and long-time leaders United Nations C.C.
faltered by four points to take the title. Lords C.C. have now won four of
the last five OL titles.
OL newcomers, Ljubljana C.C., despite possessing the strongest
bowling attack in the league, never scored runs quickly enough to place
opposition batsmen under pressure, and finished fourth.
The other debutants in 2000, Pak Falcon C.C. were among the early
season pacesetters, but fell back badly after their first defeat and were
thoroughly disillusioned come August/September. Concordia C.C. never
fulfilled their form on paper having acquired Raza Aqif and Muhammed Arshad,
two of Austria's leading players, in the close season, and collected the
wooden spoon.
Vienna C.C. lost important matches early on, and a winning run of
five matches in the later half of the season only meant they could finish
third. But spare a thought for the United Nations C.C., who led the pack
until their final match. Hectic scenes at the Seebarn C.G. followed in early
September as two captains (T. Hind of the UNCC and N. Samawickerama of SLSC)
tried in vain to make there calculators work in their favour; only the smug
grin of Lords C.C. captain, S. Khanna, was to be seen however as it became
apparent that the superior bonus points tally of Lords C.C. had triumphed.
Vienna C.C. saved their season by winning the knock-out Trophy, overhauling
Pakistan C.C.'s in the Final thanks to A. Simpson-Parker's fourth century
of the season. The Trophy was a great success in 2000 with teams from
Poland, Czech Republic, Slovenia, and Croatia, joining Austria's nine teams
in the competition. Sadly, the Austrian Championship (qualifying criteria:
nine Austrians per team) was not well supported, with Lords C.C. winning the
competition as Vienna C.C. defaulted on three of their four matches.
Other highlights of the season included the Austrian national XI beating the
Pakistan Ambassador's XI in front of 350 spectators at Seebarn in August.
Chasing 284 from their 50 overs the last two Austrian wickets put on 78 to
win in the last over in a thrilling chase. The inaugural U'15 internationals
between Austria and Germany were played in June with Austria coming out on
top in the second rain-affected match. The first match was declared a
no-result as the slow pace of both innings meant that the second innings
could not be completed before the light faded. Nevertheless, in the
post-match reception, the Mayor of Seebarn, Mr Steindl, praised the youth
initiative of both countries. Austria went to Gibraltar in August with high
hopes and came away with two victories in the first ECC U'15 'B' tournament.
Youth cricket in Austria was top of the agenda in June as a cricket open day
at the Seebarn C.G. was supported by 250 local schoolchildren who all wore
caps donated by the ICC for the occasion. Permanent sightscreens were added
to the main ground at Seebarn and it is planned to begin with the building
of a pavilion in March, 2001. The creation of a second ground at Seebarn is
necessary to cope with the ever-increasing number of teams and fixtures in
Austria. It is hoped that Zagreb C.C. from Croatia will join the Open League
in 2001 to make this competition not only the best supported league in
Central Europe with 11 teams, but also to support the development of the
game in Eastern Europe by providing regular competitive cricket for these
new clubs. Ljubljana C.C. from Slovenia will again participate in 2001.
Cricket in Austria has never been in better shape. Great support was given
by the European Cricket Council who sent out anything from cricket calendars
to Kwik Cricket T-shirts, as well as coaches, umpires, and pitch-fitters in
a bid to support Austrian cricket. It is the duty of all clubs and club
committees to continue to support the idea of healthy, competitive league
cricket, as well as preserving the good social links between clubs. A
regularly updated ACA web-site (Austria.cricket.org) recorded a mammoth 7500
hits in August and has proved to be a the most effective information centre
for Austrian cricket. Certainly, more could be done by clubs to promote
youth cricket, and the standard of umpiring more often than not does not
match the standard of cricket played. This is a structural problem of
Austrian cricket as there are far too few retired cricketers who are
prepared to put back into the game after hanging up their cricket boots.
As we look back at the drought-stricken season of 2000, we should have one
eye on the mouth-watering prospects that lie ahead in 2001. Austria is
hosting the ECC Trophy in Seebarn and Velden in August. The Australian
Crusaders will be returning to Austria in July for a week's tour taking in
Seebarn, Velden and Ljubljana. Seebarn will have two grounds and a pavilion.
Let us hope that the weather will be kinder to us next time round !
A. Simpson-Parker
Chairman - Austrian Cricket Association
1st October 2000
Outstanding individual performances in the Open League
Batting
A. Muhammed (Concordia C.C.) 149 vs Five Continents C.C.
A. Simpson-Parker (Vienna C.C.) 118 vs Sri Lanka S.C.
A. Simpson-Parker (Vienna C.C.) 104 vs 91 Velden C.C.
J. Daniel 101* vs Concordia C.C.
Bowling
A. Grover (Lords C.C.) 7-0-27-7 vs Sri Lanka S.C.
Raza Aqif (Concordia C.C) 8-3-14-5 vs Pakistan C.C.
Sajad (Pakistan C.C.) 4-2-15-5 vs Lords C.C.
P. Hudson (Vienna C.C.) 6-1-34-5 vs Pakistan C.C.
S. Geldart (Lubljana C.C.) 8-0-55-5 vs Lords C.C.
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