Author: Ricky

Playing Cricket in the Czech Republic

Bruce and Rod unrolling the pitch © Ricky Yates

Yes I’ve succumbed! Further to my earlier post entitled ‘Coming out of retirement’; I have started playing cricket once again for Prague Barbarians Cricket Club ‘B’ Team. Since the pre-season warm-up game that I described in that post, I’ve played in two Saturday League matches, the first on 8th May and the second on last Saturday 29th May. And last Saturday, I finally remembered to take my camera to the match to try and give some indication as to what is involved trying to play cricket in the Czech Republic.

Bruce and Rod unrolling the other half of the pitch © Ricky Yates

With the exception of the team from Dresden in Germany, (two hours driving time away), all the other teams in the Czech Cricket Union League play their matches at Vypich in the western suburbs of Prague, on an area of open parkland that the city authorities allow them to use. The area is big enough to allow two games to be played simultaneously. Therefore last Saturday, Prague Barbarians ‘B’ Team played the Plzen Panthers on Vypich field 1, whilst the Prague Barbarians ‘A’ Team played the Beroun Bears on Vypich field 2.

These first two accompanying pictures show the artificial pitch that we play on being put into place by my fellow players Rod and Bruce. It gives a whole new meaning to the expression ‘rolling the pitch’. Actually what they are doing is ‘unrolling the pitch’!

Dillon and Bruce nailing the artificial pitch down, supervised by Rod © Ricky Yates

Once the artificial pitch has been unrolled into place, it has to be nailed down at each end to ensure it doesn’t move when the bowler lands on it in his delivery stride. The third photo shows Bruce and Dillon doing just this, being supervised by Rod.

With the ground finally set up, the match could commence. Jerome, the ‘B’

The artificial wicket in place © Ricky Yates

Team captain, won the toss and decided to field first. We proceeded to produce a very good all round bowling and fielding performance and dismissed the Plzen Panthers for 93. We have three Czech teenagers who play for us and two of them, Damien and Adam, took five wickets between them. We held all our catches and effected a very good run out of their best batsman.

Our reply was slow and steady but then there was no need to take risks as we were chasing a relatively low total. We reached 94 with about five overs to spare and for the loss of only three wickets. Therefore I wasn’t even required to bat. Whilst the opposition dismantled the ground and put everything away, the victorious Baa Baas ‘B’ Team posed for a team photo.

The victorious Prague Barbarians 'B' Team; Back row from l to r, Steve, Alastair, Adam, Dillon, Damien, Andy, Rod. Front row from l to r, Me, Bruce, Saša, Jerome © Ricky Yates

After the game, we adjourned in good cricketing fashion, to the nearby bar where we celebrated our victory along with our ‘A’ Team colleagues who also won their match. When 0.5 litre of Staropramen is only 23 Kc (about £0.75), it is very easy to celebrate!

Part way through our early evening celebrations, Geoff the Club Treasurer stood up. He announced that there were still two spare club shirts left over from a supply purchased for the 2009 season. A meeting of the Club Committee had decided that they should be given to the two most deserving new recruits to the club who were deemed to be my Australian friend Bruce and me. So here we are posing as instructed by our fellow players, in our newly presented Baa Baas shirts.

Bruce and Me in our newly presented Baa Baas cricket shirts © Ricky Yates

I must apologise that the quality of this last photo in particular, and to a lesser extent, some of the others, is not as good as I would like. These photos made me realise that there was something wrong with the sensor on my camera. Therefore, on Monday 31st May, I returned the camera to the shop where I purchased it, just eight days before the 12 months guarantee was about to expire! I’ve been promised that it will be repaired and returned to me within the next 10 – 20 days. But in the meantime I shall have to rely on Sybille for any photos for future blog posts.

Farewell to Karen (hopefully only temporarily)

Karen © Ricky Yates

A person who has featured in several of my previous blog posts is Karen, an American who came to Prague in November 2008 to train as a TEFL Teacher at the Caledonian Language School. A few weeks later, she found St. Clements and became a regular worshipping member of the congregation.

Unfortunately, along with another American young lady called Anna, Karen was forced to leave the Czech Republic at the end of April 2009 because of the total incompetence of the Caledonian School in helping both young ladies obtain work permits and residence visas. A second visa application, via the Czech consulate in Chicago, was also unsuccessful. Full details of what happened can be found in my earlier post entitled TEFL Teachers – Caledonian School and Broken Promises.

A few weeks after I started this blog, Karen became a regular visitor and she has been leaving thoughtful and appreciative comments ever since. Thank you Karen! She has her own blog too, entitled ‘Empty Nest Expat’, which I visit regularly and where I also try to reciprocate by leaving comments.

Three months ago, Karen returned to Europe in order to try and fulfil her dream of living and working in the Czech Republic. She came here on a Schengen tourist visa that allows her to be in any of the 25 countries that form the Schengen area for up to 90 days but no longer! Whilst here, she has successfully gained preliminary approval for a Životenský list license which allows someone to work in the Czech Republic in a self-employed capacity. This increasingly seems the best way for non-EU nationals to be able to live and work here. Now she has to apply for a residence permit which can only be done from outside of the Schengen area. So on Sunday morning she sets off to travel by bus to Istanbul via staying a few days in Sofia en-route. She will meet up with Anna in Istanbul and from there, apply for her residence permit to enable her to return to the Czech Republic.

All this may seem somewhat long-winded and bureaucratic and it is! But I’ve every hope that it will work for Karen. Through starting to play cricket again, I’ve met an Australian couple called Bruce and Kylie – yes honestly that’s what they’re called!!!! They like Karen, have had a longstanding desire to live and work in the Czech Republic. They both trained as TEFL teachers in Australia and then came here on a 90 day Schengen visa. They found accommodation, got provisional approval for a Životenský list license and the exited Schengen by going to live in London for some weeks. From there, they applied for their residence permit which was duly granted. So now they are back in Prague, teaching English and, in Bruce’s case, playing cricket.

Karen enjoying Czech beer with Katarina making a face behind her! © Ricky Yates

During her time back in Prague, Karen has once again been a regular worshipper at St. Clement’s, reconnecting with her old friends and making new ones. Last Wednesday evening, I joined a group of Karen’s friends from both within and outside of the congregation, who went out to the pizza restaurant La Ventola for a meal together, to bid her farewell – hopefully only temporarily.

Karen dressed as a glamorous European lady © Ricky Yates

Karen is an effervescent enthusiastic American who has fallen in love with all things Czech, particularly enjoying Czech beer. And she says, she is also trying to dress more European. So, encouraged by her flat mate from Belarus, she abandoned her usual jeans and top look and instead stunned us all by dressing as a glamorous European lady for the evening.

We had a great time together and all of her friends hope that last Wednesday evening will only mark a temporary farewell to Karen.

From l. to r. Karen, Katarina, Caroline, Tinu, Robbie, Marcello © Ricky Yates

A rare sight in Prague

Statue of Marshall Konev in Námestí Interbrigády, Prague 6 © Ricky Yates

The statue pictured on the left here, is an extremely rare sight in the present-day Czech Republic. It stands in Námestí Interbrigády, a large square on one side of Jugoslávských partyzánu, the main thoroughfare leading from our nearest Metro station at Dejvická to Podbaba where we live. The reason that it is such a rare sight is because it portrays a Marshall of the Soviet Red Army, Ivan Stepanovich Konev.

As you can probably imagine, following the Velvet Revolution at the end of 1989, steps were rapidly taken to rid Czechoslovakia, (since 1st January 1993, the Czech Republic and Slovakia), of anything that celebrated the preceding nearly 42 years of Soviet imposed communist rule. Anything that was part of the so called ‘normalisation’ that followed the crushing of the Prague Spring of 1968 by the Soviet Red Army was particularly detested.

Therefore, not many weeks after the Velvet Revolution, 14 Metro stations which bore names to supposedly celebrate Soviet-Czech friendship, were re-named. Thus Moskevská (Moscow Station) became Andel (Angel) and Leninova became Dejvická. Most poignantly, Red Army Square in the centre of Prague was re-named Jan Palach Square to commemorate the self-immolator whose death became such a focus for those who opposed communist oppression.

However, the statue of Marshall Konev remains, simply because he just pre-dates the Communist coup of 1948. For it was he who led the troops of the Soviet Red Army that liberated Prague from Nazi oppression, entering the city on 9th May 1945, a few hours after the German unconditional surrender across Europe had come into force. The sixty-fifth anniversary of these events occurred just over two weeks ago, hence the floral tributes lying at the foot of the statue when I took the picture a few days later.

Memorial plaque to victims of May 1945 Prague uprising © Ricky Yates

All around Prague there are quite a number of memorials on buildings similar to these ones illustrated here. On 5th May 1945, there began an uprising by Prague citizens against the Nazi occupying forces. Those involved in the uprising expected that the US Third Army under General Patton, which was advancing from the west, would soon come to their aid. What they did not know was that a previous agreement between the US and Soviet governments, only allowed for American troops to advance as far as a line linking Karlovy Vary – Plzen – Ceske Budejovice.

The Soviet government insisted that this agreement be honoured. Thus, many Prague citizens commemorated on these plaques lost their lives because the Soviet Red Army advancing from the east took 24-48 hours longer to reach Prague than US troops from the west would have done if they had been allowed to do so. Eventually, the Nazi forces withdrew westwards, keen to surrender to the American rather than the Soviet authorities. They knew who would treat them better! And because of their withdrawal, relatively little damage was done to physical structure of Prague itself, leaving it with the multiplicity of architectural gems that continue today to delight the eye of resident and visitor alike.

Memorial plaque to another victim of the 1945 Prague uprising © Ricky Yates

An Episcopal Visit

Bishop Geoffrey Rowell outside St. Clement's Anglican Episcopal Church, Prague © Sybille Yates

Sincere apologies to everyone who follows my blog that I haven’t posted anything for more than three weeks. It has been a very busy time with preparations for our Annual Church Meeting held on Sunday 25th April and the following weekend having an Episcopal visit from The Rt. Rev’d Dr. Geoffrey Rowell. Although his visit gave me an extremely busy two days, the timing of it allowed him to help the newly elected Church Council begin addressing issues arising out of the Annual Meeting and helping us plot a way forward through the financial problems we are currently facing.

Such is the size of the Anglican Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe that this was the first visit Bishop Geoffrey had made to the Prague Chaplaincy since March 2005. He was meant to stay on for an Episcopal visit after attending the annual meeting between Anglican and Old Catholic Bishops which took place at Karlik, just outside Prague, at the end of January 2009 which I wrote about in an article entitled ‘Episcopal Taxi Service’, my first ever blog post. But plans changed when it was announced that the newly elected Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church was to be enthroned in Moscow on Sunday 1st February 2009 and Bishop Geoffrey had instead to be in attendance there, representing the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Volcanic ash having finally cleared, Bishop Geoffrey flew into Prague from London Gatwick, late on the evening of Friday 30th April. I met him at the airport and drove him to the Chaplaincy Flat where he stayed in our guest bedroom for two nights. Oscar immediately made friends with him but was a little put out at being banished from a room that he regards as his bedroom!

On Saturday morning, we had a long talk updating Bishop Geoffrey about the various issues facing the Chaplaincy which would be the main subjects for discussion at the first meeting of the newly elected Church Council later that afternoon. Then the Churchwardens took him out for lunch for their own private conversations with him, before bringing him on to the Council meeting. In the evening, we took him for a short walking tour of the Old Town before he treated us to supper at Krcma, one of our favourite eating places that specialises in Czech cuisine.

With Bishop Geoffrey outside St. Clement's Anglican Episcopal Church, Prague © Sybille Yates

On Sunday morning, Bishop Geoffrey was the celebrant and preacher at our Sunday Eucharist. During the service, the newly elected Churchwardens took their oaths of office. Normally each year, they do this before me and I admit them to office on behalf of the Bishop. With the Bishop being present, he was able to do it for himself! Following the service, Bishop Geoffrey met with many of the congregation at Coffee Hour in nearby Klimentská 18.

Sunday afternoon and early evening were taken up with Episcopal meetings. Whenever Bishop Geoffrey makes a Chaplaincy visit, he likes to meet the leader of the majority Church of the country where the Chaplaincy is situated which in our case is the Roman Catholic Church. Bishop Geoffrey knew Cardinal Vlk, the previous Roman Catholic Archbishop of Prague, very well. However, Cardinal Vlk was finally allowed by the Pope to retire earlier this year and has been succeeded by Archbishop Dominik Duka. Archbishop Duka is very newly in post having only been enthroned in St. Vitus Cathedral on 10th April.

Our meeting took place in the Archbishop’s Palace which overlooks Hradcanské namestí at the western end of Prague Castle. We (Bishop Geoffrey, Churchwarden Gerry Turner & I) were greeted warmly by Father Tomáš Roule, who was secretary to Cardinal Vlk and has retained that role with Archbishop Duka. Fortunately, he trained for the priesthood in Ireland and therefore has good English. It was through my contacts with Father Tomáš that I had been able to organise this meeting.

Archbishop Duka also greeted us very warmly telling Bishop Geoffrey how pleased he was to welcome his first ecumenical guest! There discussions ranged over a wide range of issues including the forthcoming visit by Pope Benedict to the UK. Although Gerry was there to translate, we soon discovered that Archbishop Duka could speak quite good English which he insisted on using and only occasionally turned to Gerry for help with some more difficult phrases. My only regret is that I accidentally left my camera in the car and therefore did not get a photographic record of the meeting.

Episcopal meeting in Restaurace Století. From l to r; Bishop Geoffrey, Gerry Turner, Bishop Dušan, Petr Jan Vinš © Ricky Yates

In the early evening, our second Episcopal meeting took place, this time with Bishop Dušan of the Old Catholic Church in the Czech Republic under whose joint jurisdiction, along with that of Bishop Geoffrey, I come. This was a very convivial affair over a meal in Restaurace Století which is opposite the Rotunda of the Holy Cross where Bishop Dušan had just conducted a Sunday Evening Eucharist. As well as Gerry, we were also joined by Rev’d Petr Jan Vinš and between them, they translated from English to Czech and Czech to English as neither Bishop speaks the other’s native tongue! This time I did remember my camera.

Finally, it was back to the airport so that Bishop Geoffrey could catch his return flight to London Gatwick. The end of a very busy, exhausting but worthwhile weekend.

Coming out of retirement

Me in my cricket gear on the balcony of the Chaplaincy Flat © Sybille Yates

Over a period of thirteen years whilst I was Rector of the Shelswell Group of Parishes in North Oxfordshire, I had a most wonderful time playing cricket for Finmere Cricket Club. The ground was directly opposite where I lived meaning that a straight six often landed in my front garden. My fellow players used to take great delight when they could say that they were ‘bowling from the Rectory end’!

For nearly all my time playing for the club, I was first choice wicketkeeper, a position I enjoyed enormously. However, as a wicketkeeper one is always in the line of fire and taking bangs and bruises from a hard cricket ball were always part and parcel of being behind the stumps. The little finger on my left hand will be crooked for the rest of my life from where I broke it many years ago when I failed to cleanly take a quick ball going down the leg side.

Sybille and I married in 2005. Some of the few photos that exist of our wedding show the two of us leaving the Church under an archway of cricket bats held up by my fellow players. Sybille declared on numerous occasions that she was made a ‘cricket widow’, even before she married me! So when we knew in June 2008 that we would be leaving Finmere and moving to Prague, I promised her that I would retire from playing cricket even though I was aware that there were a number of expat cricket clubs based in the Czech capital.

Therefore, on Saturday 30th August 2008, I played my last game for Finmere CC against Wroxton CC, which was also the last Saturday League fixture of the 2008 season. On the following Saturday 6th September 2008, at the commencement of a Safari Dinner around various club members homes, I was presented with a wonderful framed picture of my head, photoshopped onto the body of an England wicketkeeper, taking the most spectacular diving catch. Around the picture are comments, tributes and best wishes from my fellow players. The picture has pride of place in the entrance hallway of our Chaplaincy Flat here in Prague.

Although we downsized enormously before moving to Prague, I didn’t part with my cricket gear. I brought all my wicket keeping and batting gear with me and the only thing I don’t possess here is a cricket bat as I broke the toe end of my old one at the end of the 2007 season and played with the club bat throughout 2008. Despite promising to retire upon moving to Prague, there was always the thought in the back of my mind that I just might play once again.

In recent weeks an Australian member of my congregation called Richard, along with his Czech/Australian wife Karen, have kindly taken us both along to several expat business events to try and introduce us to more members of the English-speaking expat community here in Prague and thus raise the profile of St. Clement’s Anglican Episcopal Church. And through Richard & Karen’s involvement with CANZA (the Czech Australian New Zealand Association) both Richard and I have been persuaded to start playing cricket again.

Therefore last Saturday 17th April, Richard and I both took part in a pre-season warm-up game between two sides made up of members of the Prague Barbarians Cricket Club, together with a few players drawn from some of the other Prague Cricket Clubs. The game was forty overs per side, just as I was used to playing each Saturday between the beginning of May and the end of August each year in England.

But there, most similarities with playing Saturday League Cricket in England ceased. The Prague Barbarians Cricket Club play at Vypich, a wide open area of parkland in the western suburbs of Prague. All their equipment is kept in a large locked metal container nearby. This includes a plastic mat in two sections which, when nailed down, forms an artificial wicket. There is no white line for the boundary – only a series of white flags. The outfield, particularly after the harsh winter we have experienced, was a rough as any I have ever played on!

John, the captain of our team, won the toss and elected to field first. My offer to keep wicket was duly accepted and so, for the first time in 18 months, I donned my wicket keeping gear and bent down behind the stumps. I was pleased to discover that I hadn’t completely forgotten what to do and most balls that passed the stumps ended up in my gloves or at least, I stopped them. But my thigh muscles soon began to remind me that this was the first time for eighteen months that I had tried to keep wicket. Therefore, when John said that a young Indian member of our team could also keep wicket, we agreed to swap the gloves after twenty overs. Being wise after the event, I’m very glad we did.

Our opponents posted a total of 149 for 7 in their forty overs. In reply, my team early on, scored quick runs but also lost wickets. Then John came in and played a captain’s innings and supported by a Czech member of our team called Rod, brought us to within about twenty runs of victory before both were dismissed in quick succession. Despite our best efforts, we fell nine runs short of victory with Richard and me left as the not out batsmen at the end of our allotted forty overs.

The day was warm and sunny and, despite wearing my cap, I very much caught the sun on my face and hands as can be seen in the photo of me, taken by Sybille on our balcony on Saturday evening, before I treated myself to a long hot soaky bath. On Sunday morning, I woke up stiff and sore and by Sunday afternoon it was far worse. Even today, I still find bending over to pick things up or walking up or down steps, very difficult. Maybe being aged 58 is not the time to resume my cricketing career!

However, even as I was writing this post this evening, I received an email from Jerome, the captain of the Prague Barbarians ‘B’ Cricket Team, asking about my availability for the coming season. Should I really come out of retirement and start playing cricket regularly once again?