beyondbrics

Michael Glover, the head of KPMG’s tax department in Hungary, is sporting a big black eye at the moment, the result, he insists, not of some altercation with an over-zealous revenue inspector but of an unfortunate, ill-timed lunge with the bat at a recent cricket match near Budapest.

Not at all, says Glover, who doubles as treasurer of the Hungarian Cricket Association (HCA) when not on his day job: “After a couple of false starts, the game here has taken off since 2007 and developed rapidly. We have two leagues, with 11 teams and approximately 200 members on the club lists. We have women and boys and girls at schools involved, in a number of towns across the country,” he told beyondbrics.

Gabor Torok, HCA president, is keen to promote cricket as an all-inclusive sport, saying the game is open to all ethnic groups in Hungary. “We’ve introduced Roma kids in schools in eastern Hungary to the game. Cricket is a bit like chess, it needs strategic thinking. We believe it is good for [character] development,” he says.

The leaders’ enthusiasm certainly counts for more than just words; the wealthier members of the HCA subsidise two teams made up of Afghan and other asylum seekers from south Asia who are otherwise stuck in refugee camps in Hungary with virtually no opportunity for constructive pastimes.

Glover, 46, admits that after keeping wicket for 35 overs “I ache for at least three days,” but insists, like, Torok, that it’s all good for character development – including sporting behaviour.

“When I got this,” he says, pointing to the black eye, “the ball came off the bat and I was caught out. But the opposing captain told me to clean up and come back on. You wouldn’t get that in any other sport – even if you do own the stadium.”