Magrat Garlick
Global Moderator
Drammens Tidende reports on Norway's cricket situation
For those unfortunate among you not fluent in the Scandinavian tongues, the story runs like this: Marienlyst stadium, the old home ground of Strømsgodset IF (Norwegian league champions in 1970, four-time Norwegian cup winners, sufferers of Liverpool's largest competitive win and, latterly, most known for being Jostein Flo's final place to play professional football) is being redeveloped as Strømsgodset are planning to move to a new stadium. Local politician Jousuf Gilani wishes to make the ground into the first dedicated cricket stadium in Scandinavia, which could host exhibition matches with international players (he hopes) as well as Norwegian league games. There might even be seats for the crowd (the current pitches are basically football fields with artificial turf, and watching from the sidelines involves sitting on the grass) The usual arguments about integration is also bandied about, coincidentally a couple of days after a prominent lawyer, Abid Q. Raja, wrote a letter to Aftenposten urging the politicians to prioritise cricket.
Two of Norway's 29 organised clubs are placed in Drammen, but the city is nevertheless famed for other sports, and personally I think the plans are unlikely to come through. Not least because among the other suggested plans there is a shopping centre - which is perfectly ridiculous because there is a shopping centre 150 metres away from it - and a handball hall - which is equally ridiculous, with there being an international class handball hall 50 metres away from the area. The only thing I could perhaps support is a bandy field - bandy is a popular sport in Drammen, one of three places where it survives in Norway - but bandy is dead in all countries except for Sweden, Finland and Russia, while cricket is a world sport where Norway have good opportunities to become a Scandinavian leader with some kind of facilities.
Meh. I'm dreaming.
For those unfortunate among you not fluent in the Scandinavian tongues, the story runs like this: Marienlyst stadium, the old home ground of Strømsgodset IF (Norwegian league champions in 1970, four-time Norwegian cup winners, sufferers of Liverpool's largest competitive win and, latterly, most known for being Jostein Flo's final place to play professional football) is being redeveloped as Strømsgodset are planning to move to a new stadium. Local politician Jousuf Gilani wishes to make the ground into the first dedicated cricket stadium in Scandinavia, which could host exhibition matches with international players (he hopes) as well as Norwegian league games. There might even be seats for the crowd (the current pitches are basically football fields with artificial turf, and watching from the sidelines involves sitting on the grass) The usual arguments about integration is also bandied about, coincidentally a couple of days after a prominent lawyer, Abid Q. Raja, wrote a letter to Aftenposten urging the politicians to prioritise cricket.
Two of Norway's 29 organised clubs are placed in Drammen, but the city is nevertheless famed for other sports, and personally I think the plans are unlikely to come through. Not least because among the other suggested plans there is a shopping centre - which is perfectly ridiculous because there is a shopping centre 150 metres away from it - and a handball hall - which is equally ridiculous, with there being an international class handball hall 50 metres away from the area. The only thing I could perhaps support is a bandy field - bandy is a popular sport in Drammen, one of three places where it survives in Norway - but bandy is dead in all countries except for Sweden, Finland and Russia, while cricket is a world sport where Norway have good opportunities to become a Scandinavian leader with some kind of facilities.
Meh. I'm dreaming.
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- thats a canadian smilie? Lol, 
