
“Supporters of Uzbek sport have had a lot to celebrate this year. The national football team currently sits at the top of its qualifying group for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, while eight of the country’s athletes took gold at this summer’s Paris Olympics.
But next year Uzbekistan wants to enter the world stage in a more surprising sport: cricket.
The Central Asian country joined the game’s governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), in 2022. As an “Associate” ICC member there are hopes that the Uzbek squad will play its first international matches in 2025, in the Twenty20 (T20) version of the game…”
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This is an extract from my story Uzbekistan’s Cricket Team: We’re Ready For International Matches in The Times of Central Asia. Follow the link to read the full article.
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Jonathan Campion is a writer, journalist, editor and linguist, working in the Eurasia region. Read about his work here, and contact him here.