When the guns eventually fall silent across Ukraine, the toll of Russia's war will be tallied in more than just lost lives and destroyed homes. The conflict has left a trail of trauma reaching every crevice of society, making it difficult to quantify the lasting damage caused by a bombed-out theatre in Mariupol or a crater in Kharkiv that was once a school. Thousands of artists, singers, poets, and athletes have lost their stages and audiences, and among the casualties of this war, the Ukrainian Cricket Federation (UCF) fears it may also be counted. Kobus Olivier, the UCF's chief executive, admits they are holding on for their lives but remains hopeful, noting that the unbelievable spirit of the Ukrainian people keeps the federation going.
Olivier, a South African native, first arrived in Kyiv in 2018 seeking a break from the grind of the cricket world. He fell in love with the city immediately, feeling it was home, and eventually began teaching English at a private school. However, his passion for the game returned, leading him to join the UCF, which has operated in Ukraine since 2000. After burying his father in Kyiv in 2020, he felt deeply tethered to the country. When Russian bombs began falling on February 24, the explosions in his quiet suburb of Nyvky were the most terrifying experience of his life. Though he initially stockpiled provisions to wait out the invasion, the escalation of fighting in nearby Bucha and Irpin forced him to flee. His journey through Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to Zagreb, Croatia, has gained global attention, partly due to his four dogs—Tickey, Ollie, Kaya, and Jessie—who he considers his children. He is currently shooting a documentary with the production company "Killer Puppy Media" and writing a book about his life in cricket and the UCF's fight for survival.
The UCF, under president Hardeep Singh, has made significant strides since its founding 22 years ago, including holding an annual national tournament since 2006 and winning the inaugural Mediterranean Cricket League T20 in 2016. The team, largely composed of Indian expats and students from Kharkiv, had been working toward ICC recognition. With equipment donated by Dubai-based philanthropist Shyam Bhatia, Olivier helped build a youth program to meet ICC requirements. However, the invasion shattered these plans. In Kharkiv, UCF digital content creator Binil Zachariah George, a graduate of the National Aerospace University of Kharkiv, was forced to flee his apartment with his wife and five-year-old daughter just 15 minutes after the first strikes at 4:15 am on February 24. They spent 11 days in a subway station used as a bomb shelter, enduring cold and hunger before eventually reaching Warsaw. Tragically, 21-year-old medical student and cricket player Naveen Shekharappa Gyanagoudar was killed by a mortar round while searching for water.
Other members of the cricket community have also seen their priorities shift. Australian priest and opening batter Wayne Zschech has turned his church in Kaharlyk into a refugee shelter, while middle-order batter Yuri Zagruskiy survived a mortar strike on a truck he was using to transport essential goods. Despite these horrors, Olivier remains upbeat. He has partnered with the charity Voice of Children to provide psychological support to war-affected youth and is developing ways to use cricket as a tool for treating trauma. The UCF is planning a soft-ball tournament involving teams from Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, and Slovakia, and aims to send players to the Mediterranean Cricket League in Zagreb this July. By maintaining these efforts, Olivier hopes to show the ICC that Ukrainian cricket is still alive, drawing inspiration from other nations that continued to play during wartime.
