Rain and sun, young and old, beginners and veterans - the II Anita-Hungaria Women's Cricket Festival in Hungary was a true weekend of contrasts. But in the end, the results were close and the atmosphere electric as girls and women from five countries came together to play cricket, make friends and enjoy the whole experience.
The 2009 version of the Festival had a French women's team come to Budapest for two matches. This time around, the invitation went round to every country in Europe and 24 players travelled to play - 11 from Belgium, 5 from Serbia, 4 from Austria and 4 from Germany.
Friday's action was limited to some sightseeing and coaching in the park as the hosts and the Belgians awaited the arrival of the other players. A make-shift pitch was made and an entertaining match saw some solid defence and mighty blows, as everyone warmed up for the main event.
The rain on Friday night meant that 2 men's matches were cancelled in Budapest on Saturday, but it didn't stop the women from travelling to nearby Szolnok for a 6-a-side indoor tournament. The reason for the journey was to give the girls of eastern Hungary the chance to play some international cricket. Coaching has been given in Szolnok and the distant city of Bekescsaba for over two years, but this was the biggest day for their girls so far.
Saturday 28th August |
Women's indoor tournament, Szolnok |
1st |
|
Belgium 1
(247)
|
2nd |
|
Austria/Germany
(231) |
3rd |
|
Hungary
(201) |
4th |
|
Serbia
(131)
|
5th |
|
Belgium 2
(122)
|
Results |
AG |
26-6 |
|
B1 |
53-4 |
H |
74-1 |
|
B2 |
34-6 |
S |
39-5 |
|
AG |
76-3 |
B1 |
61-2 |
|
B2 |
31-4 |
S |
39-5 |
|
H |
31-4 |
B2 |
16-6 |
|
AG |
65-3 |
H |
42-4 |
|
B1 |
69-2 |
B2 |
41-1 |
|
S |
25-1 |
S |
28-5 |
|
B1 |
64-1 |
H |
54-2 |
|
AG |
64-6 |
|
Most runs |
72 |
Poppy (Belgium 1) |
63 |
Danielle (Belgium 1) |
56 |
Yasmin (Aus/Ger) |
39 |
Jelena (Serbia) |
33 |
Jo-An (Aus/Ger) |
31 |
Agnes (Hungary)
Jani (Aus/Ger) |
29 |
Georgina (Belgium 2) |
27 |
Fanni (Hungary)
Lori (Belgium 2) |
26 |
Milena (Aus/Ger) |
25 |
Mirtyll (Hungary) |
|
Most wickets |
6 |
Jani (Aus/Ger) |
5 |
Brigi (Serbia) |
4 |
Agnes (Hungary)
Danielle (Belgium 1)
Francesca (Belgium 1) |
3 |
Claudia (Hungary)
Csilla (Hungary)
Jani (Aus/Ger)
Poppy (Belgium 1)
|
|
Most catches |
4 |
Fanni (Hungary)
Jo-An (Aus/Ger)
Poppy (Belgium 1) |
2 |
Brigi (Serbia)
Francesca (Belgium 1)
Tina (Serbia)
|
|
Sunday 29th August |
Women's outdoor tournament, Budapest |
|
Statistics |
|
Facebook photo albums |
|
In the first match Belgium 1 doubled Austria/Germany's score to set them up for the day. Some amazing hitting and running from Agnes and Fanni from Bekescsaba then helped Hungary overwhelm Belgium 2, before Austria got back on track with an easy win over Serbia. After the Belgian derby, Serbia beat Hungary (with Hungarian Brigi Hotea taking 2 wickets while playing for Serbia!) and Austria/Germany thrashed Belgium 2 (with Jani taking 3 wickets and hitting 23 not out; Yasmin also retired on 23).
With four matches to go, Belgium 1 were hot favourites to win the day and they managed it in style, beating an under-strength Hungary and the tired Serbia to finish the day unbeaten. The Serbia team had already lost to Belgium 2 because of some very tight bowling, so that left Hungary and Austria/Germany to play the last match knowing it was a straight battle for 2nd or 3rd place. Despite batting well, Hungary lost their heads when bowling, with the extras gifting the win and thus the runners-up spot to the visitors.
Poppy and Danielle were in great form with the bat all day for Belgium 1, hitting 135 points between them. Yasmin hit 56 in just three matches (including consecutive sixes) and Jelena got 39 points for Serbia.
Jani came good with the ball after a slow start, pipping Brigi to the most wickets title. Agnes took 4 for Hungary (3 of them caught by Fanni, the joint leading catcher).
All in all a fantastic day of non-stop cricket, 10 matches in 5 hours with coaching in the corridor outside. Just what the coaches ordered for the players to be ready for Sunday's outdoor action...
After lots of warm-ups, fielding drills and bowling practice, the first match got underway at just after 12. The Flicx pitch was set, but were the players?
Belgium put Hungary into bat and squeezed them with some tight bowling from Francesca and Danielle to restrict the total after 6 overs to 23-1. That increased to 49-1 after 10 overs, with Nora and Claudia starting to run, then Brigi replaced the retired Nora (14) to help double the score from the last 5 overs. She remained unbeaten on 12, Claudia hit 22 not out. Half of the 98-1 total came from extras, many thanks to aggressive Hungarian running.
In contrast to the Hungarian innings, Belgium got off to a flyer, with Poppy and Sue dominating the bowling. Sue was dropped once, helping her stay at the crease to hit 7 boundaries. When she was caught by Brigi for 40 in the 10th over, the target was already in sight and Danielle assisted Poppy over the line with 3 overs to spare. All the bowlers leaked boundaries, but Niki's debut performance with the ball was impressive.
With victory came the chance to recover and freshen up, leaving Hungary to regroup quickly to play again. Three countries combined to form the Austria/Germany/Serbia team, with Jani captaining.
Hungary batted first and again got off to a slow but steady start. The run-rate hovered around 5 for the whole innings, with the runs mainly coming from extras (51 in total, although many were due to the aggressive running tactices). Nora and Mirtyll put on 21 for the first wicket, Nora and Claudia combined for a 34-run partnership, but then three quick wickets fell to leave the team in trouble. Zsuzsa then reached double figures, but her 11 was the top score in a disappointing batting display to end on 79-5. Lubina took 3-13 and Jo-An only conceded 5 runs from three overs, so their team was confident during the innings break.
Twelve runs off the first over got them off to a strong start, but after Brigi bowled Georgina and Nigina in the fifth over, the run-rate was always lower than Hungary's. Three of the team's best batswomen were then run out, meaning Hungary only had to control the extras to win. Claudia bowled the final over, with Austria needing 9 to win, but they couldn't do it and Hungary had the victory. Brigi's 3-5 off three overs was fantastic and Niki impressed again with just 13 coming off her 3 overs. Despite some basic fielding errors, the team gelled together to pull off the win.
The final match of the weekend saw Belgium bat first, but this time Poppy and Danielle both failed with the bat to leave them in disarray at 16-4 off 5 overs. Sue came to the rescue with three boundaries in her 20, but the remaining six batswomen all failed to score, meaning that they only reached 70-9 off their 15 overs.
Jani took 3-4 off her three overs thanks to some expert bowling and greater accuracy than in the first match (in the two matches, she only conceded three singles from the bat). Austria/Germany/Serbia might have given away 45 extras, but again they were confident while they drank.
This time, there was no mistake. Jani took control with a masterful 22 and her team chased down the target in just 11.5 overs. Francesca bowled well again to take 2-4 off her 3 overs, but the target was too low to defend.
So, each team won once on Sunday. According to net run rate Austria were the overall winners, with Belgium second and Hungary third, but everybody agreed to call it a tie!
Thanks to sponsors Anita Hungaria (distributors of sports, pregnancy and care lingerie and swimwear) and Comenius School, each player received a medal and an Anita goodie bag, with the best players receiving cups and other players receiving mugs and certificates for their contributions to a wonderful weekend of cricket.
Next year Belgium have promised to hold a similar event and the Austrians also said they would - so, next year Europe's female cricketers will have lots of travelling to do!
Prize winners |
Best bowler |
Winner |
|
Runner-up |
Brigi (Hungary) |
|
Best batswoman |
Winner |
|
Runner-up |
Sue (Belgium) |
|
Best wicket-keeper |
Winner |
|
Runner-up |
Georgina (Austria) |
|
Best fielder |
|
Sue (Belgium) |
|
Best player |
|
Claudia (Hungary) |
|
|
