It feels like a long while since twenty-seven players were personally invited to trials for the Finnish Bears Men’s squad in early October 2022!
This trial review process has been more in-depth than ever before and has only now been concluded at the end-March, with the three selectors – head coach Matt Jenkinson, bowling coach Gerard Brady and Bears skipper Nathan Collins – deciding on eight players now being formally inducted to the Bears squad. All these eight players have consistently attended trial coaching sessions and weekend camps at Eerikkilä from November to March. They have clearly been the standout performers; all committing fully to the squad ethic to learn together and drive the Bears squad forward on our high-performance pathway. Selectors will continue to follow summer 2023 league performances and will review the squad content on an ongoing basis, before concluding on any further trial invitations!
Head Coach Matt Jenkinson commented: “On behalf of the Bears coaching staff, we wish to give a warm welcome to the new squad members. They impressed us first with their skills and performances last season, leading to the trial’s invitations. And they have continued to impress with their commitment, positive attitude, and continuous willingness to learn over the winter. We look forward to them representing Finland in the future!” The selectors next task will be to conclude on the fifteen players to represent Finland in Denmark late May for the 2023 Nordic T20 Cup with hosts Denmark, Sweden & Norway.
The eight fresh squad players selected are:
From Turku United CC: Intikhab Alam
From Greater Helsinki CC: Rizwan Ali, Akhil Arjunan Saraladevi, Faheem Nellancheri, Farrukh Zeb, & Sumit Pratap Singh
From Stadin ja Keravan Krikettiseura: Abdul Rauf Haji Ibrahim
From Shaurya: Avashesh Kumar
As advised in the last newsletter, welcome to attend the assessment at Eerikkilä on 15th – 16th April weekend.
The course assessment at Eerikkilä will include your onsite overnight accommodation and three meals, dinner on Saturday along with breakfast and lunch on Sunday, all use of the facilities and the tutoring that you will receive. The subsidised course participation cost for all this will be limited to only 50€ per person. Registration & payment for the course will take place via Suomisport (see the registration link below). And at the end of a successful weekend, you will be a newly qualified ICC global Level 1 cricket coach!
The deadline for registration has been extended to 13:00 on Saturday April 8th, so act now to secure your spot!
For more information, see the Education website page here or contact .
Cricket Finland have recently concluded cooperation agreements with the Vantaa & Lahti municipalities, which will see permanent artificial turf cricket pitches installed at Rajakylä and Jalkaranta sports grounds respectively.
Super new Durant Cricket non-turf match pitches, the same woven artificial playing surfaces used for the 2022 Men’s T20 World Cup European Qualifiers last summer at Kerava and Tikkurila, will be installed at the Vantaa City Rajakylä sports park for 2023 league matches and at the Lahti City Jalkaranta grass (double) football ground in advance of SM-viikko 2023. The Lahti grass ground is a similar but slightly smaller version of the Tikkurila double football grass ground, so we are firmly of the opinion that it will provide for a great experience for all future cricket to be played there, not only for the SM-viikko event!
More information to follow on these two projects as we proceed with the next practicalities and firm up the installation schedules.
Here is an example photo of the new Durant Cricket pitch to be installed at
Rajakylä and Jalkaranta grounds this spring:
