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Budapest in the late '90s
In April 1996 Dr Padma Gannoruwa, the then Sri Lankan Consul in Hungary and an old Kingswoodian who had played for his College first XI in the 1960s started a cricket initiative in Budapest
A cricket team captained by Dr Gannoruwa comprising both Hungarians and expats was formed and played several cricket fixtures with teams from Germany, Austria and even a touring British Club
During the warm months they had weekly cricket practice at the Budapest University Sports Grounds and indoor cricket coaching camps in winter in the Budapest Sports Stadium
This all came to an end when Dr. Gannoruwa left Hungary and there was no organised cricket in Budapest (apart from one-off matches between company teams) until 2007... |
Miskolc in 2003
In 2003, the Brit-Magyar Club in Miskolc was introduced to cricket by a British man and they continued playing for two years - now they have 10-20 people who understand cricket, but there is no regular training |
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Székesfehérvár in 2006
 In September 2006 native English teacher Andy Grieve introduced cricket at the Comenius School summer camp
The game proved popular and soon training sessions were being held three times per week; the school constructed double-bay nets in September 2007 and has over 30 active cricketers
It is due to the enthusiasm of the Comenius cricketers and the support of the school's management that Andy Grieve decided to create Hungary4cricket.com in November 2006 and organise cricket on a national level
A meeting was held in Budapest in November 2006 (attended by Andy Grieve, Andrew Leckonby, David Brown, Adolf Noll, Gyula Kiss and a lawyer) to lay the groundwork for cooperation on a national level |
Hungary in 2007
An open meeting was held in Becketts Irish pub in February, with 15 people in attendance (including Yusaf Akbar, Steve Anthony, Benjamin Lebor and Adrian Zador) - most people were sceptical about the prospects of cricket, but signed up to play for David Brown's team Dunabogdany CC
As a result of word-of-mouth, online advertising and open cricket days in Varosliget (initiated by Andy Grieve and taken over by Lucky Singh) the initial call for players in spring 2007 resulted in the creation of 6 teams with a combined total of 120 active players
Ten friendly matches were played from May to July 2007
On Sunday 15th July the first season of the Hungarian Cricket League commenced - after 15 league matches and Finals Day, Crown CC emerged victorious
A senior Hungary team took part in the Viennese World Cup 6-a-side tournament in June/July and the Hungarian national team travelled to Slovenia in September
Comenius CC organised trips to England, Slovenia and the Czech Republic for its young players (representing Hungary as the only juniors)
Matches were played on football pitches in Budapest and Dunabogdany |
Hungary in 2008
The number of teams in Hungary increased to eight with the arrival of Phoenix and the Danubian Kangaroos (made up of only Hungarian players)
On Saturday 28th June the second season of the Hungarian Cricket League commenced - after 27 league matches, semi-finals and final, the Royal Tigers emerged victorious
Matches were played on football pitches in Budapest and Dunabogdany, as well as on the lawn of Zichy-Hadik Kastely in Seregelyes
A Hungary team took part in the Viennese World Cup 6-a-side tournament again, the native Hungarian team played in Slovakia and the official Hungarian national team took part in the Prague International Cricket Cup Twenty20 tournament
The Hungarian girls team took part in the 2nd European Ladies U17 tournament in Germany, the youth team played in Vienna and Slovenia |
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