Feast of cricket gets under way at the Cártama Oval

Thirty-one teams from 30 countries will be taking part as Cártama hosts the European Cricket League once more, until 24 March

Andrea Jiménez

CÁRTAMA.

Friday, 3 March 2023, 14:58

Cártama is once again taking centre stage as it hosts one of the biggest cricket competitions in the world: the European Cricket League (ECL). It's the biggest international tournament in the sport, with 31 clubs participating from 30 countries.

This latest edition of the tournament, which will take place until Friday 24 March, was launched on Monday at the Cártama Cricket Oval. The opening day was attended by European Cricket board members Daniel Weston (founder) and Roger Feiner (CEO); Jay Wild, president of the Costa del Sol Cricket Club and head of the 'Cricket's Cool' project; and David Cooper, owner of the field.

Local government representatives were also in attendance, including Cártama's councillor for Sport, Rosa González, and the councillor for Commerce and Local Development, Toñi Sánchez.

Daily action

For the third consecutive year, entrance to the tournament will be free. The action will take place from Monday to Saturday, from 11am to 9pm.

The 31 clubs will compete over four weeks for the ECL Trophy, a competition followed in more than 30 countries with 40 million viewers worldwide.

Last year, the winning team of this cricketing equivalent of the Champions League was Pak I Care, a club from Barcelona who were crowned European Champions after beating Tunbridge Wells CC in the final.

Representatives of European Cricket explained that the Cártama Cricket Oval was the «perfect stage» for this league, as it is one of the few regulation pitches in Andalucía.

This venue also hosts the European Cricket Championship, where the different international teams take part.

Local outreach

European Cricket includes 30 associated national federations, with 6,000 clubs and thousands of players. Since June 2019, the organisation has held events in 25 countries.

In the province of Malaga they are a key part of the Cricket's Cool project, which aims to raise awareness among schoolchildren and encourage the practice of this sport in locations that host competitions. Therefore, throughout this tournament, nine schools are scheduled to make a visit to find out how this competition is run.

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