Cricket in Serbia: a player’s perspective!

Vladimir Ninkociv has reported on the state of his national game for us, from his home in Belgrade. Cricket is everywhere now guys, anf flourishing surprisingly well in pockets of the world, for instance Serbia! 

We are interested in the perspectives from club cricketers, who often have an insight to the experience, joys, challenges, and struggles even to organize regular formal cricket. These communities need and appreciate support- whether that be physical or moral.
Thanks to Vladimir, and we wish Serbian cricketers all the best in 2013!

Cricket in Serbia in 2013: it’s there and it’s growing

Despite a lack of serious investment, cricket is making steps towards becoming fully established sport in Serbia. The Serbian Cricket Federation (SCF) is endorsed by the sports’ governing bodies in Serbia – Ministry for Youth and Sports and Serbian Sports’ Association.
The curiosity of Serbian cricket is that it is run and played mainly by locals, with promotions/exhibitions for newcomers being run as often as possible. We have even been targeting the next generation- in elementary and secondary schools workshops are held on a regular basis.

Club Life: small but strong

Currently four clubs exist in Serbia, three of whom will contest the Serbian Cricket 40 over and T20 League –McKenzie Čačak CC (last year’s 40 over champion), Mirijevo CC (last year’s T20 champion) and Stari Grad CC.
The fourth club, Vračar CC, will play second tier of Serbian national competitions – 8-a-side league together with Zeleno Brdo (actually Mirijevo CC second team) and the youngest club in Serbia – Bodrog Deers CC, from the town of Bački Monoštor in northern Serbia. Due to poor weather conditions and incessant rains, domestic season has been postponed for late April, but will be extended until the second week of October.
We have implemented tight restrictions on overseas and imported talent, vital to ensure that our boys (who may not be of the highest standard yet, but will be in time) get a prominent role in matches. A maximum of 5 (40 over championship) or 4 (T20 league) expat players per team is allowed, whilst only locals are allowed in the “small”, 8-a-side league.

Serbia’s National Team

The Serbian national team will participate in this year’s Continental Cup in Bucharest. This  day will also stand as the official inauguration date  of the state-of-the-art Moara Vlasiei cricket ground! The maiden match on this new turf will be between Serbian and Hungarian native players, and is currently scheduled for the 5^th of May in Budapest.

Work to be done for us!

The most significant problem facing Serbian cricket – infrastructure – will be partially solved this year, when our artificial pitch is completed. This is being laid on the field next to the sports’ airport “Lisiciji Jarak”, a valuable patch of land leased to us from the Aeronautical Union of Serbia. Hopefully, the ground will become the home of Serbian cricket, with some bigger investment planned for the coming years.
Additionally, the construction of outdoor nets (two in south, two in east Belgrade) is planned for this summer. SCF hopes that 2013 will be a landmark year in the development of cricket in the region.
The new development projects will secure a sustainable future for our country’s cricket, and give us a platform to expand for years to come. Look out for Serbia!!

 

Australian Cricketers in Serbia

A big hit in the Balkans: Aussie expats find a second cricketing chance

Fledgling European cricket tournaments are giving Australian players another opportunity to play at the international level

Expat Australian Jeff Grzinic (right) with Croatian team-mates Michael Grzinic (left) and Pero Kastelan. Photograph: Courtesy of Jeff Grzinic

Chortling, along with a few giggles tinged with embarrassment, consume the innards of the minibus chugging into the wilderness.
Flatulence has triggered mirth from the passengers, comprised entirely of males. Predictably, the ambience is marked with testosterone. Banter, sport chit-chat and an array of juvenile antics occupy the banal bus journey. Boys will be boys. In other words, it's an archetypal cricket tour.

For one of the passengers, however, it's anything but normality. Joel Kelly still finds himself shaking his head in bemusement. How did I get here? It's a question Kelly often ponders.
Twelve months ago the Perth lad followed in the frenetic footsteps of many twentysomethings. He traded profession for backpacking and ventured on an indefinite European sojourn. He pictured adventure, revelry and perhaps some casual work to help prolong the jaunt.

It's doubtful he could have ever envisaged travelling on a bus in Bucharest as a member of the Serbian cricket team.
During his first season playing cricket in Serbia, Kelly established himself as the best batsman in the country. This was not entirely surprising considering Serbian cricket's mostly remembered internationally for being lampooned in Angus Bell's hilarious madcap travelogue Batting on the Bosphorus.
In his international cricket debut, the belligerent opener won player of the tournament to spearhead Serbia's competitive performance during a four-nation Twenty20 event in Romania.
It's not a sentence Kelly ever imagined would be written about him, but life on the road can take many unexpected roundabouts.

After being besotted by a Balkan beauty, Belgrade became Kelly's home abroad. The days drifting off the beaten track had ceased, as Kelly resumed employment and a more prosaic lifestyle ensued.

The drudgery of the working world and being in a foreign land away from friends and family had started to become a scourge. The boredom bane had to be tempered.
Like many down under, cricket had been Kelly's sporting pursuit as a youngster. It was a pastime he was particularly talented at. Playing grade cricket as a teenager had Kelly dreaming of one day wearing the baggy green.
But study, work and all the shenanigans associated with the infant stages of adulthood had consigned cricket to the scrapheap.
Kelly thought his competitive cricket days were a fading memory until a light bulb shone in his brain.
I should play cricket again. Wait, is cricket actually played in Serbia? Kelly would soon realise the quaint British game was making inroads in this cricket wasteland. After being discouraged during the 20th century for being "bourgeois", cricket has started to shed its "British snobbery" stereotype in Serbia.
"I wasn't necessarily surprised to find cricket played here but I thought it would entirely comprise locals," Kelly admits. "The local guys on the team are really passionate. It's amazing. It's a fledgling sport in Serbia but some of these guys are so knowledgeable and just love the game.

"Unsurprisingly the standard isn't anything like grade cricket in Australia. The Serbian guys are still learning how to play the game. That's why it's important for us expats to provide mentoring and help raise the standard of competition."
Rekindling his love for wielding the willow has been cathartic for Kelly. "I forgot how much I love playing the game and being part of a team," he says.
"Initially I played because I was getting bored in Belgrade and wanted to keep fit. But playing here has gone beyond my expectations."
Australian cricketers are scattered across the vast European continent. Some stumble into it in random Kelly style. Professional cricketers such as South Australian batsman Tom Cooper (Netherlands) represent their mother country in a bid to realise a dream of playing international cricket. Ditto for retired Australian and Tasmanian cricketer Michael Di Venuto, who played in Italy's failed Twenty20 World Cup qualifying bid last year.
For others, the European journey goes beyond cricket fulfilment. Reconnecting with heritage and developing a strong affinity with ancestry is the motivator for Jeff Grzinic.
Grzinic spent his formative years oblivious to his Croatian background. He had never been attached to his roots.
Grzinic was addicted to cricket at an early age. Grzinic played first grade cricket in Perth, but as a self-confessed "hard-working batsman", was never destined to become a professional cricketer.
Ten years ago, an unexpected phone-call changed his life. That may appear a blatant violation of hyperbole but its apt here.

Playing international cricket for Croatia during the European summer, was propositioned. Fast forward a decade, and Grzinic has found unexpected serenity in a Croatian "baggy red".
"Cricket kick-started my interest with my heritage, and I've been able to really get to know my family and Croatia," he says.
As someone who could arm-wrestle Mike Hussey for the Mr Cricket moniker, Grzinic relishes the opportunity to develop Croatian cricket. Contrary to perception, Grzinic believes playing in the cricket wilderness has honed his cricket skill set.
"You get very precious as a pennant cricketer in a strong cricketing country like Australia," Grzinic says. "Playing in Europe forces you to continually adapt your game to differing conditions, not only weather but the grounds, lack of practice facilities and the general playing standards."
Grzinic recently released his memoir, Machine Guns and Cricket Bats, and believes the work is not the culmination of his European cricket expedition, because for Grzinic, the journey is the reward.
Whilst Grzinic's quest has been emotive, Hayden Patrizi's pathway to Europe had its genesis in comical fashion.
Former Australia coach Tim Nielsen used to bombard Patrizi with barbs that would have impressed David Warner. "When I was at the Cricket Australia Academy of Excellence, Nielsen used to stir me up by sledging 'stop wasting your time here and play in Italy'," Patrizi chuckles.
A precocious wicketkeeper, Patrizi represented Western Australia at various junior levels and was on the fringe of state selection as a member of WA's second XI squad.
But a first-class career was agonisingly beyond his grasp. Perhaps it was Nielsen's banter that planted the seed. Perhaps it was the chance to be acquainted with his heritage, perhaps the opportunity to play international cricket was too tempting. Maybe it was all of the above.

Eventually, Patrizi starred for the Italian national team and showcased his prodigious ability in some of Europe's elitist cricket competitions.
"Italy are in division one in Europe and are one of the strongest teams over there," Patrizi says.
"The team is mainly propped up by expats – especially with a wave of people from the sub-continent immigrating to Italy in the past decade. But it was good to start seeing some Italians playing the game.
"I think the rise of T20 can help cricket's appeal. It's fast, exciting and relatively easy to understand. I think some of the top European teams can become pretty competitive at T20 in the future."
Cricket is unshackling its British imperialist origins and spreading to new frontiers. Expect more Australians to seek solace in cricket beyond the conventional boundaries.