Cricket on Tour in Germany 

When you think of famous cricketing nations, Germany is probably not the first country that comes to mind. You may think or England, Australia or India, but surely not Germany. While not many people would associate Germany with cricket, there are many people in the country who do play the sport and even a national team to represent the nation. The national German cricket team has been an associate member of the International Cricket Council since 1999 and is now ranked 37th in the world. This might not seem too bad until you compare other teams of a similar ranking. The Bahamas and Mozambique are also ranked 37th, and these two nations have a much smaller population and resource base than Germany does. There is a cricket network in place within Germany however, and while a hotel Bavaria (Hotel Bayern) may not show the latest test matches live on their big screen just yet - the game will hopefully grow to bigger levels in the future.

The sports that receive a lot of public attention in Germany are football and motor racing. Germany has won the football world cup on three occasions and is one of the leading motor sport nations in the entire world. Athletics and other Olympic sports have also done traditionally well in Germany. There is however a strong migrant population in many German cities that has brought a lot of different sporting traditions into Germany society, and cricket is one of these imported sports. Cricket is a very old game, however Germany only became an affiliate member for the International Cricket Council in 1991. Their first international game did not happen until even later in 1995 when they participated in the European Nations Cup.

If you have ever been lucky enough to have a holiday in Germany (Urlaub in Deutschland) then you know just how vast the country is. From the mountains of Bavaria to the big cities of Berlin and Munich, it is a big place. There are thousands of hotels all over the country and millions of people who live in the cities and villages  With such a big nation that is right at the heart of Europe, I can only hope that Germany will develop more of a taste for cricket in the future; it would be good for German sport and great for the game of cricket.