Hungary toast remarkable first season
Will Luke
25-Feb-2013
 | ||
|
| ||
|
|
|
Caboodle, a "Hungarian portal," has a fascinating article on the rise of the great game in Hungary.
Before the season started this summer, many of the Hungarians had only seen cricket on TV and the majority of foreign residents involved hadn't played for years. Throughout the spring and summer, Grieve and Brown worked hard to bring their idea to life. Brown set up a team in his native village of Dunabogdány, Grieve continued training the students at the school he teaches at in Székesfehérvár. They were joined by four other XIs, two works teams and two outfits founded at open training days in the Városliget park.
All of the HCA participants from around the country were at the Taj Mahal to celebrate the season and dish out awards. Grieve brought a group of girls and boys from his school in Székesfehérvár to the event and awarded a prize to Fanni Cziráky, the best, and only, female player to compete in the league. "If cricket is to have a future in Hungary, we must involve the Hungarians and reach out to them," he said in his closing speech. He praised the school he teaches at, Comenius in Székesfehérvár, who have supported cricket at the school financially.
"I talk about cricket to my students all the time, and the language of cricket is English. That in itself is great for the kids," he said, "we have practice four times a week in a car park and it is great news for us that there is a competitive cricket league for us to be involved in. I am not a big cricketer, they were really my inspiration for helping start the league," he added.
Are you a Hungarian cricketer or follower? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
Will Luke is assistant editor of ESPNcricinfo