The Stockholm district start the season this weekend with two games on the Saturday. The pick will be the game between Pakistan CC and Stockholm CC which is a repeat of last years quarter final which Stockholm won. Stockholm eventually lost to Landskrona CC in the semi-final and look set to be competing for the top positions this year as well. The side is currently warming up with regular practises indoors and it appears they will have an unchanged side from last season. The only change may be some returnees.
Pakistan who are after revenge following their below average season last year, having reached the final during the two previous years, is probably this years most hard judged team. Their captain, Hyat Doggar, remains at the helm and the leading batsman Fakhar Chowdry is still in the running. Chowdry two years ago got the top score in any competition in Swedish history when he was 242 not out against Malm hus CC in the semi-final of the Swedish Championship. The rest of the team is a mixture of old and reportedly some new players but remains an unknown quantity.
The other game on the opening day is between Svea CC and Jinnah CC. Svea CC has regrouped after a poor last season and has strengthened their team with both new and old players. Many of the players were performing well for other clubs last season and will probably do the same this year. They are likely to be challenging for top honours but has yet to prove themselves as a team.
Jinnah CC were knocked out of contention early last season after which a number of players arrived to strengthen the side. However, several of these players have now left the club to join rivals Svea and Jinnah may well suffer because of it. One of their leading players last year was fast bowler Faisal. There are a couple of question marks about him this year though as he at the end of last season sustained an injury. Faisal had until then set the standard for fast bowling in the district through performances like 5-20 against the reigning champions Sp nga United CC. He may also be one of the players who have left Jinnah for Svea (yet to be confirmed).
Sp nga United CC enter the competition on the Sunday. Sp nga are the reigning champions and also won the competition in 1997. This year they're hoping to make it three in a row. The team remains virtually unchanged and Sweden's top batsman last season, Lalindra Chandaratne, is still there to pile on the runs. The club is also to compete in the European Club Festival at Limvady, Northern Ireland, at the end of June. It is possible that the tight schedule could take its toll.
In the Southern district there are a number of question marks. Malm hus CC and Gothenburg CC are confirmed entrants. There is also the possibility of two further teams competing, Desi CC from Gothenburg and Landskrona CC. If the district only enters two teams we will probably have three teams from Stockholm in the semis rather than the calculated two. As yet we don't know the final line up there are many questions, but some suggestions can still be made.
Malm hus CC will yet again be competing in the Danish league, this year aiming for promotion after having finished second in the 2nd division last year. The team will also be looking for Swedish honours this year and chances are they will make it to the semis at least.
Landskrona CC, last years beaten finalists, always put on a fighting display. They can, if they participate be expected to be in the running for a semi-final place. The team will have suffered from the loss of three players from last years final team to Svea CC and it could work in favour of the other teams.
Gothenburg CC is the other favourite to compete for semi-final places. They reached the quarter finals two years ago of both leagues (joined to one in 1999) but did not make the cut last season. As they have recently lost two of their younger players they may be slightly disadvantaged against the other two main competitors.
Desi CC is the least known team of the four possible participants. Having not made an impact in the past it would take a brave man to suggest that they will be able to knock back the more established sides in the district.
The season looks exciting and very hard to judge, especially in Stockholm. As new players tend to turn up all the time in Swedish cricket, the sport also tends to be hard judged. So when the time comes to line up the semi-finalists it may well be that the winners of yesteryears will be playing friendlies with others.
Cricket in Sweden is neither old nor a very popular sport nationally in comparison to the rest of the world. The sport is further limited by the Swedish climate but will hopefully develop into an indoor sport as well.
The first matches were according to rumours to have taken place in the 1930's. They were isolated events and played by staff from the British embassy and other ex-pats who, not surprisingly, can be credited with bringing the sport to Sweden.
It was the same group that almost exactly 50 years ago founded the first organised cricket club in Sweden, Stockholm Cricket Club. Since the formation of this club many other have joined, some have remained but all too many have disappeared.
Most clubs in Sweden have a very strong immigrant influence and clubs are often founded by friendship associations or as in one special case, Sundsvall Cricket Club in the north of Sweden, which was formed to provide opposition for immigrants at a local refugee reception centre. Unfortunately Sundsvall has no longer got the members needed to maintain the club, the club still exists but does not participate in the national league.
In 1991 the Swedish Cricket Federation (SCF) was formed to organise the sport on a national level. There had during a few years existed a number clubs that played friendlies but distances between the clubs was and is a constant problem. The SCF has therefore, together with the clubs, organised the federation along regional lines in the hope of alleviating the problem.
But after a very successful year in 1997 when four districts participated (17 clubs) the league in 1999 will only have two participating districts (8 clubs). This represents the recent unfortunate trend that Swedish cricket is going through. Many clubs still exist but in the smaller Swedish towns there is not enough interest to maintain the clubs.
There are still 32 clubs all over Sweden, from Malm in the south to Ume in the north, all participating at different levels. There are also a number of ex-pat organisations that organise teams for a few friendlies every year.
Sweden's national team is currently participating in championships organised by the European Cricket Council, the ECC. This normally entails the European Indoor Championships every year and the Nations Festival every two years. Sweden's first international success was in fact winning the 1997 indoor championships, played on home turf in Halmstad.