On 10-12 November the Bulgarian Cricket Federation held its first introductory mini cricket course for PE teachers. The course was part of the "Cricket Friends" project, aimed at fostering the game in schools. The course took place on the indoor playground at Sofia University Post Graduate Department, and was attended by 10 PE teachers from the towns of Pernick, Pleven, Dupnitsa and Sofia.

A special booklet was prepared for the course, including a course programme, basic rules of the game, general information about the "Cricket Friends" project, a series of mini cricket games, and details of the individuals and organisations involved.

The course was run by National Sports Academy Associate Professor Nikolay Kolev and Assistant Professor N. Koev, with assistance from Saif ul Rechman and Lewdmil Trenev, using Kwik Cricket sets provided by the ICC European Development Program.

The BCF and the Post Graduate Department are planning to set up two more courses before the end of 2003, in Pernick and Plovdiv, where schools have shown an interest in including cricket in their PE curriculum.

Everyone involved was delighted to see the "Cricket Friends" project take its first successful steps, and it is hoped that with ongoing cooperation between the BCF, Ministry of Sports & Education, the South African Embassy and the ECC, we shall see the project fulfilling all its objectives by 2005.