Slovakia hosts Cricket Day 2007

In answer to the question "What is cricket?", 10 years ago, my answer would have been very concise and hesitating. All I knew at that time was that it is the sport of Englishmen. But if someone asked any pupil of the Elementary school in Hájske the same question nowadays, everyone would be surprised in what details they can talk about this sport. The reason why the local kids are so knowledgable is that Hájske has been the cradle of cricket for nearly seven years.

On the 12th May the Slovak Cricket Club organized "Cricket Day 2007" on the local football pitch. The popularity of this day is growing each year because it is the day when all the cricket fans meet including English and Indians living in Slovakia. Each year Hájske is honoured to welcome the members of the British and Indian Embassy, as well as other important people.

And how do we prepare for the cricket day? Our players watch the weather forecast one week in advance, they prepare the pitch, look for the possible sponsorships and do their best to make things work. The person who is responsible for a fluent and perfect organization and has full hands of work is the president of the club. He evaluates this year?s event very positively.

It was raining two days before the 12th, however, Saturday appeared to be sunny at least in the morning. The parking space in front of the pitch was got full mainly with foreign cars because noone wanted to miss the traditional international match of Indian and English team against the Slovak cricket club. Then the traditional raffle followed and even though it was accompanied by a sudden and heavy rain, a good mood of people lasted until the end of the day.

Anyway, this year the cricket day differed from other days. The highlight of the day was the match of English and Indian kids from British International School against the local kids. It was amazing to see their great enthusiasm and joy of the game. The best players were awarded with medals and other prizes were given to kids who won other cricket competitions.

Afterwards, the barbecue for kids was prepared and I took the chance to talk to them. A ten-year-old Tomas told me: "Most of all I was afraid of how we will be able to play with kids who cannot speak Slovak. But while playing the game we forgot about it."

I think there is nothing more to add...The cricket day in Hájske proved again that sport makes people close to each other whatever language they speak.