So what is the BCK anyway?

Martin Haynes • Saturday, 15 January 2022

Lots of cricketers have been asking me about the BCK recently. So, I did a bit of research to make sure I could give the right answers. And the truth is that the BCK goes way back further than I thought.

BCK stands for Berliner Cricket Komitee

Before we delve into the history of the BCK, it’s useful to know what the BCK is and how it jigsaws into Berlin’s cricketing landscape.

Cricket in Berlin has pretty much always been played at the Olympic Stadium complex. And this is why our links to the stadium authorities go way back to the post-war period.

The BCK is actually a committee of the Berliner Fußball Verband (Berlin Football Association). Hence the name. Or in other words, it is part of the biggest and most powerful sporting community in Berlin and has been since even before the birth of today’s German Cricket Federation (Deutscher Cricket Bund, DCB).

As cricket expanded throughout eastern Germany after the demise of the GDR, it was eventually decided that an umbrella organisation was needed to meet the needs of clubs outside Berlin. All the other regions in Germany have their own regional associations and it was time for the eastern regions to follow suit.

But the problem in Berlin was that, as the BCK is part of the BFV, it couldn’t easily be integrated into the DCB. It also didn’t really have the authority to act on behalf of clubs in, say, Saxony or Brandenburg. So, with the kind help of the DCB, the ODCV was brought to life to take on that role.

And so we find ourselves in the rather curious position of having two organisations, the BCK and the ODCV, looking after cricket in the region. Since the vast majority of DCB matches in Berlin are held on the Maifeld there is an overlap of jurisdictions there, too.

But there’s no conflict of interest and indeed the ODCV and the BCK have a good relationship. After all, both are working towards the development of cricket in Berlin and the wider region.