April 22, 2025
At the endof this week, La Manga plays host to a High-Performance Series for the men’s Spanish team comprising three intra-squad 50 over matches on April 25th, 26th and 27th in preparation for a three match 50 over tour of Denmark at the end of May 2025.
Following the record-breaking 14 consecutive wins of the national team in T20 cricket in the last two years, Cricket España sit at 30 in the ICC T20i rankings and have placed themselves in a strong position to take part in the 2026 ICC Challenger 50 over play-off. In order to compete in the CWC Challenger League qualifier (date in 2026 TBA), the team need to be placed in the top four ranked teams in the T20i rankings outside of the current CWC Challenge League participating countries. Currently, these places are held by Malaysia, Bermuda, Saudi Arabia and Spain, which offers the exciting possibility of the national team taking part in the CWC Challenger League qualifier, the pathway to the 2031 ICC Men’sCricket World Cup.
As a result, the management team together with Coach, Corey Rutgers, and Assistant Coach,Alastair Priddle, have decided to pause T20 cricket for 6 months in order to focus on the different challenges of 50 over cricket. La Manga will provide the first step on this journey, gathering together the best male cricketers in Spain and giving them the opportunity to play this longer format. ‘I’m hoping to leave La Manga with some good surprises!’ stated an excited Rutgers, who is very much looking forward to seeing how his players adapt to this new challenge.
Named after the president of Cricket España, the Juan Carlos Rodríguez Trophy, will see Team Corey, take on Team Alastair in the three match, 50 over series. National vice-captain, Yasir Ali, who has experience of playing 50 over cricket in Pakistan, will lead Team Corey, while Spain captain,Chris Muñoz-Mills, will be in charge of Team Alastair.
The 24 man squad includes Hamza Saleem Dar and Muhammad Atif, who both played for theEurope XI in the recent ECN T10 Weston Shield against the British and Irish Knights, and Atif has also signed to play for Winton Cricket Club in the Greater Manchester Cricket League for the 2025 season. There is a long-awaited return to Spanish colours for Muhammad Kamran, one of the quickest bowlers inEurope and a well-deserved call-up for young leg-spinning all-rounder, Manaav Nayak, after an impressive series in Portugal. Alongside the experience of Spanish stalwarts, Lorne Burns and Daniel Doyle-Calle, a special invitation has been given to players newer to the set-up, Babar Khan, Kashif Ali and Muhammad Asif after strong performances in the ECN series. Finally, the UK based contingent of Dani Long-Martinez, Charlie Rumistrzewicz, Cris Gwilliam-López and Sebastian Hughes-Piñán are flying in to La Manga for this exciting event.
Selection for the tour to Denmark will follow this High-Performance Series and theSpanish team will play three 50 over matches in Copenhagen from May 29th to June 1st. These matches against a strong and experienced Danish side, who recently beat Kenya and Qatar in the current cycle of the CWC Challenger League, will provide an excellent opportunity to prepare the team to take part in the CWC Challenge League qualifier and the chance to win back 50 over cricket for Spain.
Team Corey: Yasir Ali (Captain), Dani Long-Martínez, Babar Khan, Adnan Tahir, AlecDavidson-Soler, Hamza Saleem Dar, Sheraz Iqbal, Charlie Rumistrzewicz, AtifMehmood, Raja Adeel and Murad Ali
Team Alastair: Chris Muñoz-Mills (Captain), Gurvinder Bajwa,Kashif Ali, Ravi Panchal, Daniel Doyle-Calle, Muhammad Kamran, Mati Ur Rehman,Maanav Nayak, Muhammad Atif, Sebastian Hughes-Piñán, Muhammad Asif and Cris Gwilliam-López
