Cricket, or Kriket as it is known in Czechia has come a long way since Prague Cricket Club was formed in 1997. The Českomoravský Kriketový Svaz (the Czech Republic Cricket Union) itself wasn’t formed until 2000, following which they became affiliated with the ICC.

The growth of cricket in recent years has been down to multiple factors. The Association has formalised cricketing structures, not just in terms of governance but in taking the game to the public. Nowadays, 300 adults of predominantly South Asian ethnicity play across the nation’s 16 teams from 9 clubs – concentrated in Prague and Brno – across 40, 20, 10-over and indoor domestic competitions.

At junior level, Chris Pearce set up the Kriketova Akademie ČR in 2015 to run Introduction to Cricket courses and after school clubs for 6-14-year olds. It followed a trip to England with a colleague where they translated an ‘Introduction to Cricket’ program into Czech in conjunction with Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. Testament to the Akademie’s success is that there are 25 Czech-speaking coaches who brought cricket to 7,500 kids over the past year, 30% of whom are girls.

Developing pathways for schoolkids to enter into the formal club network has become a priority and they have junior national teams playing at Under 15, Under 12 and Under 10 levels where the cream of the crop get additional opportunity to develop their game.

The Czech Republic’s most famous win came in August 2019 when T20I records tumbled in a crushing 257 run win over Turkey, built upon Sudesh Wickramasekara’s then fastest T20I ton off 35 ball, after which Turkey subsided to a record low 21 all out.