ARICLES 2007

Wednesday 20th June 2007

Harvey Norman Slovenian National Championships Day 2

Sunday 3rd June 2007 saw all four teams arriving at Valburga equal on points (with each team on one win, one loss) and all eyes on winning the trophy at the end of the tournament a few hours later. The first match saw Maribor beating Ljubljana Slovenes on the 2nd last ball of the match. Wides and not taking enough quick singles certainly hurt Ljubljana, who were far from disgraced.

Maribor batsmen Damijan Drobir and Gregor Bohinc steer their team to victory against Ljubljana Slovenes and a place in the final

The 2nd match promised to be a toughly fought won and indeed it was. The big hitting Bela Krajina might have started favourites, but in the end, the wise old heads of Mežica prevailed and we had a Mežica vs Maribor final to look forward to.

A moment of reflection for Mežica CC as they congratulate each other on reaching the 2007 final vs Maribor CC

But first we saw Bela Krajina restoring some pride with a comfortable win to finsih 3rd in their first competitive cricketing competition. Watch these guys next year, I have a feeling they are going to be very hard to beat. Ljubljana Slovenes had played well, but were never really able to put up big enough scores. On the plus side relative and complete newcomers Jaša, Klemen, Marko and Roman all showed us that they could have a lot to offer in the future and Robi Posl played as well as anyone had seen him before.

Bela Krajina walk off, having finished 3rd. Don't worry, they'll be back next time.

And so on to the final...

Maribor won the toss and elected to field. Borut Čegovnik, who had so far failed to impress with the bat was a determined figure as he faced the first ball. He soon had a fine flick to legside for 4 responsible for opening his scoring and he played well throughout ending on 17 including 3 glorious 4s. Rudi Lasnik again chipped in with a couple of valuable boundaries and his consistency helped earn him "batsman of the tournament". 75 runs was always going to be tough for Maribor to score, but was it enough for Mežica to defend.

In the end, it was. Despite a late flurry, by Gregor Bohinc with 17, Maribor were never really allowed to score without losing regular wickets and the title was heading to Koroška in the hands of the Mežicans.

It's trophy time, boys Mežica enjoy their moment as champions..

Thanks to all Ljubljana CC players who helped out with scoring, umpiring, barbecuing, ringing people to form a team etc. The whole day was a great success and a huge feather in our club's cap. I, personally can't wait for 2008.

Scorecards

Click for match scorecards

Game 5: Maribor CC defeated Ljubljana Slovenes by 1 wicket

Game 6: Mežica CC defeated Bela Krajina CC by 13 runs

Game 7: Bela Krajina CC defeated Ljubljana CC by 37 runs

Game 8: Mežica CC defeated Maribor CC by 16 runs

2007 Champions: Mežica CC

Runners up : Maribor CC

3rd Place : Bela Krajina CC

4th Place : Ljubljana Slovenes CC

For a full list of statistics from the tournament, click here

Monday 14th May 2007

Harvey Norman Slovenian National Championships Day 1

Saturday 12th May 2007 saw Day 1 of the 4 team Harvey Norman Slovenian National Championships. Ljubljana fielded a team as did Maribor CC, Mežica CC and newcomers Bela Krajina. Ljubljana was represented by 6 Slovenes (4 of whom had played less than 2 games between them) so it was fantastic to see them earn a great victory in the final match of the day against the highly fancied and big-hitting Bela Krajina side.

The first match of the day saw Bela Krajina beat Maribor. The second Mežica accounted for Ljubljana. The 3rd saw Maribor win off the last ball against Mežica and Ljubljana won the final game against Bela Krajina. We have also divided the photos into 4 sections which can be found here: Bela Krajina, Ljubljana, Maribor and Mežica.

All in all, a fantastic day was held and the future for Slovenian cricket suddenly appeared a little brighter with some good young talent on display.

Current table

Team	Played	Won	Lost	Points	Net Runs
Bela Krajina CC	2	1	1	2	169
Mežica CC	2	1	1	2	134
Maribor CC	2	1	1	2	121
Ljubljana Slovenes	2	1	1	2	118

Scorecards

Click for match scorecards

Game 1: Bela Krajina CC defeated Maribor CC by 41 runs

Game 2: Mežica CC defeated Ljubljana Slovenes CC by 41 runs

Game 3: Maribor CC defeated Mežica CC by 3 wickets

Game 4: Ljubljana Slovenes CC defeated Bela Krajina CC by 15 runs

The crowd watch all the action of Day 1

Vinko bowls to Rudi of Mežica

"I reckon we should try and hit some 6s," Robi suggests some rather predictable tactics to Egon

Maribor celebrate the fall of the first Bela Krajina wicket

Dave Ibbotson proposes some new coloured clothing.

Monday 14th May 2007

Ljubljana at Harvey Norman Slovenian National Championships

Ljubljana team photo before the game.

New player Marko bowls his first over in cricket.

Ljubljana captain for the day Robi Posl comes in to bowl.

Vinko shows the new players how to do it

Birthday boy Jaša takes guard.

Dave Ibbotson helps Jaša with some coaching.

Robi Posl on strike vs Mežica.

Robi welcomes debutant Marko to the middle.

Saturday 5th May 2007

First matches vs Mežica and First win for Maribor

On Wednesday 2nd May 2007, Maribor CC played in its first official matches vs fellow Slovene club Mežica CC in Mežica in the north of the country. Paul told me that he had found 12 players for the first match, most of them being Slovene and new to cricket.

2 games were played, in which Mežica won the first by 12 runs, but the second was won by Maribor quite easily. A good start for the club and a good rehearsal for the Slovenian Championships in Ljubljana next week.

Enjoy the following pictures (click for larger versions).

Mežica CC vs Maribor CC at Ručnik nad Mežico Wednesday 2nd May 2007

Mežica the 2007 version. These guys were the first to play cricket in Slovenia on these very fields. Back together to compete against the brand new Maribor CC.

The Historic first team photo.This is Maribor CC posing before playing their first official game. They would end the day with a win under their belt as well.

"Let's put the pitch here." Preparations begin for the big match. OK maybe not the flattest surface in the world, but the view makes up for it. It was still organised better than the recent ICC World Cup, too.

Warming up The players get ready to begin this historic day in Slovenian cricket..

For more on the two clubs featured here.

Click here for Maribor CC or here for Mežica CC