Report
After coming away empty-handed from last season's tournament, Hungary's juniors were determined to go at least one better this time round. Bolstered by a 14-year-old Hungarian national who lives in England and an 18-year-old Pakistani living in Bicske (fresh from scoring Hungarian cricket's first-ever century) they travelled on the bus and metro full of hope and cheer.

First up for the Hungarians was a girls match, with Brigi and Claudia joining forces with the Austria CC girls and a Swiss girl to take on a combined Germany and Slovakia team. Playing with a soft ball, the wind proved hard to handle for the bowlers and the German girls built up a good score, with three girls retiring having reached 25 runs. No girls reached the magic number in the second innings, with Brigi hitting 10 and Claudia skying the ball to mid-wicket for a golden duck as the Austria-Hungary-Switzerland team failed to reach their target.

Another girls match in the afternoon saw Brigi and Claudi on opposing teams, with Brigi helping Germany overcome Austria. Both girls performed better than in the morning, including some lovely sweeps and some wickets.

Due to the late-running of the extensive younger parts of the tournament (U11 and U13), only one U17 match was possible on Saturday, with the hosts scoring too many for the strongest team the Germans from Tegernsee CC could put on the pitch.

There was time in the dying light for a quick 6-over friendly between Austria CC and Hungary. Batting first, the visitors racked up an impressive 51, but that didn't quite prove enough as ACC steadily and cleverly reached their target.

When Sunday morning arrived it was time to see if Hungary could put up a fight against a young-looking ACC. However, the Austrian batsmen showed no mercy and put Hungary's faster bowlers to the sword, only Claudia really impressing with two economical wickets. The Hungarian fielding also showed much room for improvement, with dropped catches and misreading of balls in the air, as well as fumbles at crucial positions. In reply, the top order was blown away by a combination of youthful accuracy and tricky spin. Only the two girls managed to get to double figures thanks to some clever running. Unfortunately they were both run out to leave Hungary stranded 23 runs short and questioning what could have happened if the boys had contributed anything of significance with the bat.

Next up was the must-win game against Tegernsee, this time Hungary were to bat first. Although Barnabas and Viktor started slowly, the extras started flowing as the Germans used all of their available bowlers. Shiraz came to the wicket to hit some classy shots (including the six over the fence which meant his innings ended prematurely), then Zoli showed his increasing confidence with a fantastic mixed innings of solid defence, clever pushes and crisp boundaries to become the first Hungarian to retire. Kristof and Atka then combined to take Hungary to the highest score of the tournament.

Disappointingly, Tegernsee chose to send in their beginners rather than push for the win, meaning that the match soon became a bit of a damp squib. However, Hungary's bowlers stuck to their task and a disciplined performance restricted their opponents to less than half of the target. Claudia and Brigi took three wickets each to show they can both bowl as well as bat.

As Tegernsee had to rush off back to Germany, there was only time for them to play Austria CC once more. They were defeated, meaning that Hungary ended up second in the "group stage" and thus through to the final against the unbeaten hosts.

Could Hungary put up a better show with the bat second time round? The answer in some cases was yes, but in other cases it was a negative.

ACC batted first again, totalling 128-6 off their 15 overs. Shiraz bowled particularly well with a sustained spell of fast bowling to earn figures of 3-8-2, whereas the other bowlers all suffered as the young Austrians (aged from 10 to 18) showed them how to run between the wickets and keep the scoreboard ticking over. In fact, clever cricket could have been the motto for the whole tournament, as the hosts showed just how to play in every age group.

In reply Barnabas scored steadily to reach the magic quarter century, as did Zoli again (allbeit rather quicker). Shiraz again fell to the temptation of hitting a big six and then the wheels really fell off, with three wickets in five balls. Claudia and David managed to stay at the wicket until the end, but they couldn't hit the required boundaries to ever trouble the home team, who took their foot off the pedal as they knew all was well. The match ended in very good cheer and the teams shook hands promising to meet again soon.

Indeed, they did meet again very soon - this time with a football instead, with Hungary easily winning both matches. The Golden Team was in town!

All in all, the trip was a fantastic success for friendly cricket and increased motivation. All of the players could be found out practicing constantly, taking advantage of the atmosphere and the grass to get in some much-needed fielding and catching drills. The Austrians have been invited to Budapest and the Hungarians have been invited back for some training camps (the girls' one in August is already fixed), so the partnership looks all set to flourish in the years to come.