Shpageeza Cricket League


The Shpageeza Cricket League is a Twenty20 cricket tournament organized by the Afghanistan Cricket Board every year in Afghanistan. The Shpageeza tournament is established with six franchises, including players from the national team, overseas, players from the ‘A’ team and players from the under 19 team as well as elite performers from the respective regions participating in this tournament. In addition, ACB has given the league an identity by franchising all team while players will be selected through a draft for each team.
The ultimate goal of this 12-day tournament is promoting cricket and sport in Afghanistan and establishing peace through sport. The tournament is broadcast live on Afghanistan’s prominent channel 1TV using HD quality production standards, and the tournament is commercialized by franchising and marketing each team to a company/organization. Through the design and broadcast of this tournament, Afghans will have firsthand access to watch their national players in their home ground.

History

The League was established in 2013 titled as Shpageeza Cricket Tournament. Five regional teams participated in the event and it was a successful initiative by Afghanistan Cricket Board. The champion of the first league was Spin Ghar Tigers for the inaugural edition of the tournament. The matches were telecast by Shamshad TV.
The second edition in 2014 was conducted with the same number of teams, representing five regions in the country. Mis-e-Ainak Knights won the title championship. Gulbadin Naib was named Man of the tournament; Noor Ali was the best batsman and Rokhan Barekzai was named the best bowler of this edition. The matches were telecast on 1TV.
Starting from the 2017 season, the ICC granted List A status to the Twenty20 domestic competition. In May 2017 however, the ICC recognised Afghanistan's 50-over Ghazi Amanullah Khan Regional One Day Tournament by granting it List A status and matches in the 2017 Shpageeza cricket league are classified as Twenty20 status.

Teams



Shpageeza Cricket League was played among 5 regions of Afghanistan but a sixth team Kabul Eagles, officially sponsored by Aatif Mashal was added in the 2015 edition. Following teams participate in the Shpageeza T20 Tournament:
TeamRegionProvincesHome GroundDebutCaptainCoachWins
Amo Sharks
Amo Nahagan		AmoBalkh, Kunduz, Badakhshan, Takhar, Baghlan, Samangan, Sar-e Pol, Jowzjan and FaryabBalkh Cricket Stadium, Mazar-i-Sharif
Kunduz Cricket Ground, Kunduz		2013 Mirwais Ashraf Gordon ParsonsN/A
Band-e-Amir Dragons
Band-e-Amir Khamaran		Band-e-AmirGhazni, Bamyan, Parwan, Panjshir, Daykundi and Maidan WardakGhazni Cricket Ground, Ghazni2013 Rashid Khan Umesh Patwal1
Boost Defenders
Boost Satunki		BoostKandahar, Helmand, Herat, Farah, Ghor, Badghis, Urozgan, Nimroz and ZabulKandahar International Cricket Stadium, Kandahar2013 Shapoor Zadran Adam HollioakeN/A
Kabul Eagles
Kabul Bazan		KabulKabulAlokozay Kabul International Cricket Ground, Kabul2015 Asghar Afghan Gus Logie1
Mis Ainak Knights
Mis Ainak Atalan		Mis AinakKhost, Logar, Paktia and PaktikaKhost Cricket Stadium, Khost2013 Mohammad Nabi Andy Moles1
Spin Ghar Tigers
Spin Ghar Zmaryan		Spin GharNangarhar, Laghman, Kapisa, Kunar and NuristanGhazi Amanullah International Cricket Stadium, Jalalabad2013 Shafiqullah Herschelle Gibbs2

Sponsors

The TV rights are won by the Afghan channel named 1TV.