Relaxing sound of leather on willow heard in Baltics

  • 2001-09-13
  • Tim Ochser
RIGA - In Riga's VEF Stadium on Sept. 2, a leisurely battle was fought between Latvia and Estonia. The crowd watched nervously from the stands as the two teams pitted their skills against each other. At last, Estonia was bowled out for 117 runs in 10 overs and Latvia won the day with 118 runs in 20 overs. Yes, this sporting battle involved cricket, that most genteel of sports.

Cricket was originally thought up by the English, and the British empire cast it out to far-flung corners of the world like Australia, South Africa, India and Pakistan, which now have the best teams in the world. The sport thrives in many other parts of Africa and Asia, and the Caribbean. Now, cricket has arrived in the Baltics.

Pramod Arora, an Indian businessman in Riga who plays for Latvia's new national team, explains. "We're trying to popularize this wonderful sport in both Latvia and Estonia. We've made a good start, but what we really want is to involve more local people. At the moment the teams are pretty much made up of ex-pats."

The efforts of these keen cricketers are being helped by the London-based European Cricket Council, which has supplied them with free kits and equipment as well as a grant to promote the game, arrange friendly matches, and get much-needed experience for the newcomers.

The ECC assistance comes with the condition, however, that the game be developed in local schools, with the eventual aim that teams be formed for competitions.

Estonia seems to have taken to the game like a duck to water, according to Michael Van Schaik, a businessman and coach of the Estonian team.

"We've had a very enthusiastic response to cricket from the Estonian youth. So far we've supplied kits and training to about 45 schools, and we've attracted a lot of interest from the community. We hope to establish the game as a feature of life here."

Perhaps, for those of you who don't know the first thing about cricket, a brief overview of the rules and aims of the game are in order. There are 11 people per side. The aim is to get more runs than the other team within an innings, which is made up of 50 overs. One over is six bowls.

Think of baseball, but instead of running round bases you run from one wicket to another and back again. The members of the bowling team are scattered about, positioned in the best way to catch out the batting team. And all the players look very fetching in white kits.

But why should anyone take up this sport when there are so many other more familiar ones to play? "The beautiful thing about cricket is that anyone can play it," said Van Schaik. "It doesn't matter what shape or size you are. It's a leisurely sport and it makes a wonderful social event. It even has a lunch break."

And what are the ultimate aims? Will Latvia and Estonia one day take on the mighty Australia in the world cup?

"Our aims are very simple. Firstly, we want Latvia and Estonia to get official recognition as cricketing countries from the ECC. To do this we have to develop the game at a grassroots level. We have to get people involved. We hope in the near future to bring some of England's county teams over to play against. We can't improve as cricketers unless we get to play against some of the major teams. And yes, who knows, maybe one day we'll even be playing on the international stage."

Latvia is off to Helsinki on Sept. 15 to play against Finland. After that the cricket season, which generally runs from April to September, will close. But the efforts of the Latvian and Estonian teams will go on.

Former British Prime Minister John Major once famously invoked cricket in his vision of how England should be. And, indeed, there is an almost surreal charm about the sport in its sheer gentility, when you contrast it with the histrionics of most contemporary sports.