London’s St. John’s Wood CC Win Successful Vis International Sixes Cricket Tournament In Croatia

St. John’s Wood Cricket Club from London (above) beat The Hostes from Vis in the final to be crowned the winners of the 2nd Vis International Sixes tournament held on the picturesque Croatian island of Vis earlier this month.

4 teams from the UK (St. John’s Wood, Royal Hotshots, Little Springweald, Garbaldersham CC) joined local Croatian teams Sokol (Zagreb), Chiefs Indians (Zagreb), The Runs (Zagreb), Sir Oliver CC (Split), The Hoste’s (Vis), Slona Pogaca (Vis), Dubrovnik Sun Gardeners (Dubrovnik) and a combined side (Pick Up 6’s) in the 3-day annual tournament played mostly in glorious sunshine.

Last year’s runners-up The Hoste’s had a chance again to get their name engraved on the trophy when they knocked out Sokol in the first semi-final on Sunday. The Hoste’s chased down Sokol’s 62 with 3 balls to spare. In the second semi-final favourites St. John’s Wood disposed of Little Springweald.
Craig Wear’s The Hoste’s side will be hoping that its third time lucky next year after losing their second final on the bounce. Having restricted St. John’s Wood to 72 in 5 overs through some tight bowling in particular from former Croatian international Lenko Marinkovic, The Hoste’s had a slight sniff, but key wickets at crucial times hamstrung their chase as they finished up short in the chase.

The tournament, in its second year, was a huge success and credit must go to the Vis team for doing a stirling job organising the event and the amazing hospitality they provided all the sides and spectators. The ‘spirit of cricket’ was evident in abundance both on and off the field, and a testimony to that were the host of new friendships made throughout the tournament. Quiet possibly also the tournament may have set a first for cricket – the first flare to ever go off at a cricket match, certainly wont see that at Lords. Only in Croatia. (source: www.croatia-cricket.hr)