By Frederik Mikkelsen

Cricket has been played in Denmark since 1889, originally organised by the DBU, or Dansk Boldspil-Union, which is still the national governing body of soccer. 

But in 1953 cricket got its own organiser in the form of the Danish Cricket Association, which was founded with 31 clubs. Today that number has grown slightly to 36 across Denmark, with some 2,300 members nationwide.

Every year, a national tournament is organised with the six best clubs in Denmark playing three matches against each other, and the club with the most points at the end of the season becoming Danish champions. The latest champions are KB, or Københavns Boldklub, based in Copenhagen, who lifted their first national title in 58 years, though rivals Skanderborg finished the 2016 season on the same points.

Levels of participation fluctuate in Danish cricket, with only six teams in the most recent top-flight tournament, two fewer clubs than the previous year. With cricket being such a minority sport in Denmark, there remains a big gulf between the top and bottom of the league, with many matches lower down the rankings of poor quality.

As a result, before the latest season the DCF created a new tournament format meaning that only the best teams got to play each other, which made the quality of cricket played even better.

On the global stage, the national team plays in division four of the World Cricket League, or WCL4. Most recently they were with coach Jeremy Bray, a former Ireland player, in Los Angeles for the latest tournament, with wins against Italy, Jersey and the United States, three strong victories to get the Danish national team some points on the world ranking list. 

Though a small sport compared to soccer and others, there is a growing and diverse ethnic community playing the game, so cricket’s prospects in Denmark look good for the future.

Frederik Mikkelsen is a Danish international cricketer.