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On Sunday morning 11.11. 2012 in the sports hall Kašelj  in Ljubljana a Harvey Norman Juniors School Cricket Championship took place. In a total of seven matches, four teams competed for the title of the »Best elementary school indoor cricket team« and for the opportunity to receive a nice prize for the winning school, an LCD TV, sponsored by Harvey Norman. Teams competing were; British School, Primary School Kašelj, Smlednik team A and Smlednik team B.
While the organizers of the tournament had already started with preparations at 8:00 o'clock in the morning, some young aspiring cricketers were also warming up.. The competition started just over 9:00 o'clock, as soon as the match ordering was set and done.
Before the start of the competition, all children received a cricket T-shirt, a refreshment drink and coupons with discounts from the sponsor Harvey Norman.
Duels of mixed teams of boys and girls took place in the following order:
1. British School vs. Smlednik B (65 runs vs. 57 runs), winner British School
2. Kašelj vs. Smlednik A (65 runs in 20 runs), winner Kašelj
3. Kašelj vs. Smlednik B (38 runs vs. 22 runs), winner Kašelj
4. British School vs. Smlednik A (43 runs against 35 runs), winner British School
5. British School vs. cough (26 runs and 44 runs), winner Kašelj
6. Smlednik A vs. Smlednik B (17 runs to 50 runs), winner Smlednik B
7. FINALS: British School vs. Cough (50 runs vs. 51 runs), winner Kašelj
 Matches were tense and some spectacular shots, bowling and catches were seen. Balls were on the wicket, or hit high up the walls or onto the the gym roof. If the roof wasn't there, there is no doubt they would have flown right out of the gym for four or six points!
Young players played tough and self-sacrificing throughout all the tournament. One could judge how seriously the games were played by the really loud, encouraging exclamations of teammates, parents and the assigned adjudicators, who closely monitored each judicial decision of judges Nejc and Mark, who strictly and consistently umpired throughout all of the tournament. Good knowledge of the game rules and strategies were reflected in the game quality, as a lot of balls were skillfully returned to the stumps, all skillfully backed up, thus eliminating a lot of batsmen with run-outs!
Before and after each game, the coaches and their protegees determined the strategy of the next match, determined the batting order, and how best to bowl, against their next upcoming opponent. Therefore, practically all the teams reached impressive high scores at the end, resulting in a very small difference in runs between winners and the rest.
So in the end, British School ended up as the runner up and the team from Kašelj, the winners thus receiving the final prize for the school, a brand new LCD TV!
After the competition a small award ceremony was held in the gym lobby, nominating the best two players of the tournament, Žiga Milavec and Tina Zaletej, and a declaration of the best team – team from Kašelj. Players and coaches of winning teams were gifted with medals. Congratulations!
The socializing ended at 14:00 in the afternoon and farewells were spoken in the same way as in the morning, warm and friendly- in Spirit of Cricket.
Many members of various Slovenian cricket clubs and the SCA came to help with the organisation. Also some members of the Slovenian national cricket team were present, who generously showed some good tricks and techniques to the kids helping them to improve their batting and bowling. The Children also had the opportunity to meet new friends of different nationalities and races, young and old.
At the end, many thanks to all of the sponsors Harvey Norman, Coca Cola, Avanturis and all of the accomplices for helping out and organizing this special cricket event, and of course a big thanks to all the parents who brought their children and made it possible for them to participate in this wonderful cricket tournament!
The event, was, of course, thoroughly photographed, here you can find the gallery!
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