Cricket in Luxembourg?... Ya it is true
Sometimes you might hear some facts which will be hard to believe and you might not even consider that as a fact, and just let it go as fictitious story. So we are going to see something you might not have imagined, but still it is true. Ya, friends in this article let us discuss the development of cricket in the European country of Luxembourg. Really I was amazed to see that, cricket is being played in Luxembourg, while I was surfing the internet and so I’ve decided to write a article about it.The image belowgives you the idea, where Luxembourg is
When we consider the origin of the game, it was started in1976 mainly due to the British settlers in 1976 when the famous cricket club called as Optimists Cricket Club (OCC) was established.
This Optimists Cricket Club is also called as the Optimists. They are extremely powerful team in Luxembourg and as a matter of fact they also participated in the Belgian league and managed to win the title thrice in 1991, 1994 and 1995.
Cricket were largely played by the people of British and Indian origin. Credit must goes to this club, because they are responsible for the formation of many other clubs in Luxembourg.
But when it comes to the National team, the first step towards achieving goal was in 1994 when Luxembourg Cricket Federation (LCF) was established and as a matter of fact this federation consists of only 3 local clubs.
But they got the International recognition, 4 years later in 1998, when the ICC gave them the Affiliate membership standards of the ICC in 1998. In 2008 there were six clubs that belong to the LCF and they play a different form, which is 35 over’s per side and apart form that during the winter season they also play a indoor cricket league, which was started during the winter of 2004.The indoor team also participate in the Indoor tournaments which was held in Denmark and England. Luxembourg team is currently ranked 78th of 90 national teams by Cricket Europe
In Luxembourg at present there are 6 clubs including the optimists and let us discuss about some other clubs
i) Communities Cricket Club
#) It was established in 1986
#) It is the second cricket club in Luxembourg after the Optimists, which was established 10 years back in 1976
#) At present CCC plays in the Luxembourg League, and together with the combined team of other clubs, they play in Belgian League.
#) Apart from this they also played in many friendly match in different parts of Europe.
#) Usually in Luxembourg during the summer between April and September they play cricket as an outdoor sports and when it comes to winter they don’t waste time as they play it indoor.
ii) Duck & Ferrets Cricket Club
iii) Maidens and Knights Cricket Club
iv) Star Cricket Club
These clubs are formed by the people of Asian - subcontinent
International Exposure:
When it comes to International level competition, they started to play from 2003 and some of the tournaments are listed below,
i)2003: They participated in the European Trophy held at Vienna in 2003.They made their international debut in this tournament
ii)2004: They went to Slovenia to participate in the European Representative Championship. This is their second international tournament after making their debut in Vienna.
iii)2005: Participated In the European, held at Herning, Denmark
iv)Feb. 2006: They travelled to Lords to participate in The European Indoor Championship
v)2006: They took part in the ICC European Division 4 Championship which was conducted in Belgium.
vi)2006: They participated in the forty-over European Cricket Council Division Four Championship and they did an excellent job as they finished third overall, yet the failed to be promoted to the next stage when they lost to Cyprus in the last over.
vii)2008: A 8 man team went to Kuortane, Finland to participate in the ICC European Indoor Championship, for the third time and they finished 6th after defeating France and Greece. This is the higher position ever in this tournament
vii)2009: ICC European Division 4 championships in Cyprus in 2009. Their team was led by William Heath and this is the 4th international Outdoor tournament that Luxembourg has participated. This is a 6 nation tournament that includes teams such as Austria, Cyprus, Finland, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Switzerland They did pretty well to finish 4th after winning two out of 5 matches.
Ground facilities:
Pierre Werner Ground
This ground is named after Pierre Werner's who is the former patron and also the honorary Optimists' President and it was named after his death. This ground is located at Walferdange by the river Alzette and the credit goes to Optimists Cricket Club as they provided this ground to Walferdange Commune.
Schuman Oval
This ground is named after 'father of Europe' Robert Schuman and this ground is located on his farm. This ground is located in Evrange and the interesting things about this, is that it is located 300 meters inside France, but less than ten miles from Luxembourg's city centre. NottsSports was responsible for laying these artificial track with the help of European Cricket Council and also with Communities C.C.
Development Programs:
Senior players of the Luxembourg team are trained at a regular basis and most clubs have their own regular training night. When we consider the junior level program special camp and coaching were conducted for U 13 players. Apart from this they also train in the Level 1 coaches and they also conduct program for that
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