The Footy finals are nearing their peak of excitement in Australia, a Football World Cup is coming but still so far away, the F1 season continues to build story line for Netflix, but among all the big sports across the world a much smaller tournament – the European Cricket Championship – is catching the attention of canny sporting fans, and we boldly declare that it is the sporting Guilty Pleasure we all need.
Spring is a great time for sport – footy finals in Australia, Spring Racing Carnival, the boozed simplicity of the Bathurst 1000, the weather is warm but not stinking hot, and you can smell the zinc and grass-stained trousers of a Summer of cricket coming.
But you shouldn’t have to wait for summer to get your cricket fix. And with the European Cricket Championship thankfully you don’t have to. If you’re willing to forgo a little bit of quality for a lot of evening entertainment.
Unless you are a certain hardcore cricket fan who is genuinely interested in non Australia tests or The Hundred tournament in England, then the European Cricket Championship has all you need.
For starters, for most casual cricket fans, all formats of cricket are too long, so the European Cricket Championship has your short, sharp burst of cricket covered with just 10 overs a side needed. And the only reason for a delay in play in the players and or fan looking for the ball after a six (or Maximo) goes into one of the big grassy clumps that surround the field in sunny Spain.
Yes, Spain. Where else would you expect, or want cricket to be played.
Think summer holiday mixed with Warehouse Cricket at Marchant Park or other equivalent. It’s cricket for everyone, and just about anyone.
And who’s playing? Well don’t expect to see the traditional cricket names, the European Cricket Championship throws up Malta, Luxembourg and Hungary among others. Malta play cricket you ask? Of course they do.
It really doesn’t matter. There’s two games and four teams on every night. So you can support someone new every night.
Of course you wont know any of the players, first you have to get past the fact that Luxembourg have a cricket team. But you don’t need to know the players at first, the joy is getting to know some new favourites.
There’s no David Warner or “Big Show”, but that doesn’t stop the ball clearing the fence with regularity. Early and often.
But in true European Cricket Championship style, the ball clearing the fence can’t just be a Run-of-the-Mill six. It’s known as a Maximo.
And if your sports viewing dreams was to combine the excitement of a six in cricket with a Spanish speaking Soccer commentator doing one of those over-the-top goooooooalllllll celebrations, then you’re in luck. As the main commentator will often go into a good ten second smorgasbord of sounds and call to celebrate a Maximo.
So why not indulge and spoil yourself, some good fun cricket awaits in prime time, with some new friends to be discovered, and from a location in Spain that always seems as sunny as the green Gabba grass pitch is inviting.
A great sporting guilty pleasure awaits. Just about every night in September.
Follow the European Cricket Championship via their website not ours.
