Optimists Cricket Club

The Optimists Cricket Club, known simply as the Optimists or abbreviated to OCC, is a cricket club based in Walferdange, in central Luxembourg. The Optimists are the dominant club in Luxembourg, and serve as an auxiliary governing body for cricket in the Grand Duchy, alongside the Luxembourg Cricket Federation.

The Optimists are the oldest cricket club in Luxembourg, having been founded in 1973 by British expatriates, whose ranks had been swollen by Luxembourg City's growth as a financial centre and by the UK's entry into the European Economic Community. To this day, the Optimists remain dependent upon British players, although expats of other nationalities are also involved; few native Luxembourgers play the sport.

The Optimists organise and participate in the Luxembourgish domestic league, which involves other clubs and also other (subsidiary) teams fielded by the OCC. However, the main focus for the club is on the Belgian league, in which the OCC compete and which they won on three occasions in the early 1990s (1991, 1994, 1995). The OCC 2nd XI plays in the Belgian third division.

The club plays at the Pierre Werner Cricket Ground, in Walferdange. The ground is named after the late Pierre Werner, a former Prime Minister of Luxembourg (1959–74, 1979–84). Werner had fallen in love with cricket when living in London in 1930, and went on to become the Honorary President of the OCC, which had been established when he was Prime Minister. Werner opened the OCC's new ground when it was opened in 1992.^[1]

The club's sponsors include Citco, Brasserie Nationale, Citadel, Dresdner Bank, Schroders, and the commune of Walferdange.

See also

• Cricket in Luxembourg

Footnotes

1. ^ "Pierre Werner". Optimists Cricket Club. 2002. http://www.optimists.cc/optimists/pwobituary.htm. Retrieved 2006-09-22. ^{[dead link]}

External links

• Optimists Cricket Club official website