Cártama, cricket capital of the world for six weeks

The "Champions League" of cricket got under way this Monday at the Cártama Oval. Over the next six weeks the ground in the Guadalhorce Valley town, just a few kilometres inland from Malaga and the Costa de Sol, will see 30 clubs from 29 different countries take part in the European Cricket League.

The tournament was officially opened by the mayor of Cártama, Jorge Gallardo; along with the secretary general of Sport at the Junta de Andalucía, José María Arrabal; CEO of European Cricket Network, Roger Feiner; the founder of the European Cricket League, Daniel Weston; and the president of the Costa del Sol Cricket Club, Jay Wild.

"This is the ideal venue for the greatest international cricket tournament in history," said Wild, explaining that between now and 18 March, 30 of Europe's best clubs will be competing in the sport's "Champions League" in Cártama.

"A few months ago we hardly knew what cricket was," said the mayor, "And now until 18 March Cártama is going to be at the centre of the cricket world."

"We love being here because of the blue skies, the happy people, the sunshine and the warm conditions," said Weston. "Cricket is a summer sport played worldwide, but not so much in Europe so we're trying to bring the sport to Europe by having things that are similar to football, like a Champions League. The structure of this event unites all the countries from Europe," he said, adding that he hoped this was the start of something that will continue for many years to come.

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"Our motto is 'stronger together'," explained Feiner, "And without the support and help of the town hall of Cártama we would not be here."

Jay Wild also explained the new Cricket's Cool project that will take place during the championship.

"For us it's important to give something back to the local community, so we had the idea of promoting cricket in the area of the tournament," he said.

Five schools from the province of Malaga and almost 700 schoolchildren will come and take part in the event. Two coaches are on hand to teach the basics and the youngsters will also be able to meet the players and the commentators and take photos with the trophy.

The championship got under way at 9am on Monday with the first two clubs: the UK's Tunbridge Wells and Svanholm of Denmark.

The games take place from Monday to Friday from 9am to 7pm are are televised around the world. Admission is free, food and drink is available for spectators.

All of the games are televised and streamed to millions around the world.