Born in ParisEuropean Cricket Association (ECA) of which the Italian Fabio Marabino will be vice president. The project was strongly desired by the president of the Italian Cricket Federation who coordinated the meetings in Colombo with the other European delegates and in Paris announced the birth of the ECA before the members of the ICC world conference. The announcement was made during the inaugural meeting, attended by representatives of the six founding nations: France, Italy, Jersey, Malta, Austria and Romania.
The meeting was chaired by Gurumurthy Palani, advisor to the board of the French cricket federation, who led the work until the official election of the first president of the association: Gabriel Marin of Romania. In addition to Marabini, three other vice-presidents were elected: Indika Perera (Malt), Sarah Gomersal (Jersey) and Gurumurthy Palani (France). Completes the management team Bilal Zal Never (Austria) who will be part of the Executive Committee.
Marabini highlighted the growth potential the association can offer: “The ECA represents a great opportunity to develop cricket, starting from grassroots activities to important commercial opportunities. The organization will not only promote the game but will allow us to address common challenges together and find resources to solve them.”
Among the ECA’s first plans is the creation of a European Cricket Championship. Marin announced that an operational meeting will be held in mid-January with the aim of defining further organizational details and involving more nations: “We are receiving an incredible response from many countries and we expect that between 15 and 20 nations will soon join the association. The interest in cricket in Europe is growing strongly, especially in light of the inclusion of cricket in the 2028 Olympic Games”.
