The first international youth indoor cricket tournament took place on the 11^th and 12^th of March at Olga Petrov primary school in Padinska Skela. Taking part in the tournament were four teams, two each from Belgrade and Budapest, representing the Serbian Cricket Federation and the Bat and Ball Cricket Academy (BBCA), respectively.

 

The Bat and Ball Cricket Academy is run by 2 experienced coaches and former selectors of the senior Hungarian national cricket team – Duncan Shoebridge and Andrew Leckonby. Within the coaching ranks they also have the captain of the women’s national team, Csilla Fodor.

 

The tournament consisted of 10 league-style matches, with each team playing each other twice. The matches were 10 overs long and each team had 6 players.

The two stand-out teams from the very beginning of the tournament were the Serbian A team and the BBCA A team, and it was clear that one of them would end up winning it. Serbia A started strongly, winning against their main rivals in a tightly-contested opening game, followed by two convincing wins against the visitors’ younger team. However, perhaps feeling slightly overconfident, Serbia A suffered an unexpected loss to Serbia B! The 2^nd team also played admirably against both Hungarian sides, losing narrowly to BBCA B in the final moments of the match. Following their opening match defeat, BBCA A played increasingly assuredly, winning a close match against Serbia B, and completing easier wins against Serbia B and BBCA B.

 

The second day started off with a surprise victory for BBCA B against their more experienced team-mates, BBCA A, decided by a thrilling finish. The following match was played between Serbia A and Serbia B, with Serbia A learning from their defeat and winning by 4 wickets. Inthe third place decider, Serbia B lost their way again in the closing stages of the match, losing to BBCA A by 1 wicket.

 

With a fantastic fielding effort, the hosts were able to bowl out the batsmen of BBCA A for 70 runs, setting themselves an achievable target. However, the visiting team deserved their gold medal, as they bowled with such accuracy that the home team was all out for 58 runs.

 

Andy Leckonby, the founder of the Bat and Ball Cricket Academy, said: “We’re extremely happy with the hospitality shown to us, the quality of the tournament, as well as the very exciting and balanced matches. With our cities so close and well-connected, I expect that our ‘kids’ will be testing their abilities against each other for a period of time.”

 

Vladimir Ninković, the general secretary of the Serbian Cricket Federation confirmed that there are plans to send the Serbian ‘pioneers’ to Hungary for a 3-match T20 series between the national sides later in the spring.

 

Results.

Match 1. BBCA “A” 80 (Theo Warsman 12, Edwards 8; Vučetić 2-14, Zimonjić V 1-8) – Serbia A 82/5 (Vučetić 28, Zimonjić N. 21; Theo Warsman 2-20). Serbia “A” won by 1 wicket.

Match 2. Serbia “B” 66/4 (Tomić 12, Veljković 7; M. Ainsworth 1-8, Shelley 1-11, Marosy 1-12) – BBCA “B” 67/5 (R. Ainsworth 13, M. Ainsworth 9, Shelley 8; Veljković 1-10, Vasilijević 1-12, S.Petrović 1-14). BBCA “B” won by 1 wicket.

Match 3. BBCA “B” 53 (Marosy 17; Edwards 2-14, Jackson 2-16) – BBCA “A” 54/1 (Bhasin 13*, Jackson 13, Venkatagirish 12*; Shelley 1-18). BBCA “A” won by 5 wickets.

Match 4. Serbia “B” 82 (Veljković 15*, Stojanović 8, Tomić 8; Theo Warsman 1-16) – BBCA “A” 83/3 (Theo Warsman 16*, Bhasin 9*; Tomić 1-15). BBCA “A” won by 3 wickets.

Match 5. Serbia “A” 100/4 (Zimonjić N. 17, Petrović N. 16*, Bekteši 8, Zimonjić V.8; Ainsworth M. 2-17) – BBCA “B” 45 (Gall 7, Marosy 6; Zimonjić N 2-11). Serbia “A” won by 55 runs.

Match 6. Serbia “B” 58 (Tomić 17, Gole 10*; N.Zimonjić 2-14) – Serbia “A” 34 (Vučetić 4, Petrović N 4;  Vasilijević 2-9, Veljković 2-13, Tomić 1-3). Serbia “B” won by 24 runs.

Match 7. Serbia “B” 21 (Tomić 11; Theo Warsman 2-0, Kumar 2-3, Bhasin 2-8) – BBCA “A” 23/1 (Tom Warsman 10*, Kumar 6*; Vasilijević 1-10). BBCA “A” won by 5 wickets.

Match 8. BBCA “B” 22 (Ainsworth M. 13; Stanić 3-0, Zimonjić V 2-4, Petrović  N 1-6) – Serbia “A” 23/2 (Bekteši 12*, Zimonjić V 10*; Marosy 1-10). Serbia”A” won by 4 wickets.

Match 9. BBCA “A” 34 (Tom Warhurst 13, Edwards 9; Shelley 3-8, Marosy 1-2) – BBCA “B” 37/5 (Gall 4, Venkatagirish 1-3, Edwards 1-7). BBCA “B” won by 1 wicket.

Match 10.  Serbia “B” 57 (Veljković 8, Jelić 6; Zimonjić V 2-6, Vučetić 1-9) – Serbia “A” 58/2 (Vučetić 16*, Zimonjić V 15*, Petrović N 9, Zimonjić N 8; Vasilijević 1-19, Stojanović 1-15). Serbia “A” won by 4 wickets.

Match 11. Serbia “B” 74/3 (Tomić 16*, Gole 7; R. Ainsworth 1-14, Shelley 1-15) – BBCA “B” 75/5 (Marosy 23, M.Ainsworth 13, Gall 8; Tomić 3-10). BBCA “B” won by 1 wicket.

 

Match 12. BBCA “A” 70 (Kumar 16, Venkatagirish 8; Stanić 1-7, Zimonjić N 1-14, Vučetić 1-15) – Serbia “A” 58 (Vučetić 18, Zimonjić V 12, Stanić 8; Kumar 3-4, Bhasin 2-10). BBCA “A” won by 12 runs.  

Runs scored: Vučetić Mihailo (Serbia A) – 76, Zimonjić Nemanja (Serbia A) – 66, Tomić Miroslav (Serbia B) – 65, Marosy Zoltan (BBCA B) – 54, Zimonjić Vukašin (Serbia A) – 47.

Batting average:  Tomić Miroslav (Serbia B) -16.25, Vučetić Mihailo (Serbia A) –15.2, Warsman Tom (BBCA A) – 13.66, Zimonjić Vukašin (Serbia A) – 11.75, Warsman Theo (BBCA A)  – 11.33.

Wickets taken: 8 – Zimonjić Vukašin (Serbia A), 6 – Kumar Shlok (BBCA A), Tomić Miroslav (Serbia B), Vasilijević Lazar (Serbia B), 5 – Stanić Dušan (Serbia A), Shelley Tom (BBCA B), Warsman Theo (BBCA A), Bhasin Shaan (BBCA A), Zimonjić Nemanja (Serbia A).

Economy rate: Venkatagirish Sai (BBCA A) – 3.24, Jackson Tom (BBCA A) – 5, Marosy Zoltan (BBCA B) – 5,85, Kumar Shlok (BBCA A) – 5.88, Petrović Nemanja (Serbia A) – 6.

 

Bowling average: Tomić Miroslav (Serbia B) – 6,67; Venkatagirish Sai (BBCA A) – 7.67, Kumar Shlok (BBCA A) – 7.83, Zimonjić Vukašin (Serbia A) – 8.625, Shelley Tom (BBCA B) – 11.6.