Jason Beer from Guttsta Wicked CC in Sweden recently held a very successful introduction to cricket for 21 people. All participants thoroughly enjoyed themselves in a 1‡-hour game on a gravel football field, with 2 overs per batting pair, 1 over bowling per person, hit and run with a tennis ball, minus 5 runs for a wicket, 2 runs for wides and no extra ball bowled. Participants picked their own fielding positions, and everyone played with a straight bat! They had minimal coaching - about 10 mins of basic explanation - and were all appealing loudly for run outs, catches etc after about only 5 overs. All but about 5 bowled correctly and they all helped each other understand what they should do. It was very simple to run, with Jason as umpire, scorer and coach (only to the extent of advising those who needed it). The match came down to the last ball.

The participants' understanding of how to play cricket went from 0 to around 7 out of 10 during the course of the match, and 10 signed up for the next park game.

Three coaching days for youngsters are planned for Stockholm in June, with around 100-120 participants expected in total.