Carmel CC

• Home
• About
• Find Us/Contact
• Fixtures
• Bulgaria
• Croatia
• Macedonia
• Hungary
• Serbia
• Romania
• Russia
• Wales

Captain: Craig Sinovich

Website: Croatia Cricket Federation

CROATIA SQUAD

Craig Sinovich
Zdenko Leko
Jasen Butković
Daniel George
Tony Grgurić
Antonio Lipanović
Lenko Marinković
Mate Jukić
Nikola Davidović
Ivan Pazanin
Andrija Čuravić
David Lambasa
Vivek Sharma

ABOUT CRICKET IN CROATIA

The first game of cricket to be played in Croatia was in 1815 on the Island of Vis where Sir William Hoste, the then governor, introduced the sport after Great Britain defeated Napoleon and gained a presence on the Dalmatian coast.  When the English navy left the Croatian coast some years later, they took with them all of their cricket bats and balls, leaving the locals without the requisite equipment to continue playing the sport.

It was not until Croatia gained it’s freedom in the 1990’s, when young Croats from cricket playing nations (Australia, New Zealand, South Africa) started returning to the land of their forefathers, that organised cricket we reintroduced into Croatia.

In 1998 Zagreb Cricket Club was the first club to be formed and Croatia now boasts four clubs, Hrvatski Sokol Zagreb (4 Teams), Sir William Hoste Vis, Sir Oliver Split (2 Teams) and Komiža who play in various competitions throughout the year.

The season starts with the winter Indoor competition which up to the National Indoor Tournament held in February. Once the snow melts, the Croatian Super League kicks off and takes place between Select XI’s from Zagreb, Vis and Split on a home and away basis.

The National League consists of two conferences and 8 teams. The Northern Conference is played between the four teams based in Zagreb, while the Southern Conference is battled out by our Dalmatian colleagues. The winner of each conference plays a final to decide the National League Champions.

In the lead up to the EuroTwenty20, the Sveti Ante (St. Anthony’s) T20 competition is held on the weekend closest to the Saint’s celebration.  The competition is an ideal chance for players to show their form and earn a spot in the Croatian ‘A’ side which has for the past two years taken part in the EuroTwenty20 in Carmel. 

This tournament provides an ideal environment for our 'A' Team to compete at international level and although our success to date at the competition has been limited, the experienced gained by our rising stars bodes well for our future.

2010 has been an exciting year to date, particularly with the expansion of our junior programme.  Having an established presence in six centres around the country both boys’ and girls’ cricket is thriving, meaning that the forthcoming national Junior Competition scheduled for September/October will certainly be an exciting and tight competition.

Another new initiative for 2010 was the staging of a Junior Cricket Festival, which was held recently in Budenec between participating teams from Zagreb, Slovenia and Hungary, and proved to be a fantastic success.  With this we have laid the foundation for our juniors to represent their country on the cricket field as well as have the opportunity to meet their peers from neighbouring countries.

Off the field, 2010 has been successful also, with our Federation being accepted as a full member of the Croatian Olympic Committee, to add to our existing ICC Affiliate Member status which we have held since 2001.  Our national teams is currently ranked 13th in Europe.

With the foundations laid, the Croatian Cricket Federation has set its sights on bigger things with our 20/20 Vision. The EuroTwenty 20 can continue to play an important role in the implementation of this Vision and we look forward to an enjoyable and beneficial week in Skopje come July.