Finnish cricket takes a leap forward in year-round accessibility to the game – The country's first indoor training facility is completed at the Eerikkilä Sport & Outdoor Resort to international standards.

Finland's first cricket-specific indoor training nets have just been completed at Eerikkilä to international cricket standards. This facility perfectly complements the outdoor cricket fields in Kerava and Vantaa. The nearest equivalent indoor training facility can be found in Malmö, Sweden.

​"Cricket perfectly complements the variety of sports we already host, and it offers the opportunity for our guests to become familiar with this wonderful sport. We are proud to partner with Cricket Finland”, comments Petri Jakonen, CEO of Eerikkilä.

In addition to the men’s national cricket squad, the new training facility can be used by Finland's more than 30 cricket clubs, while also being perfect for introductions to the game for newcomers. Cricket clubs from outside of Finland will also be interested in the new, top-quality site offering comprehensive training opportunities. Such conditions can now be found in Eerikkilä, which is also a national training centre for both football and floorball associations.

"Opening the Kerava National Cricket Ground in 2014 represented a significant step in raising the level of Finnish cricket in general, both in terms of playing and hosting domestic & international matches. This new training facility at Eerikkilä is an important addition to the sport's training infrastructure," says Maija Scamans, Cricket Finland’s Operations Director.

"We initially went to check out the location and to present our visions of cooperation back in January 2019 – our ideas were aimed to further develop everything from low-threshold grassroots junior and women's cricket all the way up to elite-level national team training, Scamans continues. Now, 18 months later, this project connecting Eerikkilä with Cricket Finland, supported by the Ministry of Education and Culture has been completed.

Facility Manager at Eerikkilä Petri Salo adds that the training zone for cricket was selected from the warm-up area of the existing junior football indoor arena.
"We allocated a high-quality indoor practice area for cricket in our training hall, where it possible to train all year round. Footballers can also continue to use the area as before”.

"Playing cricket at the top level requires continuous, versatile cricket-specific training. Training opportunities outside of the summer season have been completely lacking. The great new training facility at Eerikkilä will have a huge impact and benefit to both national squad and club teams that use it," said  Andrew Armitage, Cricket Finland chairman, referring, among others, to the Helsinki Cricket Club and the Finnish men’s cricket team.

Helsinki Cricket Club had qualified for the European Cricket League (ECL), cricket's equivalent of the European Champions League in football, while the men’s Finnish cricket team were due to play in one of the three European Twenty20 World Cup Qualifiers, hosted in Finland. Both events were planned for June 2020 before the pandemic and have now been moved to future dates yet to be confirmed.

“Eerikkilä’s investment in the cricket training facility will certainly deliver great returns, after Corona lockdown is over and we can return to training in full. For example, over the last few years we have been unable to cover all the demand for cricket at the Kerava and Vantaa grounds. While internationally high-quality training opportunities will also be of interest”, concluded Andrew Armitage.

Eerikkilä is a national training centre for football and floorball. It is one of the 11 Finnish National Sports Institutes that organise vocational training in sports, with a speciality to educate nature and wilderness guides for different kinds of outdoor tours and recreation for all seasons. Eerikkilä also offers activities for business customers and leisure enthusiasts.

Cricket has been played in Finland since the 1950s. The Finnish Cricket Association was founded in 1999. There are over 30 cricket clubs, from Helsinki to Oulu and over 600 licensed players. In addition, Cricket Finland runs a wide-ranging grassroots development programme that includes activities for children & youth of different ages, as well as for adults, regardless of age, gender, and ethnicity.
 
For more information:
Suomen Krikettiliitto Maija Scamans, maija.scamans@cricketfinland.com tai p. +358 50 5719578
Suomen Krikettiliitto Andy Armitage, fcachairman@cricketfinland.com tai p. +358 50 3237099
Eerikkilä Sport & Outdoor Resort Petri Jakonen, petri.jakonen@eerikkila.fi tai p. +358 50 533 3600

Following the recent Finnish government information for gradual Corona lockdown relaxation between May 14th to May 31st, Cricket Finland has also decided to adapt its cricket training instructions to the clubs.
 
These requirements have been drawn up for club training sessions only. Any changes for league play will be updated separately, considering, and following fully the instructions of the Finnish Government and relevant Health Authority.
 
The current message is that outdoor sport training without physical contact - which cricket indeed is - can be held within a framework of rules.
 
For CF and all clubs, it is essential that the requirements and rules of the health authorities are respected.
 
This includes:

• That you must not gather more than 10 people
• Keeping your distance always; participants must keep a minimum of 2 metres apart
• That you must have a strong focus on hand hygiene
• Avoiding physical contact
• That you do not cough or sneeze on another person
• To stay at home if you are feeling ill – even if you have only mild symptoms

 
Within this framework, CF recommends that:

• Outdoor training can be started no earlier than 14 May 2020.
• Training takes place in pairs or small groups (not more than 10 people).
• You must have permission to access the location/ground where the outdoor activity takes place.
• General recommendations by the authorities to keep your distance, avoid physical contact as much as possible and ensure good safety must be respected.
• Each player must wash/disinfect their hands before and after any training session.
• The Kerava clubhouse incl. changing rooms, etc. will be kept closed as will the dressing rooms of municipal grounds, i.e. you show up dressed and go home after training (public toilets may not be used, so take your own hand disinfectant to training).
• If you have any symptoms or health impairments, you should not participate.
• Equipment such as: Bat, balls, gloves, helmet must not be shared. Only use your own equipment.
• In net training, each bowler must have his or her own ball, which must not be shared.
• Do not spit on the ball or otherwise; no shining the cricket ball with sweat/saliva during training.
• Avoid touching fixed installations.
• Other equipment such as stumps etc. should not be touched by several players (e.g. only the coach)

 
There can be significant differences between clubs and grounds, so this is not a one-size-fits-all guide. In addition to the above guidelines, we recommend that you use common sense.Note, due to the aeration and reseeding process of the whole outfield, due to take place at Kerava NCG on Wednesday 13th May, the whole Kerava Ground will be out of bounds until June 1st.
 
Any club wishing to resume training activities in a proper manner can contact us via the e-mail address: INFO@CRICKETFINLAND.COM

Dear Club Representatives,

We are currently anticipating that the summer season will start on June 1st, however we will confirm this in the coming days after receiving final information from the Finnish government and Olympic Committee on what restrictions will exist for sports competitions.
 
In the meantime I can tell you that we have made a new version of the summer schedule which will hopefully enable us to hold the vast majority of the matches that we had originally planned, in spite of the loss of one full month of playing time. The schedule will be issued with in the coming days with the final confirmation mentioned above.
 
Unfortunately, due mainly to COVID-19 restrictions, it seems we are going to suffer a shortage of Panel Umpires this season, and therefore we will have to return to use of club umpires for many matches, and all participating clubs will be required to provide umpires for league matches. The scheduling of umpires will start this week and we will confirm how many club umpire duties are needed after the Panel Umpires have confirmed their availability, however please aim to have a minimum of four qualified and active umpires within your club, and more if possible. The training will also be of benefit to all players, as it will educate them on the Laws of the game and how umpires see and make decisions, so we encourage as many as possible to attend and become qualified. 
 
It is already 2 years since we last held any umpire training, and therefore all club umpires must attend a 4-hour refresher course that we will hold online on the weekend of 23rd and 24th May. The course will be hosted by Sriharsha Kuchimanchi and will cover basic umpiring skills and give information on the 2020 updates to the CF Playing Conditions. If your club umpires are already active Panel Umpires they do not need to attend the course. Please note that umpiring of league matches in 2020 will only be permitted for umpires who have completed this training, or who are already active Panel Umpires.
 
We are arranging two separate online events, via Zoom, and each umpire only needs to attend one of the events. There is a small fee for each registration to help cover the costs CF is incurring for arranging the training.
 
The first event is on Saturday 23rd May from 09:00 to 13:00. The deadline for registering is 23:59 on 21st May! Please register for the event via this link:
https://www.suomisport.fi/events/f707e4cd-29d0-4f85-b7a8-d5efe9b27f1e
 
The second event is on Sunday 24th May from 13:00 to 17:00. The deadline for registering is 23:59 on 22nd May! Please register for the event via this link:
https://www.suomisport.fi/events/f98b27f2-7da1-46c8-874e-5781a00c86f7
 
Please announce this news inside your clubs and encourage your members to register for the training. The participation of clubs and umpires this summer will be a critical factor in CF being able to provide the planned league schedule this year, so please encourage your members to help as much as possible.