The Brno Cricket Club will host a four-team tournament this Saturday and Sunday in North Brno. Photo credit: Brno Cricket Club.
Brno, Jul 1 (BD) — FC Zbrojovka guaranteed a chance to play for promotion, SK Líšeň earns its keep in Fortuna:Národní Liga; Draci in strong position, Hroši and Technika fighting for Top 6 spot; HC Kometa to start 2020-21 season at home on Sept 18; and the Brno sports schedule.
CRICKET
Four-team Tourney to be Broadcast
If you are starved for live sports, then there is a full weekend of action on tap: The Brno Cricket Club will host a four-team tournament in North Brno on Saturday and Sunday.
The local step of the ECN Czech Super Series T10 will include three Brno Cricket Club teams — the BCC Raiders, the BCC Raptors and the BCC Rangers — and the Moravian Cricket Club, which is making its competitive debut.
Action starts at 10 a.m. on Saturday. Additional matches are Saturday at noon, 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. and on Sunday at 10 a.m. and noon. The final matches will be on Sunday at 3 p.m. and 6 p.m., when the title will be decided. The winner moves on in the overall tournament.
Each match will have 10 overs and last about an hour and a half.
There is no admission fee and outdoor seating has been rented so first-come first-serve seating will be available.
Food will be brought to the field from The Himalaya and the East Village Bar & Diner. A BBQ will be available on site. Cold beer will be sold for 25,-.
The Brno Cricket Club, which regularly challenges for titles in the Czech leagues, has been actively playing, though the spring season and the 40-over summer league has been cancelled. A T20 season, which has 20 overs, starts up later this month and has matches pretty much every weekend through the middle of September.
The Brno Cricket Ground is in North Brno. Click here for a map. Parking is available nearby, although not past the bridge because of the restricted road. The nearest stop on Tram No. 1 is Kořískova. Bus 42 and 70 leave from Semilasso; get off at Žitná.
If you don’t know much about cricket, get a quick rundown with this video. Click here.
Cricket is the world’s second most popular sport by viewership. With that in mind, this tournament will be broadcast in association with the European Cricket Network (ECN). The production quality will include live on-site commentary, four cameras, live replays, statistics and overlays.
If you can’t make it to the matches, click here to see the broadcast: https://www.ecn.cricket/ . The related YouTube Channel is here.
MEN’S FOOTBALL
Zbrojovka Guaranteed Top 2 Finish
For a brief period, FC Zbrojovka was at the top of the Fortuna:Národní Liga standings. It looked fantastic and appropriate. And it fit their recent top level of play.
Yet, the top placement was only because FK Pardubice had two games in hand, and Zbrojovka was quickly back to second place, where it is likely they will finish the season (unless Pardubice falls apart in its final four games). That will be good enough for a two-game playoff against a bottom team of the Fortuna:Liga with a chance to return to the country’s top league for next season.
Zbrojovka (18-6-3, 60 points) is one point behind Pardubice (19-4-3, 61), which still has a game in hand, and 10 points ahead of third-place FK Dukla Praha (16-2-9, 50).
This past week, Zbrojovka stretched its streak further when it earned its 26th point in 10 games by beating FK Varnsdorf, 0-1, and fourth-place FK Viktoria Žižkov, 6-1. Zbrojovka is 8-2-0 since coming back from the novel coronavirus pause this spring.
The final three rounds of the season have been elongated a bit to give the players more rest in between games and in order to put the games on Saturdays, which will better accommodate the fans, who are now able to attend the games in closer-to-normal numbers.
Zbrojovka travels to FC Slavoj Vyšehrad on Saturday and to 1.SK Prostějov on July 11, where they will face their former head coach, Pavel Šustr, and a former captain, Jan Polák. They finish at home against FC Sellier & Bellot Vlašim on July 14 at 6 p.m.
Líšeň Guaranteed Another F:NL Season
SK Líšeň (7-11-9, 32) is in 10th place after a loss and a tie last week, but it is guaranteed to stay in the Fortuna:Národní Liga for a second year.
Líšeň hosts FK Dukla Praha on Saturday and FK Fotbal Třinec on July 11 before ending the season at FK Varnsdorf on July 14.
BASEBALL
Hroši, Technika Fight for Top 6 Spots
The truncated extraliga baseball season is quickly reaching the end of its first phase and there will be at least one local game every day from Thursday to Sunday.
Draci Brno (9-3) won three times last week and moved a half game behind joint league-leaders Arrows Ostrava (9-2) and Kotlářka Praha (9-2).
Cardion Hroši Brno (6-7), who split with Kotlářka Praha last, and Technika Brno (6-7) are struggling to stay in the top six in order to qualify to play against the top teams for postseason seeding. Tempo Praha (5-7), which lost twice last week to the Draci, is just a half-game back in seventh place.
Tomorrow (Thursday), the Draci Brno will host the Hroši at 7 p.m.
Technika has two big games against Tempo Praha this Saturday and Sunday.
The teams that finish in seventh to 10th places will drop to play the top teams from the lower league in order to maintain their place in the extraliga.
HOCKEY
Kometa Schedule Released for 2020-21 Season
After the early ending to the 2019-20 season, HC Kometa and the fans of local hockey have a date on the calendar to which they can look forward: Friday, Sept 18.
That is when HC Kometa Brno will start the new season at home against HC Oceláři Třinec.
The 52-game regular season, which includes four games against each of the other 13 teams, concludes in March.
BRNO SPORTS RESULTS
Quick results for various Brno professional and recreational sports for the past week. Home team listed first (where applicable).
Wednesday, June 24, 2020
— Baseball: Cardion Hroši Brno 3, Draci Brno 9
— Baseball: Arrows Ostrava 12, Technika Brno 6
— Men’s Football: SK Líšeň 1, FK Baník Sokolov 3
— Men’s Football: Varnsdorf 0, Zbrojovka Brno 1
Saturday, June 27, 2020
— Baseball: Draci Brno 4, Tempo Praha 0
— Baseball: Kotlářka Praha 10, Cardion Hroši Brno 4
— Baseball: Technika Brno 6, Eagles Praha 10
Sunday, June 28, 2020
— Baseball: Tempo Praha 1, Draci Brno 11
— Baseball: Eagles Praha 14, Technika Brno 4
— Baseball: Cardion Hroši Brno 6, Kotlářka Praha 1
— Men’s Football: Zbrojovka Brno 6, Žižkov 1
— Men’s Football: MFK Vítkovice 2, SK Líšeň 2
BRNO SPORTS SCHEDULE
The schedule for various Brno professional and recreational sports for the next two weeks. All dates and times subject to change. Home team listed first (when applicable).
Thursday, July 2, 2020
— Baseball: Technika Brno X Arrows Ostrava, 5 p.m.
— Baseball: Draci Brno X Cardion Hroši Brno, 7 p.m.
Friday, July 3, 2020
— Baseball: Draci Brno X SaBaT Praha, 7 p.m.
— Baseball: Eagles Praha X Cardion Hroši Brno, 7 p.m.
Saturday, July 4, 2020
— Baseball: Tempo Praha X Technika Brno, 2 p.m.
— Baseball: SaBaT Praha X Draci Brno, 2 p.m.
— Baseball: Cardion Hroši Brno X Eagles Praha, 4 p.m.
— Men’s Football: Vyšehrad X Zbrojovka Brno, 5 p.m.
— Men’s Football: SK Líšeň X FK Dukla Praha, 5 p.m.
Sunday, July 5, 2020
— Baseball: Draci Brno X Eagles Praha, 1 p.m.
— Baseball: Technika Brno X Tempo Praha, 2 p.m.
———————————————————
Thursday, July 9, 2020
— Men’s Football: FK Varnsdorf X SK Líšeň, 6 p.m.
— Men’s Football: Zbrojovka Brno X Vlašim, 6 p.m.
Friday, July 10, 2020
— Baseball: Olympia Blansko X Cardion Hroši Brno, 7 p.m.
— Baseball: Draci Brno X Technika Brno, 7 p.m.
Saturday, July 11, 2020
— Baseball: Cardion Hroši Brno X Olympia Blansko, 4 p.m.
— Baseball: Technika Brno X Draci Brno, 4 p.m.
— Men’s Football: Prostějov X Zbrojovka Brno, 5 p.m.
— Men’s Football: SK Líšeň X FK Fotbal Třinec, 5 p.m.
The Brno Sports Report is published every Wednesday. All dates and times are subject to change. Most of the stories are about the traditional “English-speaking” team sports — football, hockey, baseball, basketball, American football, cricket, rugby, etc. — but it is also about the interesting local spectator and participation sports — tennis, badminton, running, horse racing, swimming, rock climbing, biking, etc. If you have any suggestions for what should be included, please comment below or send an email to bruno@brnodaily.cz.
