A brief history of Cricket in Slovenia

In 1974, a young boy from Mezica, Borut Cegovnik, fell in love with the game of Cricket, whilst studying English in Birchington, Kent. With his pocket money he bought some cricket equipment and took them back to Slovenia so he could play cricket with his friends. This group of boys went on to form Mezica Cricket Club which still exists today. A total of 17 tournaments were played between 24 players in the period 1974-1982, with cups awarded and scores kept.

Ljubljana Cricket Club was established in 1997 by a group of expats and Slovenes. The club played its debut match against a visiting Dutch team from Hague the same year. That game was attended by the then Slovene president Milan Kucan.

In 1998, Ljubljana CC were able to obtain a five-year lease on a site at Valburga, Smlednik where Cricket is still played today.

In 2000 the first Slovene national team competed in the ECC Representative Festival in Vienna, Austria. The tournament was played between Austria, Croatia, Finland, Norway and Slovenia and we managed to beat Finland. In 2002 Slovenia participated in the ECC Representative Festival in Croatia, played between Croatia, Finland and Slovenia in which Slovenia beat Croatia.

Since 2003, more than 5000 children have been taught cricket in junior schools throughout Slovenia.

In 2004 we hosted the ECC European Representative Championship Division 4 played between Bulgaria, Croatia, Finland, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Switzerland.

Slovene Cricket Association (SCA) was formed in 2005, and the same year became an affiliate member of the International Cricket Council.

In 2006 we participated in the ECC Division 4 Championship in Belgium. The tournament was played between Cyprus, Finland, Luxembourg and Slovenia in which Slovenia managed to beat Luxembourg.

Since 2007 each year the SCA organizes Slovene Cricket League in Valburga to further promote the game of cricket in Slovenia.

In 2009 we participated in the ICC European Division 4 Championship in Cyprus, played between Austria, Cyprus, Finland, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Switzerland.

In 2009, the Faculty of Sport, University of Ljubljana in conjunction with the SCA introduced cricket as a 3-month module to the students. Most of these students that graduate become sports teachers, so the module gives them the skills required to teach cricket in schools.

In 2011 we hosted the ICC European Division 3 T20 Championship played between Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Slovenia, Sweden and Turkey. In this tournament we managed to beat Bulgaria and Turkey.

In 2012 we participated in the ICC European T20 Championship Division 3 in Tallinn, Estonia, played between Bulgaria, Estonia and Slovenia. We managed to beat Bulgaria twice in this tournament.

In 2017 Slovenia was granted the T20 International status by the ICC.

In 2022 we participated in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Sub Regional Europe Qualifier in Finland and played in the Group B against Austria, Bulgaria, Guernsey and Luxembourg.

In July 2023 we participated in the European Cricket Internationals T10 in Bucharest, Romania, played between Croatia, Romania and Slovenia. We managed to beat Croatia once in this tournament.

In November 2023 we participated in the European Cricket Internationals T10 in Zagreb, Croatia where Slovenia beat Croatia thrice out of 4 games, thus winning the trophy.

In March 2024 we inaugurated our first ever senior women’s team.

In early June 2024 the senior women’s team Ljubljana Eagles had their first (unofficial) international series vs Jinx Zagreb in Mladost, Zagreb.

In late June 2024 we hosted our first ever home T20I series vs Serbia in Valburga. Slovenia won the series 2-1, thus also giving us our first ever T20I victory.

In July 2024 we participated in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Sub Regional Europe Qualifier in Dusseldorf, Germany. We played in Group B against Norway, Gibraltar, Germany and Sweden. We managed to beat Gibraltar, thus entering the ICC Men’s T20I rankings at number 70.

In early September 2024 the senior women’s team hosted our first home series vs Jinx Zagreb in Valburga.

In late September 2024 we participated in the ECC Challenger Division 2024, T10 tournament in Malaga, Spain.