Austria: National team and venue face the heat in busy season

The summer of 2000 will be most remembered for the searing heat and virtual drought from mid-April to mid-July. The grass outfield at Austria's premier cricket ground in Seebarn near Vienna almost shrivelled up and was just saved from death by a wet few weeks in July. The second purpose-built ground at Seebarn died and was resurrected in July.

Although the summer heat returned with temperatures around the 40C mark for several August days, somehow the grounds managed to survive and we are full of hope that the Seebarn Cricket Centre will be ready for the European Cricket Council Trophy next August.

The heat of competition was too much for Austria's national team who only came in third at the inaugural Representatives' Festival hosted at Seebarn. Beaten by two runs by the Croatians, thrashed by the strong Asian-dominated Norwegians, Austria could only manage victories against Slovenia and Finland in a competition they were expected to win. Austria will have to rethink their competition strategy if they are to make the Final of the all-important Trophy in 2001 which would mean automatic qualification for the European Championships in 2002.

On the domestic front, the unstoppable Lords C.C. again came from an impossible mid-table position to claim the Open League (OL) during a tense last few weeks of competition in September. The team spirit shown by Lords C.C. was their main strength. Without any superstars, all players contributed steadily throughout the nine OL matches. Lords C.C. managed full bonus points on four occasions, which meant that the surprised leading pair of and long-time leaders United Nations C.C. faltered by four points to take the title. Lords C.C. have now won four of the last five OL titles.

OL newcomers, Ljubljana C.C., despite possessing the strongest bowling attack in the league, never scored runs quickly enough to place opposition batsmen under pressure, and finished fourth.

The other debutants in 2000, Pak Falcon C.C. were among the early season pacesetters, but fell back badly after their first defeat and were thoroughly disillusioned come August/September. Concordia C.C. never fulfilled their form on paper having acquired Raza Aqif and Muhammed Arshad, two of Austria's leading players, in the close season, and collected the wooden spoon.

Vienna C.C. lost important matches early on, and a winning run of five matches in the later half of the season only meant they could finish third. But spare a thought for the United Nations C.C., who led the pack until their final match. Hectic scenes at the Seebarn C.G. followed in early September as two captains (T. Hind of the UNCC and N. Samawickerama of SLSC) tried in vain to make there calculators work in their favour; only the smug grin of Lords C.C. captain, S. Khanna, was to be seen however as it became apparent that the superior bonus points tally of Lords C.C. had triumphed.

Vienna C.C. saved their season by winning the knock-out Trophy, overhauling Pakistan C.C.'s in the Final thanks to A. Simpson-Parker's fourth century of the season. The Trophy was a great success in 2000 with teams from Poland, Czech Republic, Slovenia, and Croatia, joining Austria's nine teams in the competition. Sadly, the Austrian Championship (qualifying criteria: nine Austrians per team) was not well supported, with Lords C.C. winning the competition as Vienna C.C. defaulted on three of their four matches.

Other highlights of the season included the Austrian national XI beating the Pakistan Ambassador's XI in front of 350 spectators at Seebarn in August. Chasing 284 from their 50 overs the last two Austrian wickets put on 78 to win in the last over in a thrilling chase. The inaugural U'15 internationals between Austria and Germany were played in June with Austria coming out on top in the second rain-affected match. The first match was declared a no-result as the slow pace of both innings meant that the second innings could not be completed before the light faded. Nevertheless, in the post-match reception, the Mayor of Seebarn, Mr Steindl, praised the youth initiative of both countries. Austria went to Gibraltar in August with high hopes and came away with two victories in the first ECC U'15 'B' tournament.

Youth cricket in Austria was top of the agenda in June as a cricket open day at the Seebarn C.G. was supported by 250 local schoolchildren who all wore caps donated by the ICC for the occasion. Permanent sightscreens were added to the main ground at Seebarn and it is planned to begin with the building of a pavilion in March, 2001. The creation of a second ground at Seebarn is necessary to cope with the ever-increasing number of teams and fixtures in Austria. It is hoped that Zagreb C.C. from Croatia will join the Open League in 2001 to make this competition not only the best supported league in Central Europe with 11 teams, but also to support the development of the game in Eastern Europe by providing regular competitive cricket for these new clubs. Ljubljana C.C. from Slovenia will again participate in 2001.

Cricket in Austria has never been in better shape. Great support was given by the European Cricket Council who sent out anything from cricket calendars to Kwik Cricket T-shirts, as well as coaches, umpires, and pitch-fitters in a bid to support Austrian cricket. It is the duty of all clubs and club committees to continue to support the idea of healthy, competitive league cricket, as well as preserving the good social links between clubs. A regularly updated ACA web-site (Austria.cricket.org) recorded a mammoth 7500 hits in August and has proved to be a the most effective information centre for Austrian cricket. Certainly, more could be done by clubs to promote youth cricket, and the standard of umpiring more often than not does not match the standard of cricket played. This is a structural problem of Austrian cricket as there are far too few retired cricketers who are prepared to put back into the game after hanging up their cricket boots.

As we look back at the drought-stricken season of 2000, we should have one eye on the mouth-watering prospects that lie ahead in 2001. Austria is hosting the ECC Trophy in Seebarn and Velden in August. The Australian Crusaders will be returning to Austria in July for a week's tour taking in Seebarn, Velden and Ljubljana. Seebarn will have two grounds and a pavilion. Let us hope that the weather will be kinder to us next time round !

A. Simpson-Parker
Chairman - Austrian Cricket Association
1st October 2000

Bowling A. Grover (Lords C.C.) 7-0-27-7 vs Sri Lanka S.C. Raza Aqif (Concordia C.C) 8-3-14-5 vs Pakistan C.C. Sajad (Pakistan C.C.) 4-2-15-5 vs Lords C.C. P. Hudson (Vienna C.C.) 6-1-34-5 vs Pakistan C.C. S. Geldart (Lubljana C.C.) 8-0-55-5 vs Lords C.C.