Iceland to play its first cricket international

Iceland's cricket board has announced that its national team is embarking on a tour in which the country will play its first ever international match.

A press release from Krikketsamband Islands (Icelandic Cricket Board) says that the squad will play four matches in England this July, including two against another unlikely cricketing nation - Switzerland.

English national pride will also be at stake when the tourists face an MCC XI at Hampton Hill in south-west London on 24 July.

"Since cricket came to Iceland in 1999, the sport has been growing steadily," the Sport360 website quoted Krikketsamband Islands chairman Jakob Robertson as saying.

"We've worked really hard to organise our first international fixture, and we are beside ourselves with excitement in anticipation of the tour," he said.

According to Sport360, Iceland is now hoping to join the European Cricket Council, with ambitions to match Switzerland's status as affiliate members of the International Cricket Council - the sport's global governing body.