Czech National Indoor League
During January and February the Czech Republic held its first national league competition for 2005, with teams vying for the "Move-One" Indoor Cricket Shield (organised and hosted by the CCU Czech Cricket Union). Large numbers of spectators were attracted
20-Apr-2005
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The league was comprised of 6 teams, playing 6-a-side, using a converted indoor soccer bubble. The matches were played in accordance with an adapted version of the rules issued by the Australian Indoor Cricket Federation (AICF), with 3 pairs batting for 5 overs each and an option to bowl only 5 of the 6 in each team for a maximum of 3 overs each. The rules were amended to allow those new to the game to be eased into the fray. Over the 6 weeks each side got to play each other once and then a finals day was held to determine final places.
Chodov CC was clearly the team to beat throughout the competition, although it lost a close match to Prague CC in somewhat controversial circumstances the week prior to the finals. This helped to set up a great sense of rivalry for the final. In the end, the victor was Chodov CC with a resounding win over Prague CC, the final score being 144 to 68. The Indian Ambassador P.S. Raghavan was on hand to present the winners shield. "Blesk" a major local daily paper, and the BBC were on hand to give the finals media coverage.
The Czech Cricket Union now faces the challenge of turning an outstanding winter indoor league into an even bigger success for summer. The summer league planned to begin late May will consist of at least 6 teams. The CCU board is busy negotiating at the moment to have two new grounds in place for May. A big challenge, but with the success of winter the cricket movement is re-gaining momentum in the Czech Republic after an uneventful 2004 season.
A big part of this success rests with Move-One (www.moveone.info) who sponsored the tournament, for which we thank them and hope to have them behind us again in the coming years!