Carmel CC

Captain: Timothy Hort

Ranking: *

Website: Czech Cricket Union

Early beginnings - Prague Cricket Club
Informal knockabout games of cricket had been prevalent in the Czech Republic for a number of years but the game really started to take root on an organised footing when the Prague Cricket Club was founded.

Prague CC was formed in 1997 with the intention of introducing cricket to the Czech Republic. The initial movement was started by a group of expatriates, and the club quickly welcomed players from established Test-playing countries as well as Czech players.

Prague’s inaugural match was played against Vienna’s Joint Venture CC on May 18, 1997 at the Stadion Mladeze and in June of the same year they also played a joint German-Austrian team captained by Dr Brian Fell, who is now president of the Deutschen Cricket Bund.

The club then obtained a ground located at Vypich, Praha 6, next to Obora Hvezda, on a leased strip of ground and got planning permission from Prague City Council to lay an artificial pitch. The ground's highly visible location (the 22 tram runs right alongside) ensured that a number of the indigenous population became curious and started to take up the game.

The club hosted and travelled to play matches against a number of other clubs sides from around Europe. Prague CC have faced teams from European clubs sides including Warsaw, Passau, Munich and Vienna. They have also taken part in the Austrian Cup and the Velden Sixes in previous seasons.

Affiliate Member status - early internationals
The Czech Cricket Union was formed and became an Affiliate Member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2000 - just three years after Prague CC was established.

Less than a year later, Czech Republic travelled to Ljubljana Cricket Club's Valburga ground for their first ever international match against Slovenia, in July 2001. The two-day match between the two countries ended in victory for the home side, but it was an important step in the move towards regular international cricket.

The Czech Republic staged a tournament, which also involved Slovakia and Poland in 2004, at their Vypich ground and also faced Austria twice in 2006. They had been scheduled to take part in Division Four of the 2006 ICC European Championships but were forced to postpone their involvement.

Czech Cricket Union League - domestic strength
To enable Czech cricket to develop, regular matches to be played and also meet criteria to compete in official ICC events, the four-team Czech Cricket Union league was launched in 2005 and won by Prague CC in its first season.

As popularity of the game grew the number of teams increased and the spread of the game reached the cities of Ostrava and Brno. The Czech Cricket Union Trophy league now boasts seven teams: Prague CC, Vinohrady CC, Prague Barbarians CC,  Medics CC, Brno CC, Ostrava CC and Prague Bohemians CC.

The CCU also launched a two division Winter League in January 2008. The league includes a Czech Lions side which enables the majority of the players from the national team to play together outside of the summer season.