For a long time, international students in Leuven from Commonwealth countries have looked around for opportunities to play one of their most cherished sports, cricket. Although, for some time now, a group of cricket enthusiasts have gathered every Saturday in front of the Sportkot to play tennis-ball cricket, Leuven thus far lacked the facilities for competitive cricket and was virtually absent from the cricket map of Belgium. However, with the recent founding of the Leuven Cricket Club in August last year, the "gentlemen's game" has finally come to Leuven.

The club was founded by a group of four cricket enthusiasts from Leuven, who already played in the Belgian Cricket Federation league Division 1 for Mechelen Cricket Club during the 2010 season. As of now, the club has 24 registered members of six nationalities, including budding local Flemish cricketers. The team practices every Sunday at the Sportkot from 3 pm till 5 pm. The club has received a boost from the university, which has now included cricket as one of its listed sports, with details appearing on the university website (http://www.kuleuven.be/sport/sportaanbod/ploegsport/cricket.html).

Cricket in Belgium has a long history. In fact, academic researchers from the Australian National University have established that the game of cricket had its foundations in Belgium around the 14th century and was exported to England by weavers and shepherds. The word 'cricket' is believed to come from the Flemish phrase 'met de krik ketsen' and a poem from 1533 by John Skelton labels Flemish weavers as 'kings of crekettes'. The first recorded cricket match in Belgium was played at Enghien six days before the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. In 1866, the first cricket ground was opened near Brussels. The Royal Brussels Cricket Club is the oldest cricket club in Belgium and its origins can be traced back to 1885. Today, the national team of Belgium competes in European Division 3 and all of its youth teams compete in Europe Division 2. Besides, Belgium's Under-13, Under-17 and Under-19 teams have all won European championships in the past. Under the aegis of the Belgium Cricket Federation, every year clubs from all over Belgium compete in a senior league tournament in three divisions. The 2011 season has 15 clubs playing in the league with 22 teams slated to face off throughout the Belgian summer starting in April and ending in August. Cricket Belgium is an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC), a founding member of the European Cricket Council (ECC) and a Member of the Belgian Olympic and Interfederal Committee (BOIC). Cricket Vlaanderen, its Flemish regional organisation, is a member of BLOSO and the Flemish Sports Federation (Vlaamse Sportfederatie).

With the granting of permission to use grounds near the Sportkot (in front of Alma 3) for cricket, Leuven is now set to host 8 matches of the Belgian league this year starting on the 24th of April against Gent Cricket Club. Also, the club will play a host of other friendly matches, including a match against a visiting English club, Enfield Cricket Club in June. The club has already begun its preparation in right earnest with Leuven C.C. having played its first friendly match against Crescent C.C. on the 5th of August 2010 in the picturesque grounds at Rumst, close to Antwerp, which started with a victory and was followed up with wins against formidable opponents such as Ostend C.C., who were winners of the Belgian league last year. The captain of the team, Imran Mirza, who has also been instrumental in the founding of the club and providing the initial kits and equipments, was very optimistic about the club's chances this year and said, "We have been training hard and are going out there to win and leave a mark". Meanwhile, co-founder and Flemish cricket enthusiast, Thomas Van't Dack, who has worked very hard at setting up of the logistics of the club, including preparation and presentation of the business plan and long term vision to Cricket Vlaanderen and BCF, mentioned that the club was making all-out efforts to reach out to Flemish school kids, and that the club already had its first junior member who came for the Sunday training sessions. The club also has, in its ranks, a national level umpire and ECB certified Level 1 cricket coach in K.U.Leuven doctoral student Amar Kumar Behera, who umpired in 13 BCF league games last year and who, along with fast-bowling allrounder, Athreya Rajaraman, is making an all-out effort to increase visibility of the club across campus. |