Cricket In Europe - A Summer Of Discovery

Teams were pulled up this week for having 3 logos on their pad straps instead of having the ICC regulation one (even though it was an official ICC supplier too!).  This is nonsensical.  It’s not the fault of the officials here because they are given the rules and have to enforce them but they shouldn’t apply in tournaments like this.  It’s fine for a Limited Overs International watched all-round the world when sponsorships are an issue and hugely valuable but in Corfu in a match watched by just one non-team related attendee (me) and a bunch of Romanian refugee children at Ropa Valley, this sort of inflexibility and big brother approach has to be eradicated.

I hope this can be achieved because if ever there was a huge blank sheet of paper, this is it.  So much can happen in all of these countries and there is of lot of good work going on behind the scenes in the countries and with the ICC Europe team, but it needs time, money, enthusiasm and commitment from all parties.  We look forward to being part of the future of European associate and affiliate cricket and hope to see if grow quickly.

Darren Talbot is Director of Twenty20 Cricket Company Limited and covered these tournaments for their associate & affiliate cricket nation website, www.t20international.org.