Exclusive Novinite.com interview with Professor Nikolay Kolev, President of the Bulgarian Cricket Federation (BCF).

What led to your personal interest in cricket and how did you decide to get involved with the game on a national level?

Until the end of the last century we perceived cricket as one of the many sports of the English system of physical culture. There was not sufficient information about it in our country and our media did not pay any attention to it.

My interest was provoked by our students from the National Sports Academy ‘Vasil Levski’ (NSA) who showed interest in cricket being included as a free elective subject in the curriculum. This made me search for information on the sport, due to lack of an organization (federation or club) in our country. I used the internet to contact the office of the European Cricket Council and the manager for Europe - Mr. Stewart invited me to the development forum during the European Championships in Herning (Denmark).

There we held our first meeting with the management of the ECC, which was decisive for the development of the sport in our country. We began establishing clubs and the Bulgarian Cricket Federation was founded. Our participation in the league in 2004 in Slovakia (Ljubljana) followed, and thus we were willingly adopted as a member of the ECC in 2008 in Dubai.

What is the current situation with cricket in Bulgaria? How many teams and players are currently involved in the game and what tournaments are organized every year?

The main characteristic of our development at the national level is that our clubs which have been created are university based. First year students took up the idea of developing the sport in the country. The first club was created at the NSA, then at the Technical University (TU) in Gabrovo, TU - Varna, VNVTU ‘T.Kableshkov’ and MA - Sofia .

This academic attitude to cricket gives us grounds for optimism for its future development in Bulgaria.

The Bulgarian National Championship has now been held for 6 years running outdoors. An Indoor cricket league has also been going on for 4 years.

From 2008 we have also conducted Twenty20 tournaments because we believe that this option is appropriate for development here and that this is the variant which may be included in the program of the Olympic Games.

In the National Championship in 2009 6 teams took part. From this year 8 teams will participate in the league. For the first time in 2010 events will also be held for women and adolescents (4 teams).

Every year we organize a tournament in Gabrovo and the “Varna Summer" tournament in Varna.

How would you describe the level of the national Bulgarian team? Have they been involved in any international matches?

In its short history the Bulgarian national team has participated in a few tournaments - in Slovenia in 2004, finishing in sixth place and in 2008 we participated in a tournament in Prague – Czech Republic, where we took third place.

In 2009 we participated in the Carmel Twenty20 tournament in Wales (Wales), where we came seventh and in a tournament in Corfu - Greece (ECC - Division 5), where we ranked fourth .

In 2010, our main competition will be the Carmel Twenty20 tournament, which will be held from 10 to 18 July in Skopje (Macedonia).

Cricket in Bulgaria is a relatively new sport. How has it developed over the years and what is your vision for the future of the sport in the country?

Regarding our level of preparation, I think in a few years, we will be able to reach an average European level. For a sport without traditions in Bulgaria, I believe this will be a great success and it gives us optimism for more successful work in the future.

In 2004, the Board of the BCF adopted a strategy for development in the country. The strategy includes development in three areas:

-Popularization and promotion of cricket in the country. To that end, we launched a project named "Cricket Friends”.

-Development of the sport in higher education - Establishment of student clubs and a Student Cricket League;

-Sports-mastery - the formation of a men's national team to participate in competitions - competitions organized by the ECC and ICC. Forming a national team of juniors and a women’s national team.

Cricket is becoming a more popular sport in many countries around the world with the introduction of the Twenty20 format. Do you see this as the future of the sport?

The most important competition for us in 2010 is the international Twenty20 tournament organized by Carmel & District Cricket Club. This year it was experimentally moved and will be held in Skopje, Macedonia. This will help the development of cricket in Macedonia and in this part of the world.

We believe that the future development of cricket in Bulgaria should focus on the Twenty20 format of the game. This is a variant of the game, which will develop under new management with a view to its possible inclusion in the program of the Olympic Games. This suggests a new methodology for the preparation, suited to the specifics of this version of the game.

Discussions are underway in the structures of the ECC and ICC. They are considering the possibility of development of cricket in countries that are associated and affiliated members. One of the things being discussed is that with the Twenty20 format these countries can be helped to catch up with the level of preparedness of the countries that are full members of the ICC. This theory has been tested successfully in other sports (eg. Rugby 7s), that have already been included in the program of Olympic Games.

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