Luxembourg U19 Men's Cricket Team Triumph Again in Czechia

Eleven Luxembourg players took to the field on Monday 4 August 2025 to play their first match of a four-game series with the Czechia U19 men's cricket team at Vinoř Cricket Ground in Prague.

The Luxembourg team had already won the series there last year.

In the first match, Czechia batted first and started strongly, with Luxembourg taking their first wicket at 38/1 from 4 overs - a smart run-out between wicketkeeper Seb Gruner and bowler Ollie Peacock. One ball later, Peacock removed the next batter, who would later prove to be the batter of the tournament, William Carter. Number 4 Marco Rodic came in to form a strong partnership with Danny O'Connor, which reportedly frustrated the Luxembourg bowlers and fielders. This was broken thanks to Ollie Peacock and Thomas Black, with catches by Sean Vishvanath and Jonah Fellowes-Freeman respectively, leaving Czechia at an impressive 145/4 after only 16 overs. Luxembourg needed to claw back the game, and managed three wickets - two from James Maclear's bowling  and one from a run-out he created. Czechia finished on 163/7, which on balance was slightly in favour of the home team.

Thomas Black and Eddie Hudson started the chase. However, this did not last long for Thomas Black, and Eddie Hudson was left to anchor the innings. Rishikesh Sathiya, Seb Gruner and Aussie Gruner all chipped in alongside Hudson to get the score to 114/4 from 16.2 overs. Despite Hudson's best effort of 46 (49), "Luxembourg could not unleash their firepower to chase down the total due to some good bowling", according to Praveen Singh from the Luxembourg Cricket Federation. As this was the same result in the opening game as in 2024, Luxembourg were not worried and remained determined to fight back in the afternoon.

Czechia batted first again in the midday heat. A wicket in the second over from bowler Rishikesh Sathiya combining with fellow opening bowler Ollie Peacock, with a good catch at gully, was just the start Luxembourg wanted. Off-spinner Eddie Hudson took the next wicket clean bowling their number 3. The next partnership built at a steady pace for 68 runs but Luxembourg bowlers had it under control with Luca Rawle breaking the partnership, and figures of 2 overs, 10 runs and 1 wicket restricted the Czechia score to 148 off their 20 overs.

Determined to put pressure on the bowlers, Luxembourg batters appeared more positive, taking calculated risks. Praveen Singh said this approach gave the team "a fighting chance" even 51/4 from 7.2 overs in. It was then Aussie Gruner 38 (27) who found the boundaries consistently, later joined by Luca Rawle 34 (27) who hit "beautifully" over the covers on multiple occasions. Jonah Fellowes-Freeman was described as "a big helping hand" at the end, which saw Luca Rawle hit the winning runs with an over to spare - which cued celebration from the young man who was a last-minute addition to the team.

Day 2 saw a format change to a One Day International, which consists of a maximum of 50 overs per innings. In 2024, Luxembourg only managed to bat for 37 overs; this time, the team were aiming higher. James Maclear and Luca Rawle were the two chosen to see out the opening bowlers and they did so with "great effect", leaving Luxembourg 76/2 from 15.5 overs. Captain Thomas Black then took the crease, putting on a 65-run partnership with Luca and then a 114-run partnership with Aussie Gruner. Luca Rawle finished with 51, Aussie Gruner with 48 and Thomas Black finished on 103 from 85 balls before being asked to retire. The Luxembourg team did not let up at that point, scoring an extra 36 runs in the last 4 overs - "one of the best all-round batting performances from junior Luxembourg team that has been seen in a long time," according to Praveen Singh.

After lunch, Ollie Peacock led the attack with an opening spell with 5 overs for 14 runs and 1 wicket, setting the tone for the day. The "only notable threat" came from the third wicket partnership, broken by Sean Vishwanath who removed William Carter for 39. Ethan Kamula was Carter's partner but was dismissed by the youngest team member, Leo Hudson, who clean bowled Kamula. Praveen Singh described the result as "a comprehensive victory for the boys in red on day 2 which put Luxembourg in poll position for the rest of the series ahead".

In the spirit of cricket, day 3 was dedicated to forging friendships through sport. The mixed teams saw both Luxembourg and Czechia players alongside each other across two 10 overs matches. Luxembourg's players "performed well", with Leo Hudson picking up 7 wickets in the day and Aussie Gruner scoring some more runs.

Days 4 and 5 saw the teams compete across twelve hours of cricket with each team getting two innings across the six two-hour sessions. Czechia batted first and scored a total of 292 from 54 overs before being bowled out - William Carter secured 131 runs and Danny O'Connor had 93 - before Luxembourg pulled it back and took 7 wickets for 22 runs. Sean Vishwanath excelled with 4 wickets across his 7 overs for just 11 runs. He is among four young spinners in the team who "all impressed" at times across the week, which Praveen Singh said "bodes well" for the future of Luxembourg spin bowling. Another up and coming star is Leo Hudson who also took 2 wickets, including Danny O'Connor on 93.

With about 35 overs left in the day, the Luxembourg openers took to the crease. This time, James Maclear and Luca Rawle battled well but were cleaned bowled by a barrage of spin bowling. Three partnerships of over 40 runs each brought Luxembourg to a total of 184/4 after 44 overs at the start of the second day of the match.

Aussie Gruner and brother Seb Gruner looked to push on but consistent bowling meant they both struggled to move the game along. To ensure a possibility of a win for either team, a declaration was made one hour into the morning session.

Czechia started their second innings with a lead of 45 runs, immediately pegged back by a fast full ball clattering the studs Rishikesh Sathiya made the breakthrough. "Unfortunately", noted Praveen Singh, this "brought a familiar sight" of a big partnership between William Carter (134 runs) and Danny O'Connor (60 runs) of 141 runs in 122 balls. Filip Lafek then continued with William to frustrate the Luxembourg bowlers to take the score to 245/3 from only 34 overs. With about 40 overs left in the day, and Czechia with a lead of 290, it was going to take some good batting for Luxembourg to force the win and remain victorious.

Eddie Hudson promoted to open with Luca Rawle "showed class again" with 34 but was "unlucky" to convert his starts to big scores, while "the calmness and stroke play" with Rishikesh Sathiya (37 runs) was "lovely to see".

With the overs slipping by and the run rate was creeping up, Thomas Black and Seb Gruner were now at the crease and found themself torn between taking risks and trying to win the game of protecting their wicket to some good bowling to ensure a draw and a series victory for Luxembourg. The pair battled away, unable to up the scoring rate until panic set in with 20 minutes to go, as Black chipped it to short midwicket and exposed Jonah Fellowes-Freeman to the attack. However, it was his "time to shine", hitting boundary after boundary to amass a quick 62 from just 27 balls and put the Luxembourg supporters at ease. As time ticked on it, was clear the game would end in a draw.

Losing only the opening T20 game meant Luxembourg won the series against an improved Czechia side. On the batting front, captain Thomas Black scored 179 with an average of 44.75, followed by five others - Luca Rawle, Aussie Gruner, Eddie Hudson, Seb Gruner and Jonah Fellowes-Freeman - with over 100 runs. Sean Vishwanath, Rishikesh Sathiya and Leo Hudson took 5 wickets each, followed closely behind by Luca Rawle and James Maclear with 4 wickets.

Special bowling mention went to Ollie Peacock who "emerged as a stand out opening bowler tirelessly working up the slope in every innings" with an economy of just 4.59 and amassed a total of 95 dot balls. The whole time, the bowlers were hitting the gloves of wicketkeeper and vice captain Seb Gruner, who finished with 2 catches and a pivotal run out in his 156 overs with the gloves.

"Everyone in the team can be proud of their contribution to the team's success [...] in Prague, [in] a tournament that saw a total of 2,465 runs in thirteen different 50+ run partnerships broken by 90 wickets and 19 maidens," said Praveen Singh. "Thomas Black was chosen out of all the statistics as Luxembourg's Player of the Series with a notable performance of 103 in the third game and captaining his side to victory. The group of players are already seen to show their improved skills off back in Luxembourg across the various cricket leagues and take on more adventures in the future."