014 Division Five: Second place – promoted
 * 2014 Division Four: Champions – promoted
 * 2014 Division Three: Third place
 * 2017 Division Three: Sixth place – relegated
 * 2018 Division Four: Third place

Commonwealth Games

 * 1998: First round

ICC Intercontinental Cup

 * 2004: First round
 * 2005: Did not qualify
 * 2006/07: Did not participate

ICC Trophy

 * 1979: First round
 * 1982: First round
 * 1986: First round
 * 1990: Plate competition
 * 1994: Plate competition
 * 1997: 16th place
 * 2001: First round
 * 2005: Did not qualify

ACC Fast Track Countries Tournament

 * 2004: 5th place
 * 2005: 3rd place
 * 2006: 4th place

ACC Trophy

 * 1996: First round
 * 1998: Runners up
 * 2000: Semi-finals
 * 2002: Semi-finals
 * 2004: 7th place
 * 2006: 7th place
 * 2008 Elite: 6th place
 * 2010 Elite: 4th place
 * 2012 Elite: 4th place
 * 2014 Premier League Elite: 6th place

Records and statistics
International Match Summary — Malaysia Last updated 17 April 2024

Twenty20 International

 * Highest team total: 268/4 v. Thailand on 2 October 2023 at Zhejiang University of Technology Cricket Field, Hangzhou.
 * Highest individual score: 126, Syed Aziz v. Thailand on 2 October 2023 at Zhejiang University of Technology Cricket Field, Hangzhou.
 * Best individual bowling figures: 7/8, Syazrul Idrus v. China on 26 July 2023 at Bayuemas Oval, Pandamaran.

Most T20I runs for Malaysia

Most T20I wickets for Malaysia

T20I record versus other nations

''Records complete to T20I #2571. Last updated 17 April 2024.''

Other records
Performances by Malaysian cricketers in World Cricket League matches and ACC Premier League matches, as of 29 June 2014

Current squad
This lists all the players who have played for Malaysia in the past 12 months or has been part of the latest One-day or T20I squad. Updated as of 27 April 2024.

Tournaments

 * Malaysia hosted the 2014 ICC World Cricket League Division Three in October.