A brief history of the sport in Croatia
First Introductions To Cricket
Croats had their first introduction to the game of cricket on the Island of Vis some 200 years ago. This was the time of the Napoleonic Wars, when the English Navy was stationed on the island and played cricket to keep themselves amused and keep physical fitness and morale levels. With the approval of Captain William Hoste (later given a knighthood) the sailors whiled away hot summer's days playing cricket in the centre of Vis township.
There are two theories as to why the sport died on the island when the English Navy left after a 6 year stint there. The first theory is that the locals didn't take a fancy for the sport (they possibly didn't understand it), and the second theory is that the English Navy took all their cricket equipment with them so that the locals were unable to continue playing.
We favour the second theory........the reasons for which you'll find in the text below.
The Re-birth Of Cricket
Cricket is a national sport in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa - and after the Second World War, in particular during the late 1960's and early 1970's a large number of Croats emigrated to these countries. The offspring of these generations grew up with this intriguing and interesting sport, and a large number of them played cricket at school, in clubs or recreationally in parks, backyards and beaches.
After Croatia gained its independence in the early 1990's, a large number of these young Croats - particularly from Australia - returned to their homeland. After a few years back in Croatia, some of them felt that something was missing in their new home - not the material wealth and way of live they had enjoyed in their 'second' homelands (where they were for the most part born) - but cricket. It was hard to imagine whiling away summers' days without cricket on television, in their backyards, in parks or on the beach - naturally with the mandatory barbecue and cold drinks.
Credit for the re-birth of cricket in Croatia, must primarily go to Robert Dumančić and Ivan Bilić, who started up cricket in Croatia in 1998 alsmot 190 years after the game was played on Vis. Dumančić and Bilić discovered that there was a cricket club in neighbouring Slovenia, and they mustered up 11 players who travelled to Ljubljana and played against the local club, Ljubljana CC.
Hard Beginnings
The majority of these 11 players had never played 'organised' cricket - with a hrd ball, proper equipment and a real cricket ground. As expected, the valliant group suffered a loss at the hands of Ljubljana CC, but the real result of the match was the impetus to form a cricket club in Croatia.
Even though it was only officially registered in 2000, Zagreb CC, had already started bringing together local cricket players and fans well before that date. Considering that the club didn't have any equipment or a ground to train at - and all matches were played in Slovenia - it was no surprise that the club lost all of the matches it played in the first few years.
With the assistance of ICC Europe and the British Embassy in Zagreb, at the beginning of 1999 the club took delivery of it's first 'real' equipment and training could commence.
Rapid Progress
Already in the year 2000 Croatia received an invitation to participate at the ECC Representative Festival which was being staged for the first time, and happily it took place in neighbouring Austria. The other competing nations at the Festival were Austria, Slovenia, Finland, and Norway - where cricket had already been long established.
In addition to the best 11 local enthusiasts, who immediately accepted the challenge of participating at the Festival, reinforcement came from far-away New Zealand in the form of the Vujnovich borthers – John and Paul. Of the 4 matches played our National Team won 2 of the matches, which was sufficient for assuming a respectable 2nd place. The victories came against our 'familiar foes' in Slovenia and also hosts Austria. And just how much the Vujnovich brothers reinforcement meant is evident from the fact that John Vujnovich was named Player of the Trounament (with brother Paul being not too far behind in the voting).
However, of much more importance than the 2nd placing, was the spirit that bonded the members of our team - we saw that anything is possible if we were prepared to scarifice enough. This set us apart then, and still to this day, sets us apart from many other continental European teams.
Back To Reality
The good result in 2000 helped secure membership of the International Cricket Council (ICC) and also an invitation to the ECC Trophy which was payed in 2001, again in Austria. The competition at this tournament was a lot stronger than the previous year. In total, 10 countries took part, but not even the Vujnovich brothers could provide enough magic and ensure a repeat of the success from 2000. Our team finished the competition in 9th place, but the placing didn't reflect the overall standard of the team.
Zagreb CC joined the Austrian Open League in 2001. Given that there were no grounds in Croatia, the clubs 'home' matches were also played in either Vienna or Velden (both 4-5 hours drive away), which was a real disadvantage to the club. Aside from the financial burden this imposed on the members, the arduous travel schedule made the club less competitive, and in two years of participation only one victory was recorded.
Nevertheless, these relatively unfavourable results didn't have a negative impact on the development of cricket in Croatia, and in 2002, thanks largely to the financial support of the Frankopan family, a dream was realised - the construction of a cricket ground in the heart of Zagreb, opposite the Mladost sports and recreation centre. The ground was immediately put to good use and in the same year Croatia hosted the ECC Representative Festival, which was a success from an organisational viewpoint, if not through our National Team's results.
