Photo © ECC

The Slovak Republic made its first foray into international cricket on Saturday 22 June, when VladimĚr Chud·cik and his colleagues travelled to Prague for a match against their Czech counterparts, Prague CC. There was an atmosphere of great anticipation on their arrival in Prague, where they were warmly welcomed by the Prague players. Conditions were excellent, sunny and hot, with a well prepared pitch. The 40 over match started at 11am, with Prague winning the toss and deciding to bat. At the end of the innings, the scoreboard showed 166/9.

Photo © ECC

The Slovaks knew they had a tough job ahead of them but made a great start with six off the first ball after lunch. A minor collapse halfway through the innings left the target of 167 looking a long way off, however, and by 6.30 they were all out for 110 in 33.1 overs. The players felt they had learnt a lot, though, and were happy with their encouraging performance. They were also delighted to have found new friends and contacts in Prague and made Slovak sporting history.

Slovak Team: A. Kaduc, T. Lences, O. Trubac, Martin Hambalek, M. Valasik, B. Stojka, Michal Hambalek, V. Chudacik, S. Macharias, P. Kuzela, J. Juricek, L. Popelkova