Photo © ECC

Besides my job as treasurer of the DCB, I am in charge of the cricket in Buxtehude (a town some 23 miles south west of Hamburg). Our club - the TSV Buxtehude-Altkloster - has some 3.000 members (all sorts of sports from basketball to football and, of course, cricket) of which the cricket branch has 30 members including a growing team of youngsters.

Photo © ECC

Sponsored by the DCB, we had a "Junior Cricket Day" with boys from 11 to 15 years of age, in a big gym in Buxtehude on 5 April. Nine of our boys from Buxtehude plus nine from Hamburg and five from Berlin enjoyed the training under John Kirby and Keith Thompson (DCB coaches), Rupert Lavington (DCB sports director), assisted by our new level 1 coaches from Buxtehude, Ian and Roger. In the afternoon we even had a tournament with the teams playing each other. The whole day was a tremendous success thanks to the DCB, who made it possible for the boys from Berlin to travel to Buxtehude, and the work of John, Keith, Rupert, Ian and Roger. Without doubt we will soon see some sort of junior league here in the North, if the local authorities can be convinced to let us have grounds to play on.