ORGANISERS of the first European Club Cricket Tournament, which is to be held in Suffolk this summer, have been bowled over by the level of interest.

The tournament has attracted 18 enquiries from all over Europe and even beyond, and so far four teams have confirmed they will take part.

The event is being jointly staged by Copdock & Old Ipswichian CC and Ipswich CC at their grounds from August 6-8.

Kester Clarke, one of the organisers, said: “We have had 18 responses to date and have been amazed by the amount of interest in the tournament.

“The International Cricket Council (ICC) have even given us space on their Facebook page!”

Clarke said there had been interest from teams in Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Romania, Spain and Sweden.

The four teams so far to confirm their participation are Belgian side Ostend CC, The Baggy Blues CC from Hungary, The Super Lions Lod CC from Israel and Italian side Rome Capannelle CC.

Clarke said he was hoping that at least seven teams would sign up to play in the tournament alongside a joint team from the two host clubs, allowing two groups of at least four teams.

The tournament will be played under T20 rules at Copdock & OIs Old London Road ground and Ipswich’s Clay Hall ground, which has two pitches.

“The umpires for the tournament have all been organised and there will be a marquee on the ground at Copdock which will host a Gala Dinner,” revealed Clarke.

“At the moment we are still working on getting a special guest to attend.”

The marquee is being erected at Copdock for Suffolk’s final three-day Minor Counties Championship match of the season, against Northumberland, from August 4-6.

Organisers are still looking for a major sponsor for the tournament and anyone interested should contact Clarke on 01473 780564 or 07736 555643 or via email at kester@kesterclarke.com or go to www.ecct.hitscricket.com.