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Compelled to play international cricket, Angus Bell, 24, from Coulter in the Scottish Borders, recently completed an 8,000-mile cricket tour in his Sköda of 15 central and Eastern European nations.

Beginning with a tournament on ice in Estonia, his journey took him to Slovenian Alps, Slovak villages, Croatian military islands, and dictator-led Belarus in search of his first century. “I couldn’t believe it when I came across the teams on the ECC website,” he said. “It was a great opportunity to boost my batting average, and to witness the talent in the lesser-known cricketing nations. The standard was frightening. Australia should be more worried than they are.”

Bell is currently writing a book about his trip, called Slogging The Slavs, which he hopes will be released at the end of 2006 in time for the next Ashes. “The stories were off-the-wall,” he said. “There were reports of fingerless Tamils taking catches in Prague, bomb plotters in the Austrian Alps, an MI6 secret agent, and a ghost and an orgy on the cricket field. There was even a murdered corpse in one pavilion. I learned there is nothing innocent about the Slavic game.”

Bell ended up captain of an international cricket team, and was accused of shoplifting in the biggest Tesco in the universe in Hungary. He became the first man to hit a ball between continents, and formed a new cricket club in Serbia, who hope to make it to the London 2012 Olympics. “My arms are still tingling from the drive,” he said. “I would encourage any team to tour central and Eastern Europe, maybe in smaller excursions, though. The hospitality and quality of play throughout the season was unrivalled.” “As for that hundred,” he added, “you’ll just have to wait for the book to find out what happened.”

For more information on Angus Bell’s tour and his books, see www.angusjjbell.com