A year on from the first-ever junior tournament in Hungary and the improvement was there for all to see. The Bekescsaba teams (this time only two, because they couldn't find a big enough bus to bring all their players) showed how well they can play now to erase the disappointment of 2010 - this time around they came first and second, a fantastic achievement. Talentum came along after just two months of training and learned a lot. Four Budapest boys with British roots showed their skills. And one of the local Szanda teams caused an upset and came within 3 runs of second place.

A great day of cricket, enjoyed by all
Exciting batting, clever bowling, brilliant catches, sensational run-outs: the day had everything, including a ‘last ball of the day’ victory to the eventual Champions. On a truly special day for Hungarian cricket, more than 50 children took part in the 2nd annual Hungary Primary Schools Indoor Cricket Championships. All except two of the children were Hungarian Citizens, proving that the future of native cricket in this country is bright and strong. Throughout the day all teams were models of ‘The Spirit of Cricket’, with players, coaches, and spectators alike enjoying the day for what it was: a fun, competitive day of impressive indoor cricket.

Thank you HCA, ICC and Steve Anthony
The tournament was funded by the HCA and also benefitted from the ICC’s increasing recognition of the growth of cricket in Hungary: the wonderful donations of cricketing equipment received from the ICC became the prizes for the children winning individual awards, and also gifts for the coaches who brought all these young cricketers together - gifts will improve their coaching even more. Special thanks must also go to HCA Head of Umpires Steve Anthony for volunteering his whole Sunday to umpire in this tournament.

Champions
Surprising even themselves, Blue Jays 2 outperformed their more favoured friends Blue Jays 1 to finish as deserving champions. This didn’t come easily though – Blue Jays 2 had to defeat Szanda CC 1 in the final match of the day to earn the title. Victory was secured on the very last ball of the innings – indeed, the very last ball of the entire tournament - with Blue Jays 2 winning the match by just 2 runs.

Incredible improvements
In a performance mirroring the Hungarian Men’s Official National Cricket Team efforts in the Euro Twenty20 tournament, the Blue Jays teams transformed themselves from bottom of the heap to Champions in the course of just 12 months. Having occupied the bottom four places in the 2010 tournament, Blue Jays’ two teams finished 1st and 2nd in 2011. Congratulations to the children and their coach Simon Metcalfe for achieving such impressive improvements.

Debut tournament
Talentum CC (a team of Hungarian children from Szekesfehervar who had been learning cricket since just December 2010) and Bat and Ball Junior Cricket Club (a team of expatriate and Hungarian children from Budapest also in their first year of organized cricket) each made their debut at this tournament, finishing 6th and 4th respectively.

More to come
Even before the day was over, children and parents were asking ‘when can we do this again?’ The coaches are working hard to ensure that the wait is not too long. Thank you to coaches Jerry Bloemsma, Andy Grieve, Simon Metcalfe and Andrew Leckonby for all the arrangements for the tournament, and congratulations to all for making it such a great success.