Slovenia aim for improved performance

It has been six years since Slovenia last hosted a European tournament, but former captain Mark Oman believes the ICC European Division 3 Championship will allow the country to show how far its cricket structures have developed, and also provide a chance to atone for their winless run at the Division Four tournament in Cyprus two years ago.

"It's great coverage to bring the tournament to Slovenia, it helps spread the word across the country about the game," said Oman. "We have eleven Slovenia born players in our squad which just shows the good work that is being done and the more people that are getting involved.

"We have a good standard and it is a good reflection, the Valburga [Cricket Ground] venue is one we have used in cricket coaching courses for the past eight years and shows the versatility we have here."

Slovenia have been an Affiliate member of the ICC since 2005, but a winning finish in this tournament would take them to the Division Two Championship in Belgium in June and one step further towards the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka in 2012. That dream is a long way off, but Oman stressed that even the faint possibility gave the players a goal to work towards.

"I think this pathway is a fantastic opportunity for any Affiliate and Associate members within the ICC to make their way into a global qualifier and even more so an ICC World Twenty20. It gives a great incentive to know the opportunities that are there and personally to have the chance to achieve an ambition to be involved at the top level of this game is great for all players."

Oman, who has handed the leadership reins over to batsman Tom Furness, has been training in his native Australia but there rest of the team have been in camp in Slovenia to prepare for the important competition. "The teams have been training here in Slovenia, with a training programme focused on doing well in this tournament. They have been training twice a week, had a set of Twenty20 friendly games and worked really hard on their fitness, with Tom Furness really pushing the squad.

"For me personally, I have spent my training time away from the team, playing cricket back in Australia. This has given me great preparation to be able to play outdoor cricket for some time and arrive back in Slovenia to join up with guys a couple of weeks ago.

"We are definitely aiming to improve on our performance from 2009. We had a very young squad back then. We are far more experienced and are a lot stronger, and also playing at home should have a slight benefit, so hopefully we can perform the way we know we can."