October 2013

Czech Cricket The Hot Shot newsletter

Issue No. 8, Page 1

Sundries
Open roles on committee The CMKS Executive Committee currently has roles open for a Marketing Coordinator, a Development Officer and a Member without Portfolio to join the current group of six. If you're interested at all please contact us at info@ czechcricket.cz Expansion in junior cricket Czech Cricket currently has more equipment and support available for junior cricket programmes than ever before. If you're keen on helping to develop the next generation, please let us know! Progress outside Prague In their second year of operation, the esk Budjovice Barracudas visited Prague five times during the summer. We have been working with them to identify facilities in south Bohemia to help them develop, and we look forward to hosting them regularly next summer! Umpire respect We all need to ensure that a calm attitude is shown on the field, with complete respect to the umpire's word and acceptance of his decisions. Of course there can be some incorrect decisions but it is never acceptable to behave aggressively or with hostility towards an umpire. Cricket is a gentlemans game and we need to uphold that reputation. New website We introduced our newly-designed website at czechcricket.cz, with information updated quickly and regularly both there and on the facebook page. If you spot any missing details or you want to help out, please let us know! Players and supporters after PCC's T20 league win (photo: Sujith Gopalakrishnan)

Leagues: Dresden claim first title

PCC take T20 league, Vinohrady win inaugural Sixes

Dresden celebrate with the Czech Cricket 40-over league trophy (photo: Dan Casey)

The 40-over league was rain-affected as Prague experienced a slow start to the summer. Four of the 10 league games were cancelled, with only Dresden and PCC picking up two wins to reach the final in a repeat of 2012. This time Dresden came out on top with a 62-run win. PCC got their revenge with a 36-run victory one month later in the T20 league final, while Vinohrady took the honours in the first ever Czech Cricket competitive six-a-side tournament. Full information on the leagues can be found at www.czechcricket.cz

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October 2013

Czech Cricket The Hot Shot newsletter

Issue No. 8, Page 2

Sundries
Czech Cricket in the media! We had a clear winner for video of the season, when Honz managed to catch Sujith Gopalakrishnan's brilliant running one-handed grab in the PCC 1st XI vs 2nd XI match in June. The video has 50 likes on facebook! This year's other great video was organised by Scott Page, capturing the fun of the Street20 day which hopefully will be repeated next year. Jan Bartoik joined Russ Degnan's "Associate and Affiliate Cricket Podcast" in June to discuss the local cricket scene in a 20-minute interview. Did you know that two of the most notorious contributors to the cricketing blogosphere are based in the Czech Republic? Brno resident James Marsh runs Pavilion Opinions and Nishant Joshi combines studying medicine in Hradec Kralov with running the hugely popular Alternative Cricket site. The pair also join forces for the weekly Radio Cricket podcast. Prague.tv caught up with Scott and Dan Casey at the start of the year, and they carried our league results every week alongside the Prague Daily Monitor. The Czech Cricket facebook page has reached 511 "likes" in its first year of operation, while the twitter account has 832 followers around the world! This year, for the first time, Test cricket was legally live-streamed on YouTube in mainland Europe during the Ashes in England. We hope this will be repeated in future!

Progress in junior cricket

PBS have hosted two great tournaments this year This year saw great progress made with the junior players in the Czech Republic. The international schools in Prague came together twice for tournaments in March and June, with children from many nationalities enjoying a fun day out. English College Prague won the March tournament but hosts Prague British School exacted revenge in June. The next tournament will be on Sunday 3rd November.
ECP held their nerves in a dramatic final in March (photo: Mik Star)

Lions team shows class in win over Eagles

Young Czech bowler Adam steals the show With the early season fixture against Hungary and this year's Euro T20 tournament cancelled, the Lions had to make some late changes to their schedule. Austria proved too strong in an early July match (team pictured right), while a trip to Malta beckons in mid-October to take on the hosts plus Russia and Hungary.
The Czech Lions in Austria (photo: Chris Pearce)

At the end of August the Lions took on the Eagles in a traditional match which will expand to twice yearly from 2014. Mik Star (42) and Vojta Haa (38) starred with the bat before Adam Holub took 4-18 to destroy the Eagles' reply. More details can be found on www.czechcricket.cz

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October 2013

Czech Cricket The Hot Shot newsletter

Issue No. 8, Page 3

Sundries
Reserve days for league fixtures After a wet summer, with 8 of the 27 league games being cancelled, there were some questions regarding why we don't have reserve days for league fixtures. The main reasons are a lack of space and communication. The rules were agreed on by all clubs at the start of the season. It should be noted too that it was an extraordinary summer, and our friends in Dresden, Vienna and Hungary all suffered adverse effects. Dresden lost out in the German league as they were awarded two defeats by coin-toss in rain-cancelled games, and the Austrian T20 league had a rained-off semi-final. Hungary's GB Oval and Dresden's ground both suffered extensive flooding too. The future of Vypich A few responses to the year-end league survey questioned why we didn't try to replay rained-off games at our old ground in Vypich. Without the container there, matches are much more difficult logistically. A lot of equipment is required in order to have a good game. We have investigated solutions but there doesn't seem to be an easy way. Significant preparation work would be required too to bring the area to a decent standard for a game, and we dont know anyone who is willing to do this work. For now, we don't anticipate returning to Vypich. Open friendlies For weekends when no league cricket is scheduled next summer, the MKS is investigating ways of coordinating friendly matches where players from all clubs can turn up and enjoy a match. If you have any ideas please let us know!

Fun friendlies to end the season

Rest of World XI take down India, win for Over Forties over Czech XI Some new matches were introduced at the end of the season which we hope will become traditions over the next few years. In the Czech Ashes, Team Australia triumphed over Team England in a reversal of fortunes on a very hot day in July. An India XI took on a Rest of World XI in September, and Sudesh Wickremasinghe scored a brilliant 92* (the highest score yet at Vino) to lead the RoW XI to victory. And Luk Fencl led a Czech XI in a friendly match against the newly-formed Over Forties CC, who had Alex Sirisena (49 and 316) to thank for securing a 10-run victory.
The India XI were still in high spirits despite their defeat! (photo: Vijay Karthikeyan)

England tour highlight for PCC

Czechs Jan and Oliver enjoy authentic English cricket experience PCC enjoyed a five-day visit to England in August, with four matches taking place in Sussex at St James's Montefiore CC, West Chiltington & Thakeham CC, Hailsham CC and Rottingdean CC. Two Czechs and a Russian were part of the touring party, who were joined in England by Tony Brennan, one of the original founders of cricket in the Czech Republic back in 1997. The group also took in the thrilling Hampshire vs Lancashire T20 quarter-final match at the Ageas Bowl stadium.
PCC at Hailsham CC (photo: John Corness)

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October 2013

Czech Cricket The Hot Shot newsletter

Issue No. 8, Page 4

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