U13 Cricket Teams from 4 Countries Compete in International Tournament in Walferdange

Luxembourg Cricket Federation (LCF) hosted the 5th edition of the Roger Barker U13 International Tournament from Saturday 14 to Sunday 15 June 2025 at the Pierre Werner Cricket Ground in Walferdange.

The two-day tournament brought together around 100 participants, accompanied by their parents, coaches and support staff. National teams from Luxembourg, Belgium and Switzerland took part, alongside a debuting side from Germany’s Baden-Württemberg Cricket Association (BWCV).

Praveen Singh, Head of LCF Juniors, explained to Chronicle.lu why the tournament bears this particular name: “Roger Barker [the former member of the International Cricket Council] is someone who is now retired. He’s over 70 years old, but he was very instrumental in setting up the whole cricket structure specifically for juniors, the younger kids - so that they can enjoy their passion and continue or at least have some kind of ecosystem where they can play cricket.”

The tournament followed a league format, in which each of the four teams played against the others in the initial stage. Based on the results, the top two teams competed in a final for first place, while the remaining two played for third position. In total, each team played four matches over the two-day event.

Across these eight competitive matches, a total of 1,514 runs were scored and 96 wickets taken. Switzerland won the tournament, remaining unbeaten throughout, and secured victory in the final against Belgium with a score of 47/4 to 43/10. Roger Barker himself was present to award the winning and runner-up teams with their trophies
Luxembourg’s team recorded one win from their four matches, defeating BWCV with a score of 109/2 to 107/9. Several players contributed notable individual performances during the tournament. However, Luxembourg later lost to the team from Germany in the match for third place.

The Player of the Tournament awards were presented to representatives from each team: Sashwanth Tamilselvan (Luxembourg), Alham Safi (Belgium), and Nihanth Parcha (Switzerland). The Spirit of Cricket award went to the BWCV team for their overall display of sportsmanship during the weekend. Organisers also acknowledged Aanvi Kishore from BWCV for her contribution to the team’s narrow victory over Belgium.

Junior cricket in Luxembourg has seen steady growth in recent years, according to Praveen Singh. He noted that while cricket is not among the most popular sports in Luxembourg, increasing numbers of expatriates have driven demand. “If I just look at the junior players, I think five years back we were around 70–80 players. But now in the database we have got 160 players only in the junior setup. So it is growing,” he told Chronicle.lu. The programme includes children as young as six (U7) up to U15. “Once players are over fifteen, they go and join one of the adult clubs so that they can continue their passion,” he added.

The LCF will organise its annual Cricket Camp from Monday 21 to Friday 25 July 2025 at the Pierre Werner Cricket Ground in Walferdange. The five-day programme will run daily from 09:00 to 17:00 and is aimed at children aged approximately six to fourteen. Sessions will be led by a professional certified coach from the UK, together with a local certified coach.