Cricket in Serbia

Even though it may look complicated and confusing at the first sight, cricket is very interesting and enjoyable sport. Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of around 11 players each on a field.

The game requires a few pieces of specialized equipment to play with safety. At the bare minimum, six stumps (three on each side), four bails, two cricket bats and a ball are required. Most teams also have uniforms, and safety gear for the wicket-keeper.

Serbian Cricket Federation… 

Cricket was officially established in Serbia in October 2007, when Vladimir Ninković, along with Darko Ivić, Haris Dajč and Nenad Dugić, decided to found the first cricket clubs in Belgrade (Stari Grad and Mirijevo). 

On June 5 2009, the first cricket match in the history of Serbia took place in the village of Karlovčić, some 20 miles from Belgrade. The match was played between a Belgrade Cricket Association XII and Carmel & District CC, from Flintshire, North Wales. The guests won, having scored 175 -107.

Apart from domestic players the teams are comprised of expats such as Indians, Pakistanis, Caribbeans, Brits and New Zealanders.

The Serbian national cricket team has represented Serbia in international cricket competitions. The team made its first away appearance in 2009, losing one and winning one match against the Slovenian team Mezica CC. In August 2011, Serbia reached the semi-finals of the EuroT20 tournament in Budapest.

How the game is played…

There are four main positions for players of which each team has its own, they are; Batter, Bowler, fielder, Wicket-keeper 

Cricket field consists of a large circular grassy ground with a rectangular strip in the center called the pitch. A boundary line should be clearly marked all around the outside edge of the field.

 The game is split into two halves where one team ‘bats’ and the other team ‘fields’. One of the two batsmen faces the bowler whilst the batsman at the other end gets ready to run. The team which is batting initially sends out two batters, one to stand in front of each wicket. The team that is fielding positions its players around the ground to limit the batters’ runs or to get the batter out. One of the fielders is the wicketkeeper and one fielder is the bowler, each fielder can take a turn at bowling. When a batter is out, the next batter gets the opportunity to bat and this continues until there are no more batters left. At this point the team is now said to be ‘all out’. The teams, after a break, now swap and the batters become the fielders and the fielders now become the batters. In order to win the match, the new batters need to get more runs than the opposition.

In professional cricket, the length of a game ranges from 20 overs (T20) per side to Test cricket played over five days. The game is most popular in Australasia, England, the Indian subcontinent, the West Indies and Southern Africa.