Hungarian cricket girls reach semis in Germany

The distance and cost couldn't keep them away, the snow stacked up on both sides of the motorways couldn't slow them down, but the Hungarian Ladies U17 team finally came unstuck in the semi-finals of the 3rd European Ladies U17 Indoor Tournament, held in Oldenburg, Germany on the weekend of February 14 and 15. A loss to the strong Holland team was not a surprise, but it brought to an end their relatively successful run in the event, racking up three victories against German teams along the way.

This is the only international indoor girls tournament in mainland Europe and is such a ground-breaking event that it won the International Cricket Council's Global Women's Initiative Award in 2007 - this year's edition may well win 2009's award for its slick organisation and prioritising of cricket for girls.

Out of the eight Hungarian girls, three have been playing cricket since 2007 and five since only last September, so Hungary was by far the most inexperienced of the five teams competing, reflecting its relative infancy in cricket in general. However, the performances of two girls in particular (Brigi Hotea and Claudia Balogh) drew lots of praise from other coaches and Adrienn Zics showed lots of potential with both bat and ball - her modern pentathlon training often conflicts with cricket, so before the tournament she had only actually been to seven coaching sessions.

In contrast, the host team were at full strength and have played together for three years indoors and outdoors with a number of coaches, while Schwerin included one 24-year-old. Holland proved their extensive coaching set-up and professionalism by fielding a team made up of old hands and the youngest players in the tournament – their 12-year-old all-rounder Roos took home the Best Player award.

Despite the singing and the snoring en route, the traveling could have been smoother. At one point, the team found themselves up in the mountains and passed the location of last year's toboggan world championship - the map-reading skills of the girls left something to be desired. The minibus, kindly donated for the weekend by Fox Autorent, also found itself lost in Budapest, Prague and Oldenburg, as well as on the wrong motorway heading in the wrong direction twice.

“The trip was fantastic,” says Hotea. “We want to go back to Oldenburg very soon! The families we stayed with were lovely and the whole experience was amazing.”

The girls now have to improve all of their skills (batting, bowling, fielding and map-reading) before they take on their next challenge – the Europa Cup, an U17 outdoor cricket tournament in Munich in May with eight countries represented. After that, plans are in place for Budapest to host the first-ever central European women’s cricket matches, with Germany and the Czech Republic lined up as opponents.

However, it wasn't until Fox Autorent in Budapest kindly offered a courtesy minibus for the girls to travel in that coach Andy Grieve could confirm the team's participation.

"Last year the tournament was just outside Berlin and there were cheap flights, so everything went smoothly," says Grieve. "I expected the same this year until Ryanair cancelled their Budapest-Bremen route in December - suddenly we were faced with not being able to repeat last year's adventure. But Fox saved our bacon."

As well as playing cricket, the trip was a chance for the young Hungarians to meet and watch much more experienced players. Plus they had a cultural experience - they stayed with German families during the tournament and visited a local school before starting their long drive home. Furthermore, due to the long distance Grieve had to drive, they enjoyed stopovers in Prague in both directions. "Travelling makes the girls practise! It's one of the main motivations for them to improve their skills."

Unfortunately, this year the two English teams who contested the 2008 final couldn't come - the exchange rates made the trip too expensive.

In 2008 the Hungary team came sixth out of the eight teams involved and the Presidents International Team, containing three Hungarian girls, came fifth. [Click here to read a report and see some photos ]. Only three of last year's 12 Hungarians made the trip again, partly due to natural attrition (many teenagers drop sport as their studies become more difficult), partly due to the cost of the trip. Each player pays to go to each tournament, with sponsorship subsidies keeping the price as low as possible.

Once again, Comenius School in Székesfehérvár supported this trip financially. They have done so ever since cricket started being played there in November 2006. All eight players who went to Oldenburg attend Comenius School and are members of Comenius CC, which competes in the Hungarian Cricket League, but there are also female cricketers in Budapest, Kecskemét and Szolnok.

The team wore the Hungary national team kit, sponsored by Kancellar.hu Kft, a leading IT security firm in Budapest, whose Consultancy and Financial Director Ferenc Zsigri recently took over from Grieve as President of the Hungarian Cricket Association.

"Hungarians playing cricket - that is our main goal," says Zsigri. "We've got such huge plans, and sending teams to Oldenburg and other tournaments is a big part of them. We're putting Hungary on the international cricket map!"