From Touchdowns to Taking Wickets

Probably as many people in the world have heard of the island of Iž in Central Dalmatia, as there are people from Iž, who have heard of the sport of cricket. That is all about to change as one of Iž's 'sons' is starting to make his mark on the local Croatian cricket scene.
 
This time last year Krešo Kekez, the Zagreb born and raised chemical engineer, with family ties to the island of Iž, also knew almost nothing about the 2nd most watched sport in the world. ''Apart from a few basic things, like it is of the same root as baseall, it's a team sport with a bat and ball and played on a huge pitch'' explains Kekez.

When injuries and the potential risk of further injuries forced Kekez to retire from playing American Football, he was looking for something else less taxing to get into. ''It was so obvious to continue with baseball as another US sport, thats why I decide to try with cricket. Moreover, cricket is such a unique sport here in Croatia, even more than American Football. I think it shows much on British culture outspread all over the Commonwealth states. So, one day I woke up and said to myself ''Okay, from now on I will play cricket''. At that stage I didn't even know if there were any cricket clubs in Croatia'' says Kekez.

After making a few enquires, Kekez found the Hrvatski Sokol Club in Zagreb. It was just before February 2011 and he was invited down to play in the winter indoor cricket league. Kekez reminisces about those first few games of his new chosen sport. ''Hardest thing at the start was how to perform a proper delivery with exact number of steps without bowling a no ball, but also how to strike. I'm a slow learner concerning rules so at the very beginning I couldn't focus myself on both, play and rules. So after the first indoor cricket cup I took five wickets, but didn't know exactly what I done to get them!''

The discipline of bowling is his favourite and he enjoys nothing more than taking wickets, especially when he disturbs the castle. He also likes to grittly fight for runs whilst batting and still favours taking one handed catches and not two out in the field. In a footbal dominated culture, cricket is slowly trying to capture local players like Kekez. When asked about getting his friends down to try he explains. ''They are interested and sure as time goes by some of them will join us in cricket. But still most of them are afraid to jump into something totally new and different''.

Unless like the lucky few you have sky sports, cricket fans are starved for action here in Croatia on the box, that was untill Eurosport begun broadcasting and Kekez has turned into a cricket watcher. ''I followed the World Cup held in India last year, also the IPL Champions league last year, broadcast by Eurosport 2, during the year test matches I try to watch also''.
After a successful first year of playing cricket with the Hrvatski Sokol Club, where he took out the 'Rookie of the year' award at the annual prizegiving, Kekez has continued his improvement and already early into this seasons indoor Katich Cup is 5th on the 'Player of the Series' table. ''To follow my carer in cricket with Hrvatski Sokol. Is it impossible for me one day to reach the national team?'' concludes Kekez.