A huge welcome to all the new players who have played with us this winter and you and new friends are all welcome all to join us for real summer cricket, attending evening trainings and or playing in the summer domestic league. Do not be shy, just come and get involved as all levels and ages of players are welcome and all are welcome to our end of winter party to be held at nimeta on the Friday night 27th (2 hours of drinks from 7pm -9pm maybe?).
Our plans for 2009 include the following:
Hipodrome ground improvements: New double practice nets are being bought and the ECA will make improvements to the field to smooth the playing surface with regular rolling and an improvement in the quality of grass cutting. Investigation is also taking place into creating a second cricket ground elsewhere in Tallinn.
International tournaments: Estonia will participate in our ICC division tournament in Corfu in September, defend our 6’s titles in Helsinki and we are challenging Finland to a women’s international tournament. We will have International games against Latvia and hopefully Lithuania as well as a visit from Norway. We also have a number of fixtures booked against good UK touring teams and are still in discussion with other teams about possible fixtures, so we will have a busy season. Check the web site to see the actual schedule of games.
Domestic League: Domestic fixtures and tournaments are planned for the 4 local Estonian teams and team selection will commence within the next two weeks providing an opportunity for all level of players to enjoy the game. Nandlal will update the website with dates for fixtures.
School and Youth Program: We have now bought more quick Kwik Cricket sets which we will give for free to schools and have held a very successful training at Kernu Põhikool. We would now like to encourage more schools to get involved and want to organise an inter-school tournament later in the year.
Coaching and Player Development: With Tim Filer on board as our National coach, all levels of players should find opportunity to develop their playing skills at different times, given the expanded training Hipodrome practice nets that will be available. We also welcome the new women players and look forward to creating a strong Estonian national women’s team.
2009 should be the best season yet for Estonian Cricket and I hope all players new and old can fully enjoy the second fastest growing sport in the world, a game that requires physical and mental skill, humility and respect for others, a high level of teamwork within an enjoyable social club environment.
Sincerely
Martin Dungay
ECA Chairman |
