Greece had few difficulties in winning the European Division 5 Championship on home soil, beating all five opponents and emerging as odds-on favourites from the moment they squeezed past Sweden with a two-wicket victory in the opening round. Perhaps the most pleasing moment, certainly for the local spectators, came when they thrashed Turkey by 209 runs. Greece gained promotion to Division 4, while Sweden finished second with four wins. Turkey, with only one win, finished bottom.

Like most nations, Greeks have been baffled by Britons and their bizarre ways of life. And cricket is just one example of a sport that dumbfounds the ignorant bystander. But Greece is changing, and although their deep-rooted traditional way of life is unlikely to change (thankfully so), they are showing a greater adaptability to the west. To Britons and their silly game of cricket.

Expats in Greece sometimes struggle to understand our hosts, just as much as Greeks are baffled by the British. Greeks at the cricket followed our lead of occasional polite applause with puzzlement. "And you sit and do just this for five days?" said a bemused friend.

For Greeks, life, and especially sport, is to be shouted about with tears of joy or sadness.

Socially they respect our professionalism but are amused at our punctuality. They don't understand our irony, or our self-effacement, and think we are aloof.

Michael Cooper's piece in today's Telegraph, which only uses cricket as a vague hook, is well worth a read.

Next week's ICC annual get-together promises to have more than its fair share of politicking, posturing and controversy. But, unless there is a major about-turn, it should also be a watershed for the Associates and Affiliates.

In 2009, income from the ICC's six-year media deal with ESPN-Star, worth over US$1 billion, kicks in, and while the game's big boys will still keep the lion's share, the rest will see substantial increases in their incomes.

Continue reading "Future bright beyond the Test world"

The number of people actively participating in cricket outside the Test-playing countries increased 17% in 2007, according to the ICC.

The research, carried out by the ICC's development program, was collated from 33 Associate and 58 Affiliate members. It showed that there were 338,051 male and female players in those countries in 2007, an increase of 49,158 on the previous year. Since 2002, when there were 144,047 participants, there has been a 135% rise.

Click here for the full story.

Denmark have won the 2008 European Indoor Championship in Finland, beating old foes Portugal in a thrilling encounter. Denmark scrambled a two-wicket win off the penultimate delivery, overhauling Portugal's total of 132.

Hamid Shah was their hero in the decider with an unbeaten 28, sharing a match-winning partnership with Taha Ahmed (25*), after they were precariously placed at 65 for 3. For Paulo Buccimazza, the captain of Portugal, there was the consolation of being awarded Player of the Tournament after finishing as the leading run scorer in the competition, and once again in the final showed his quality making an unbeaten 38.

Continue reading "Denmark take 2008 Indoor Championship title"

The tenth ICC European Indoor Championship take place this weekend in Kuortane, Finland. This will be the first tournament to take place in Finland and Kuortane will become the most northerly venue ever to be used for an official international cricket championship.

Originally held every year, the European Indoor Championship has now become a biennial event. The 2006 tournament was held at Lord's and was won by Denmark, who were victors in three of the last four championships. The only other winner in that period was Hellas (Greece), who defeated Denmark by 3 runs in the 2005 final in Herning, Denmark.

Read the full report at Cricinfo.

The European Cricket Council has announced a deal with ICC Europe, ECB and Premium TV to make ECBtv available on subscription throughout Europe.

In many areas of Europe there is no access to TV highlights of matches, and this move looks to make coverage accessible to everyone.

"ECB is pleased and excited to be able to offer Europe’s cricket fans access to ECBtv and it is hoped that it will take the game to previously uncharted areas, inspiring people to get involved in this great sport,” Richard Holdsworth, the ICC’s regional development manager, said. "Delivering live video coverage via broadband to European territories has brought people closer to the game than ever before.”

ECBtv shows Test and one-day international matches live to certain territories, as well as match highlights, exclusive interviews, press conferences, coaching master classes and many other features to a global audience. Live streams start at £2.99. Click here for full details.

It won't get many column inches in the mainstream cricket press, but the World Cricket League, which started in Nairobi yesterday and continues into next week, features the best of the rest, the six sides just under the ten Test-playing countries. For the two finalists, the rewards are bountiful - a place among the big boys in the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa this September, along with $250,000. For countries used to surviving on annual handouts from the ICC of less than $200,000, that's big money.

Continue reading "A long way from home"

The ICC has slapped Greece with a hefty punishment following breaches of rules and improper conduct during the ICC Europe World Cricket League (WCL) Division 2 Championships in Scotland in August 2006

Greece fielded two ineligible players in all three preliminary round matches and, in line with the ICC Player Eligibility rules, the event organisers stripped Greece of all their points which saw them fall from top to bottom of their group of four teams in the eight-team event, and suspended the players concerned for the rest of the tournament.

Greece then refused to play theirseventh/eighth place play-off in the tournament, the loser of which would be relegated to Division 3.

The ICC board examined the issue and resolved to suspend all funding support from the ICC Europe Regional Development Program for a period of 12 months. Greece Cricket could be welcomed to fund its own way into any regional activity, if desired. Greece were also relegated to Division 4.

The European Cricket Council's European Cricket Championships, which are being held in Scotland, are the first to be organised under the auspices of the International Cricket Council’s World Cricket League.

The tournament will feature 13 countries in two divisions playing 30 matches in seven days at 12 west of Scotland grounds, starting on Thursday (August 3).

The Division 1 sides - Scotland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Denmark and Italy - will play a round-robin tournament, from which there is no relegation. The three matches involving the first three named teams are deemed by the International Cricket Council as official One-Day Internationals, and will be played at Ayr Cricket Club, where ground facilities have been upgraded with support from South Ayrshire Council.

Scotland’s other two matches will be played at New Anniesland (against Denmark) and Hamilton Crescent (against Italy).

Division 2 consists of eight teams - France, Germany, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Hellas (Greece), Israel, Jersey and Norway - who will play in two initial pools of four, followed by crossover semi-finals and four ranking finals - and one team will be promoted to the first division in two years’ time. The facilities at all grounds have been equipped with additional weather protection and other enhancements, thanks to a range of local authority grants and commercial support.

A huge bonus is available for the Division 2 teams, with the winners not only promoted to the European Division 1 in 2008, but also a place in the new ICC World Cricket League Division 5 in 2007-08. This team will receive $20,000 towards preparation of that event, the venue of which is still to be decided.

Hellas, otherwise known as Greece, return to Lord's in February to defend their title of the European Cricket Council (ECC) Indoor Championship. They face Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Portugal in a bid to retain the title they won in Herning, Denmark last year. Full report on Cricinfo.